Independent Liberals and some others. In response to a popular
agitation for the trial of the Kaiser, for punishment of war
criminals and for full reparation from Germany, Mr. Lloyd
George on the eve of the election announced that these points
were included in the Coalition programme, and further that he
was against conscript armies in all lands.
The election was held on Dec. 14 1918, but owing to the arrangements which had been made for taking the votes of sailors and soldiers, the votes were not counted and announced till the end of the year. The result was an overwhelming victory for the Coalition, 478 of whose official candidates were returned, constituting a majority of 249 over all non-Coalition parties. The Labour party obtained 63 seats, a number which was sufficient to constitute them the official Opposition, as the Independent Liberal party came back only 28 strong, Mr. Asquith and all his former colleagues of Cabinet rank being defeated. The same fate befell the whole of the pacifists, whether among the Labour or among the Liberal party. The defeat of Labour and Independent Liberalism would not have been so overwhelming had there not been an extraor- dinary number of three-cornered contests. But the resolve of the electorate that the Government which waged the war to a successful issue should make the peace and begin the reconstruc- tion of the country was clearly manifest. In Ireland the returns indicated the collapse of the. Nationalists and the triumph of Sinn Fein in the south and west. Only seven Nationalists sur- vived, compared with 73 Sinn Feiners and 25 Unionists. The only woman returned was Countess Markiewicz, a Sinn Feiner. None of the Sinn Feiners took their seats at Westminster.
Mr. Lloyd George immediately undertook a reconstruction of his Ministry. The changes were not so numerous as had been expected. Mr. Austen Chamberlain relieved Mr. Rccon- Bonar Law of the extra burden of the Chancellorship stmction O f ,-jje Exchequer; Sir Frederick Smith, the Attorney- General, became Lord Chancellor, with the title of Lord Birkenhead; Lord Milner became Colonial Sec- retary; Mr. Walter Long was appointed First Lord of the Ad- miralty; Mr. Churchill was entrusted with two secretaryships of State, that of War and that of Air a combination much and reasonably criticised; Sir Robert Home became Minister of Labour, in succession to Mr. Hodge; Mr. Andrew Weir, created Lord Inverforth, was made Minister of Munitions (rechris- tened " Supply"); a new Ministry, that of Ways and Communi- cations (afterwards better named " Transport "), was created for Sir Eric Geddes; and an Indian, Sir S. P. Sinha, who had been the first native to sit on the Viceroy's Council, was made Under-Secretary for India, and created a peer. In view of the approaching Peace Conference, the system by which the Prime Minister was relieved of the labours of leadership in the Com- mons, by entrusting them to Mr. Bonar Law, was continued.
The last days of 1918 witnessed the reception in London of the first detachments of the returning British troops, of their vic- torious commander, Field-Marshal Haig, of Marshal Great Foch and M. Clemenceau; and, especially, of President after'the Wilson, passing through England on his way to the Armistice. Paris Conference. This great assembly was opened formally by President Poincare on Jan. 18 1919, and thenceforward for several months Mr. Lloyd George and many of his principal colleagues were absent for long periods in Paris. These tokens of victory and peace were at variance with the symp- toms of domestic life in Great Britain. Within a few days of the Armistice deputations from workers, especially munition work- ers, were demanding of the Prime Minister a living wage. The railway men decided to withdraw the truce in their industry and demanded an 8-hour day, which the Government promptly conceded. Other industrial troubles followed. Demobilized soldiers, miners, police, boilermakers, dock workers, engineers, all made urgent demands, with strikes declared or threatened. At first the trouble was worst on the Clyde, but the outlook was soon gloomier in London. The " tube " men came out on Feb. 3, and remained out for a week till they obtained an 8-hour day. Then the London electricians threatened to cut off all the elec-
Mlners' Strike and Saakey Commis- sion.
tricity, stopping tramways and lighting, if the Government did not settle with the Clyde workers. The Government met the threat by a regulation under the Defence of the Realm Act making electrical strikers liable to six months' imprisonment.
It was in these unpropitious circumstances that Parliament met. Mr. Adamson, a miners' representative, as chairman of the Labour party, appeared as Opposition leader; and Sir Donald Maclean, who had been deputy chairman of 'u!fre"f Ways and Means in the last Parliament, led the Inde- pendent Liberals, pending Mr. Asquith's return. Ministers did not satisfy the Labour men, who moved an amendment to the Address, but were beaten by 311 to 59. The note of labour un- rest thus struck resounded throughout the session and the year. Increased wages and shorter hours were demanded in trade after trade, though in most cases there had been repeated advances of wages during the war. The increase of prices, indeed, seemed to warrant, or at least excuse, a further advance. On the other hand, there was an unfortunate but natural tendency, after the strenuous labours of the past four years, to take work easily, and not merely to work shorter hours but to produce less in the hour. Further, the revolution in Russia, the deplorable effects of which on the condition of the Russian working-classes were only gradually revealed to British working men, increased the revolutionary ardour of the more advanced leaders, and disposed them to foment disputes and reject conciliation. The miners were the first in the field, demanding not merely a 30% increase in wages, and a 6-hour day, but nationalization of the mines and minerals. The Government wished, reasonably enough, before coming to a decision, to con- sider the effect on the general welfare of such stringent changes in the fundamental industry of the country. The Miners' Executive however would not wait, but took a ballot which declared by a large majority in favour of a strike. A truce, however, was arranged, while the Govern- ment set up in haste a Royal Commission, presided over by Mr. Justice Sankey, the proceedings of which were hurried for- ward. Meanwhile ministers endeavoured to meet the industrial unrest by a new scheme of conciliation. Sir Robert Home, Minister of Labour, convened on Feb. 27 a representative meet- ing of employers and workmen at Westminster, which Mr. Lloyd George subsequently addressed. This Joint Industrial Confer- ence appointed a committee which recommended, inter alia, a maximum normal week of 48 hours, establishment by law of minimum time rates of universal application, and the creation of a permanent National Industrial Council of 400 members, elected in equal numbers by organized employers and work- people, to advise the Government on industrial questions. The report was accepted by the conference and received sympatheti- cally by the Government. In pursuance of this policy the Govern- ment in November introduced and passed an Industrial Courts bill, giving the Minister of Labour power to appoint courts of inquiry into trade disputes, consisting of employers, workmen and independent persons. In March the two other members, besides the miners, of the " Triple Alliance " as it was called, the rail- way men and the transport workers, insistently demanded im- proved conditions, in particular a 48-hour week. Both gained the greater part of their claims, but the railway men only after a strike resolution. The Sankey Commission produced a litter of interim reports, the chairman's, which the Government adopted, recommending an increase in wages of 2s. a day, a 7-hour day till 1921, then a 6-hour day; a penny a ton, equivalent to 1,000,000 a year, to be set aside for the improvement of housing; reorganization of the industry, and an effective voice for the miners in its direction. On nationalization no opinion was ex- pressed in the chairman's report. The miners were still dis- satisfied, but, on their leaders' advice, gave a majority on a ballot for acceptance. Subsequently, in June, the Sankey Com- mission issued further reports, all recommending nationalization in some form, and most of them calling i za t/ a. attention to the alarming decrease of output. The miners' leaders insisted that the Government, having accepted the interim report, were bound also to accept the nationalization
