Bombay mill strike and after

NOW that practically all the cotton mills in Bombay are idle and over a lakh and a half labourers are without employment and rapidly leaving the city, it is reasonable to ask how long this situation will last and what steps are intended to be taken to reopen the mills and restore normal working. As the present crisis is the result of trade depression, it is obvious that the mills cannot reopen until the trade conditions improve. But will the trade conditions improve without serious efforts being made by those in whom the power to do so lies? The mill owners themselves, the Government and the public are all affected, more or less, by the closure of the mills and they are bound to suffer loss in one form or another. The Government has a moral and financial responsibility in the matter and its clear and imperative duty is to consider what action should be taken to abate the sufferings of the poor labourers on the one hand and to help the mill owners to revive this great industry on the other. They were appealed to most earnestly by the mill owners, the labourers and the public to abolish the cotton excise duty which would have enabled the mill owners to avoid the present crisis. But they obstinately refused to do so, on the pretext of not being able to sacrifices a revenue of Rs 2 crore. But are they not likely to lose this amount, if not more, all the same as a result of the closure of the mills which, besides, are a source of living to several lakhs of people?