NEWTS OF THE WEEK
ALTHOUGH the Coal negotiations are almost at a deadlock when we write these words the situation is probably better than it seems. The miners have not • rejected the Report and have not even formally refused a reduction in the wages of the higher paid men or an increase-of hours. We think that if we were miners we should-say, as the first point in the bargaining, " Leave wages alone and we will work a little longer till the improVement in the mines makes it possible to reopen the whole question." Mr. Frank Hodges, the Secretary of the International Federation of Miners, has reviewed the whole problem with much penetration and wisdom, and he has definitely stated that if it came to a choice between wages and hours he would prefer longer hours.
