to the high prices ruling in America, were made on exported coal. But this could not be maintained, and in May 1920 the price of domestic coal was raised by 145. 2d. a ton, and that of industrial coal by 43. ad. In view of these facts the miners at the end. of July 1920 coupled with a demand for a further advance of 2S., is. and gd. a shift for the three grades, a demand for a reduction of price to the consumer of 145. 2d. a ton. It was thought that this bribe would make the public sympathetic to their claims. The calculation was that the increase of wages would cost the industry 27,000,000, and the reduc- ^ on f pric 6 would add another 36,000,000, thus more than accounting for the 60,000,000 made by the Government as profits on exported coal, and badly needed by them for their general revenue. These demands the Govern- ment absolutely declined to entertain; and on a ballot near the end of August the miners determined to strike in order to obtain them. But the opening of the strike was postponed for more than a month and a half, pending a series of negotiations be- tween the Government, the representatives of the owners and the Miners' Federation, and also the spokesmen of the railway men and of the transport workers, who intervened as mem- bers of the Triple Alliance to support the miners' claims. Na- tionalization, though Mr. Smillie, one of the leaders, said the miners would never rest till they got it, was not actually claimed on this occasion ; the altruistic demand for a large reduction of the price of coal to the consumer was soon dropped, and the struggle became one merely for increased wages a claim based by the miners on the still rising prices. The Government and the owners pointed out that, since the increases in wages under the Sankey award, output had decreased, and maintained that in- crease in wages would only be justified by increase of output. The miners insisted on an advance of 2s. as a preliminary, and the strike began in the middle of October and lasted a fortnight. The National Union of Railway Men threatened to strike in support of the miners, but it is doubtful whether the railway men themselves would have come out in any number. The question was never put to the test, as a provisional arrangement was come to, and confirmed on ballot, by which the miners got their 2s. a day (and could get more by increased output) till Jan. 3, after which wages were to be governed by a sliding scale, ultimately to be superseded by an agreed scheme for their per- manent regulation. Sir Robert Home, who, with the Prime Min- ister, bore the brunt of these negotiations, greatly enhanced his reputation by his firmness, adroitness and geniality.
There were disputes in the cotton and engineering and other trades during the year, but nothing comparable to that in the coal industry. Organized labour, which had been very sensitive since the Russian Revolution of any attempts to interfere in arms with the Soviet Government, formed, in this of Action, summer of 1920, in view of the strained relations be- tween Poland and Russia, a Council of Action to pre- vent any such interference, with the implied threat of a general strike at its back. This unconstitutional proceeding was justified in a half-hearted manner by the moderate leaders, Mr. J. H. Thomas and Mr. Clynes. But the French Government refused to allew delegates of the Council of Action to remain in France; and, as an independent Poland and peace with Russia were soon seen to be secured, Mr. Thomas discreetly buried the Council with an appropriate eulogium at the Trade Union Congress. The financial offers made by the Bolshevists to the Daily Her- ald, the labour organ, which were revealed in the autumn, added to the growing discredit of Bolshevist rule in Labour eyes.
The " war " of murder and outrage waged by. civilian Re- publicans in Ireland against the civil and military forces of the Crown, and against prominent loyalists in all parts
" > 'war"'in of the south and west > was intensified from the be- ireiaad. ginning of the year onwards. To meet the crisis the Royal Irish Constabulary were increased, an auxiliary force of cadets, mainly young English officers who had served in the war, was created, and the troops reinforced. In August Sir Hamar Greenwood, who had succeeded Mr. Macpherson in April as Chief Secretary, hurried through Parliament a Restora-
tion of Order in Ireland bill which provided for the suspension of trial by jury in disturbed areas and the substitution of trial by court martial. The strain of outrage and assassination to which military and police were subjected proved too much for the nerves of some members of the forces of order, especially among the insufficiently disciplined auxiliaries; and in a consid- erable number of cases unauthorized reprisals were carried out, in which individuals, not always guilty, were shot, and dwelling-houses and shops and warehouses and creameries were sacked and burnt. The British public, as a whole, was so conscious of the widespread conspiracy and the appalling crimes that had to be faced and got under by in- adequate but courageous forces, that it was disposed to con- done occasional acts of reprisal, provided that due efforts were made by the authorities to restore and enforce discipline. That was eventually done and certain definite reprisals authorized in definite cases, but not until after a delay of several months, during which Mr. Asquith and Sir John Simon and the Inde- pendent Liberals in general, with the aid of some bishops and other ministers of religion, conducted a violent agitation against the misdeeds of a small portion of the forces of the Crown in which the crimes and the " war " against which these forces were struggling seemed to be unduly disregarded. The police and troops were successful in so far that they prevented Sinn Fein officers and tribunals from functioning openly, as heretofore, in many parts of the south and west. But, in spite of occasional boasts by ministers, like Mr. Lloyd George's assertion at Guild- hall on Lord Mayor's day " We have murder by the throat," crime was not stopped, and there was little improvement in the state of the southern and western provinces by the summer of 1921. Indeed the " war " was carried in the spring of 1921 into England; and in Liverpool and the neighbouring country, and in London and the Home Counties, outrages were committed.
It was not merely by force that the Government proposed to meet the crisis in Ireland. The conjunction of Unionists and Liberals in one coalition seemed to give an opportunity for an agreed settlement of the Home Rule dispute. As a result of the labours of the Cabinet Committee presided over by Mr. Long, the Government introduced in Feb. a Home Rule bill of a novel character. It provided for the establishment of two Irish Parlia- ments, one in Belfast, for the six north-eastern counties, and one in Dublin for the remaining counties, and of a Council of Ireland "with a view to bringing about harmonious action between the Parliaments and Gov- ernments of Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland." The Council was to consist, in the first instance, of a President ap- pointed by the King, and of delegations of 20 members of each of the two Irish Parliaments; but the two Parliaments might vary its constitution, and provide for it being elected by Parlia- mentary electors. Further, the two Irish Parliaments had power given them to establish, in place of the Council of Ireland, a Par- liament for the whole of Ireland, consisting of one or two Houses. Thus the bill, which recognized the necessity of parti- tion for the present, made provision for unity in the future. As originally drafted, the bill provided only for one House, a House of Commons, in each area; but the Lords added a Senate in each case, which the Government accepted. The executive power in the two areas was to continue vested in the King, who might delegate his authority to the lord lieutenant. The number of Irish members of Parliament at Westminster was to be 42. Of the Irish contribution of 18,000,000 a year to Imperial expendi- ture, 56% was apportioned to Southern, and 44% to Northern Ireland. There was to be a separate judiciary in each area, with a High Court of Appeal for the whole of Ireland. The powers reserved for the Imperial Parliament were roughly those reserved under the Act of 1914 which Mr. Redmond had accepted, save that further taxes were placed at the disposal of the two Parlia- ments; and in case of an Irish Parliament being constituted full powers over customs and excise were to be extended to it. If the southern Parliament refused to function, that part of Ireland was to be governed as a Crown colony. The reception of the bill was very unfavourable in southern and western Ireland, by Nation-
