31 JANUARY 1931, Page 3

The Cotton Lock-out The Prime Minister considers the cotton dispute

serious enough for his intervention, and representatives of the employers' organizations and of the Weavers' Amalgamation are due to see him as we go to press. The employers have not weakened in any way, but rather are showing an unusual solidarity. They say that they cannot possibly give way on the great principle which underlies the reconstruction of the cotton industry. The " more looms to a weaver " system is vital to Ration- alization, and they hold that nobody has a right to veto scientific changes merely because they involve a change in the working habits of the operatives.