In the coal dispute little progress has been made outwardly.
The discussions in Parliament have seemed barren, but we do not regret that they took place. They confirmed the Government's readiness to perform its part of making it easy for the two sides to return to the Report of the Royal Commission or to propose any forward step on which they can agree. The miners' leaders have shown, we believe, that with encouragement they will show less unreason. If their conference to be held on Friday confirms this, we cannot believe that the colliery proprietors will hang back from any move towards peace. The visit of Mr. Hodges and Mr. Cook to Paris last week for a meeting of the Miners' Inter- national Federation can hardly have encouraged Mr. Cook's intransigeanee or his inclination towards Moscow, which was strongly condemned. He must be disappointed, too, in his visit to the Warwickshire coal- field, where a fairly substantial number of miners are at work.
