Mr. Churchill opened the autumn campaign in his con- stituency
at Dundee on Tuesday night. After dealing with the situation on the Continent, he said that we had a full share of unrest in our own islands. Very few people realized how absolutely dependent we are on the working of the railways. Their complete stoppage would produce, in a time measured by days rather than weeks, total unem- ployment followed by absolute starvation. The weapon of a general strike, he took occasion to tell the Socialists, was the most powerful in the world, but it could only be used for the purpose of suicide. No administration, whatever its character, could neglect its duty or refuse to take the most effective measure in its power—first to maintain order,
secondly to prevent intimidation, and thirdly to secure the working of the food supply. Railways must be run, and it followed that railwaymen could not enjoy the full powers of collective bargaining as other workers. That would be all the more true if railways were nationalized. Mr. Churchill de- clared that the National Insurance Bill was the most impor- tant constructive social reform ever proposed to Parliament, and the Ministry were prepared to stake their existence as a Government, and their credit and influence as individuals, on the passing of this great measure.
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