When negotiations between labor leaders and the government broke down completely on January 30, the momentum toward a general strike seemed irresistible. Late the following day, General MacArthur intervened to announce that he would not permit “the use of so deadly a social weapon.” With this, the “two-one [February 1] strike” entered the realm of political legend. Conservatives who had merely been jubilant on May 20, when MacArthur condemned “disorderly minorities,” were now ecstatic. Labor leaders wept openly, and the more radical among them now looked upon the United States with bitterness
...more
