Page:Labour in Madras.djvu/109

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LABOUR IN MADRAS
83


83 carry on a silent but constitutional struggle and we must see that we give no room whatever for any Police interference. Remember that our victory is sure and is only a question of time ; so that during the time that is at our disposal, when this great struggle is going on, we must see that we give no cause of complaint for any one. . Another point is this. If anyone speaks to you in the strain that you have created a strike, please explain to them that that is not correct. What happens is that the Mill authorities continue with their un just and unjustifiable lock-out and for any distress that is caused, economic and social, the Mill authorities and they alone are wholly responsible. Remember that during the lock-out we are fighting for three great principles which your 18 representatives laid down when they went before the Mill authorities. We are going to stick to those three principles and therefore we must make it amply clear that we are suffering from a lock-out, unjust, unreasonable and uncalled for. Now all the things that the authorities of the Carnatic and Buckingham Mills have done are very common practices in questions of difficulty between labour and capital. In the early days of the labour struggle in England the division of labourers into classes was tried by capitalists as they are trying here between non-weavers and weavers. In England the labourers won against the tyranny of the English capitalists because the labourers refused to be divided and stood united in one solid body. And what the labourers won in England, you, I am sure, will win if you stand united. Similarly the device of taking away the gratuity money is not new and has