11 SEPTEMBER 1920, Page 1

On Wednesday the Congress was permitted by its leaders to

approach the coal question but not to discuss it. Mr. Hodges was given an opportunity of stating the miners' case, which be did very ably from his own point of view, and then the Congress passed, unanimously and without debate, a resolution stating that the miners' claims were " both reasonable and just and should be conceded forthwith." If the Congress organizers suppose that such a resolution will impress any serious person, they are much mistaken. It is notorious that the miners themselves are half-hearted in support of Mr. Smillie's revolutionary policy, and that the sober trade union leaders strongly disapprove of it.