The Cotton Dispute The award of the Arbitration Board under
Mr. Justice Swift was announced last week, after we had gone to press. Sharing the view that "something must be done to alleviate the present position" the Board supported the demand of the employers for some reduc- tion of wages. The actual award was half the amount of the claim, to take effect from the week ending Septem- ber 14th. Not a very impressive decision, it will be said, but it is only fair to add that the arbitrators followed it up by a reference to the task of reorganizing the industry, which falls to the sub-committee of the Committee of Civil Research. In plain English this means that Lancashire is all for retiring into her shell again, now that her differences have been aired a little—and the winds of criticism have blown. The employers certainly could not have chosen .a better moment for a trial of strength than the " wakes " period.
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