15 MARCH 1919, Page 2

miners' representatives that, while they have continually put forward unproved

figures in support of their case, they objected most vehemently to the returns submitted by the collieries through the Mining Association. Presumably they did not want the public to know that the miners' wages had been doubled during the war, and that a piece-work coal-getter, for example, in November last was earning on an average 17s. a shift. We see no reason why he should not earn such wages, nor why the public should not know it. But facts such as these expose the absurdity of Mr. Smillie's contention that the minor is a poor famished creature who cannot earn enough to make both ends meet