15 MAY 1926, Page 2

In a message to the nation the Government explained that

they had stopped negotiations not merely because the general strike was threatened, but because it had already taken the form of " overt acts " against the freedom of the Press. We could not help feeling that the Daily Mail affair should not have been the last straw to break the back of the Government's patience until it was ascertained whether it was an authorised part of the policy of the General Council of the T.U.C. or an isolated outburst. If it was unauthorized it was clearly not in pari materia with the other subjects of vast national import which the Government and the Council.of the T.U.C. were discussing.

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