On Wednesday, at Leicester, the annual address of the. President,
Mr. Pickard, M.P., was read to the Conference of the- Miners' Federation of Great Britain by Mr. Woods, M.P. Mr.. Pickard congratulated the Federation upon having obtained a living wage for the miners, and upon having made up their minds that they would not allow "the middleman, the coal- owner, or the commercial agent, to bring the wages down to. the point they were at before 1888." The price of coal could be so "arranged and maintained" as to give to both owners and men profits and wages "equal to a living rate." "Any class of trader who desired coal below the price at which it, could be fairly produced, should be made to feel that they were not entitled to any consideration at the hands of colliers- or colliery-owners." This is all very well, but it misses the' true point, that there are thousands of industrial undertaking& which not only will not, bat cannot, buy coal when it is dear. It is mere folly to talk as if the coal demand were fixed, and could not be killed by high prices. Incidentally, Mr. Pickard stated that when people in the London suburbs were paying at the rate of 50s. per ton, coal could be got in the colliery districts at the old rates,—i.e., 12s. or 13s. per ton. He also- declared that he did not think that if the mines were nationalised the miners would be better off than they are to-day. Here he is quite right. State miners might very easily slip into the position of State slaves.
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