consider the proposition of a temporary settlement, leaving the main issues at stake to be adjusted in the future.
This unauthorized statement, criminally injudicious in view of the circumstances, threw everything into the air. Next day the papers almost unanimously declared the strike crisis to be past, as Mr. Hodges' "offer" had opened the door wide for a settlement. It was just such a situation as the frightened leaders of the railwaymen and transport workers wanted, and, eagerly seizing upon the idea of a temporary settlement, they insisted that negotiations be started upon such a basis. Their two executive committees went on record to this effect, but the miners, standing firmly for their original demands, stubbornly refused to consider any temporary adjustment. Thereupon, the railwaymen and transport workers, declaring in effect that the contrary actions of Hodges and the miners' executive committee had thrown the whole movement into disarray and made a united effort of all the workers impossible, called off the strike of their respective unions and left the miners to make the battle alone. The much-prized Triple Alliance, hope of the British working class, had failed ingloriously.[1]
To The Bitter End
The announcement that the Triple Alliance strike was cancelled gave British labor a profound shock. A cry of mingled rage and alarm rose everywhere in the movement. Hundreds of telegrams poured into the unions' headquarters and labor papers denouncing the great betrayal. Many railway and transport local unions bitterly assailed their leaders as traitors and demanded that their organiza-
- ↑ A sample of the unbelievable stupidity with which the Triple Alliance movement was handled generally is the following: Instead of the leaders setting a definite time limit, say 24 hours before the strike time, at which negotiations with the employers should cease, thus giving the great movement time to develop, they carried on conferences almost until the last minute. In consequence, the chances for real solidarity among the workers were ruined by exposing the latter to the thousand and one false rumors about a settlement deliberately set afoot in the capitalist press to confuse them and to destroy their unity.
