The strike made further progress during Wednesday, and estimates of
the number of men affected ranged from ten to twenty thousand. On Wednesday evening an announcement Was made which showed that the Board of Trade took a very serious view of the dispute. This was to the effect that the GovernMent had appointed Sir Edward Clarke to hold a public inquiry into "the facts and circumstances of the present disputes affecting transport workers in the Port of London and on the Medway." The expectation that the promise of an immediate inquiry might have a conciliatory effect upon the men was, however, soon to be rudely shaken. The next morning, that is, on Thursday, the Executive of the Transport Workers' Federation met to discuss the situation, and in the afternoon issued a resolution declaring that, owing to "the boycotting of union men, the deliberate breaking of agreements by employers, and the general vexatious inter- ference with the workmen of the Port," they felt bound "to call upon all the transport workers to masa work to-night."
