16 FEBRUARY 1924
It was reported that negotiations had broken down and a strike of the dockers was declared with immediate effect. The hoped for agreement failed, but the two parties agreed to meet at the Ministry of Labour, but the trade unions said that the strike would not be postponed.
The action of the Egyptian officials at Luxor was met with the approval of the Egyptian Cabinet. All, including Howard Carter, are denied admission to the tomb of Tutankhamen.
15 FEBRUARY 1924
It was officially announced that as a result of further conferences at the Ministry of Labour that terms for the settlement of the dock strike have been arrived at.
Arthur Henderson, the Socialist Home Secretary, and Harold Camps, the Unionist, were formally nominated as candidates for the Burnley by-election.
14 FEBRUARY 1924
The House of Commons continued discussion of the Premier’s statement upon Government policy. Stanley Baldwin, the former Prime Minister, warned the Government the danger of conceding too much to Russia in their desire to restore relations. Mr Asquith, who followed, condemned the recession of the Popular Order, and warned the Government that if they failed to reconsider their decision the House would not be likely to countenance it.
At the official inquiry into the Redding Pit disaster, two witnesses spoke as to their fear of an inrush of water, and the general manager in his evidence attributed the cause of the disaster to the presence of the artificial well or sump in the old workings.
13 FEBRUARY 1924
In the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor (Lord Haldane) made a statement on foreign policy and the armaments question, and declared that the Government aimed at a League of Nations that would include Germany and Russia and would ensure security in Europe.
The meeting of the National Unionist Association Council was addressed by Stanley Baldwin, the former Prime Minister, after which new proposals for the future organisation of the party were discussed. These include the setting up of a committee for the purpose of advising the leader upon any important point of policy.
12 FEBRUARY 1924
Stanley Baldwin, the former Prime Minister, was unanimously re-elected leader of the Unionist Party at a representative meeting in London.
Following the rejection by the representatives of the Transport Workers’ Union of the port employers’ offer of 1s per day increase in the wage of dockers, it was announced that the Ministry of Labour had intervened to avoid a strike.
11 FEBRUARY 1924
An agreement was signed between France and Britain with regards to railway traffic in the British zone of occupied Germany.
Arthur Henderson, the Home Secretary, was adopted as the Socialist candidate for the Burnley by-election.
Colonel Wedgwood, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said that the Labour Party was not in power to carry on with the old machinery. He added that they had arrived only at the entrance to the promised land.
10 FEBRUARY 1924
It was announced that the new socialist Peers Lord Arnold, Lord Thomson and Lord Olivier were to be introduced to the House of Lords this week.
The London County Fire Brigade Committee recommended increasing the height of qualification for firemen from 5 foot five and a half inches to 5 foot 7 inches.
The number of deaths from influenza in London trebled in January 1924.
9 FEBRUARY 1924
King George V donated £100 to the fund for alleviating distressed in the Hebrides.
HP Macmillan was appointed as the new Lord Advocate.
It was confirmed that John Butcher would be appointed to the House of Lords.
8 FEBRUARY 1924
David Lloyd George, the former Prime Minister, denial an American newspaper’s claim that in an interview he spoke of a secret compact dealing with the Rhineland occupation as having been made between Georges Clemenceau, the French President, and the late Woodrow Wilson, the former US President. Harold Spender, the interviewer, accepted full responsibility.
Lord Balfour, referring the reconstruction of Austria, said that the League of Nations had demonstrated even to the the most sceptical and cynical that it was capable of carrying out its policy with wisdom, caution and courage.
The dockers’ demands were considered by the Employers’ National Council at a conference in London and it was believed that this was sufficient to avert a strike.
7 FEBRUARY 1924
David Lloyd George, the former Prime Minister, in a statement published in a New York newspaper, alleges that the existence of a secret Wilson-Clemenceau pact with regard to the French occupation of the Rhineland. The French Foreign Office denied that there was any secret pact.
The body of ex-President Wilson was buried in the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul at Washington, where great crowds gathered in the streets to pay a last tribute. By means of wireless apparatus, millions throughout America were able to follow the funeral service.
The Government’s housing policy was discussed at a conference at the Ministry of Labour, attended by representatives of the building trade employers and unions. The assurance was given that the trade would co-operate with the Government in the provision of houses, and it was announced that the employers and workers’ organisations would meet without delay to formulate definitive proposals.