The International Labour Conference There will be great satisfaction at
the announcement made by Mr. Humbert Wolfe, on Tuesday, at the Inter- national Labour Conference, that the British Government proposes to take steps to ensure at the earliest possible moment the ratification of the Washington Hours Con- vention. We shall share it if the obstacles have really been overcome. The Conference of Labour Ministers in 1926 afforded some guarantee of special provisions to meet special circumstances, and the sooner the British practice is generalized, made legally enforceable, and enforced in all countries the better, not least for British trade. Adjustments in the conditions in the mining industry prescribed by the Eight Hours Act will be necessary in some coal fields, but on this point there should be no controversy. Good will on both sides should enable owners and miners to bridge over their difficulties and put the problem on the international plane, as recom- mended by the Committee on Unemployment at the I.L.O. Conference. The intervention of the Indian workers' delegate. in the Geneva discussions was notable for his reiteration of M. Albert Thomas's warning that Geneva must justify itself by works as well as by faith, if it is to checkmate the efforts of Moscow to delude the workers in the East.
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