The Cotton Dispute The terms on which the cotton weavers'
strike has ended are all the more satisfactory because they deal with the larger questions at issue and not merely with minor matters such as the reinstatement of strikers. The joint conference of manufacturers and weavers, with Mr. Leggett, of the Ministry of Labour, in the chair, has gone to the root of the matter by restoring the old county agreement and providing new machinery —a conciliation committee with an independent chair- man—to make the agreement effective. Most of the troubles of the last few months have been due to the anarchy that followed the employers' denunciation of the county agreement. They now see their mistake. The parties, when once brought into friendly contact, have found it relatively easy to settle the wages reduc- tion at about ls. 8id. in the £ on actual earnings, and to bring the long controversy about the working of more looms per weaver very near to a conclusion. The re- instatement of strikers is left largely dependent on the goodwill and good sense of individual employers, but these qualities should not be lacking when all concerned want to restart the mills at the earliest possible moment. The spinners are still negotiating with their employers, but the outlook in Lancashire is perceptibly brighter than it has been for many months.
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