* * The invitation was at once acted upon and
since then there haVe been continual comings and goings which it is impossible for us to summarize. Always in the background there has been the Industrial Committee of the Trade Union Congress, which has been as busy as a bee, and sometimes the more ponderous figure of the. General Council of the Trade Union Congress seen dimly, through mists. We cannot help attaching importance. to the strong desire for peace entertained by those able' negotiators, Mr. J. H. Thomas and Mr. Pugh, even though they have no direct responsibility. Things had a better look on . Tuesday evening, when the negotiating com- mittees met in Mr. Baldwin'S. private room at the House of Commons. It is unofficially, though no doubt accurately, reported thit at this coniereriec the Prime . Minister begged the committees to act in the interests of the whole country, and not to check the returning industrial prosperity. He pointed out that for the. first time since 1920 the employment figure was below a million and that the cost of living figure was down to 68—the lowest since 1919. A very interesting suggestion. was that of the Prime Minister that if there was a settlement 'it should last for some years, say, at least five years. Year by year inter- ruptions in the coalfields account for a considerable amount of loss, and there is no doubt that if there was a certainty of peace over a prolonged period the owners could afford to pay a little more than has ever been economically justified hitherto.
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