30 OCTOBER 1920, Page 3

The Emergency Powers Bill was considered in Committee on Tuesday.

The Labour members professed to believe that the measure was directed against trade unions. They would not admit that the development of the political strike, avowedly directed against the community, had forced the community to entrust the Government with powers that were not needed in the ease of the old-fashioned industrial strike directed against employers. The Independent Liberals gave them half-hearted support. The Home Secretary accepted an amendment of Lord Robert Cecil's, limiting the effective duration of any emergency proclamation to a month, after which Parliament would have to decide whether it should be renewed. The Bill was taken again on Wednesday and read a third time. An amendment was inserted to allay the imaginary fears of the Labour Party lest the " right to strike " should be taken away, as in Bolshevik Russia.