The Coal Crisis
Part III of the Coal Mines Act, providing for a seven and a half hour day, is due to come into force next Monday. There are still, however, a number of disputes which threaten a stoppage, in Scotland and South Wales particularly ; and the Government may possibly have to rush through Parliament a postponing Bill. A joint appeal for postponement by the owners and miners of Warwickshire was made on Tuesday, and it is thought that the National Industrial Board, set up under the Act, which held its first meeting on Wednesday, will make a recommendation in the same sense. The Board has before it one or two minor district disputes. In Cumberland, North Wales, and Leicester- shire, the miners' representatives have agreed to the spread-over proposals—a working period not exceeding ninety hours in the fortnight—and the local decisions only await endorsement by the Miners' Federation and the Mining Association.
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