30 MARCH 1912, Page 3

The House of Lords gave a Second Reading to the

Minimum Wage Bill on Wednesday, but the final stages were postponed owing to a hitch in regard to an amendment which the Government had given notice that they would propose. Lord Crewe's statement of the Government case did not differ from that of his colleagues. Lord Lansdowne, on behalf of the Opposition, though he did not oppose the measure, pointed out that it had not been accepted by either of the parties to the dispute. It was a new, a remarkable, and an abrupt departure, and due not to the grievances of the coal miners, but to the appearance of an attempt to hold up the country. Lord Lansdowne bore testimony to the patience with which the Prime Minister and his colleagues bad carried out the negotiations, but regretted that it was not said more distinctly at the outset that the Government were prepared to extend the fullest measure of protection to those workers who stood outside the strike.