In the House of Commons on Thursday, June 21st, Mr.
Adamson, for the Labour Party, moved the second reading of the Coal Mines Amendment Bill, the object of which was to amend the Coal Mines Minimum Wage Act of 1912. The point was to provide a minimum wage to correspond to the increased cost of living to-day, and to extend the principle to the surface workmen who were excluded from the Act of 1912. The debate was without bitterness, but it must also be said without enthusiasm, on the part of the Labour Party. Many Labour Members were absent. The sup- porters of the Bill painted a very gloomy picture of the present conditions, which Mr. Adamson called " simply appalling." Unfortunately, Mr. Adamson dis- missed as almost irrelevant the essential question, " Where is the money to come from ? " His argument that the middleman was one of the main sources of the present trouble was significant, and one would like to know whether or not better organization would eliminate, not the desirable services of the middleman, but those which are parasitic.
Previous page
