The extremists led by Mr. Cramp, who dispute Mr. Thomas's
leadership, persuaded the delegates of the National Union of Railwaymen on Thursday week to order a railway strike at midnight on Sunday, " unless the miners' claims are granted or negotiations resumed by Saturday, October 23rd, which result in a settlement." This was, of course, " direct action " of an unmistakable character. The delegates informed the Prime Minister that they were satisfied that the miners' claims were reasonable and just," and that he must therefore take his orders from them or expose the community to the serious Inconvenience of a railway strike. Mr. Robert Williams, the secretary of the Transport Workers' Federation, announced the same day that " the whole of the working classes " would have to join issue with the Government. Mr. Williams, who received a medal from Lenin for his distinguished services to the Bolshevik cause, is not entitled to speak for "the whole of the working classes," most of whom support the Coalition.
But his wild threats illustrate the temper of the men who really engineered the miners' strike.
