Mr. Smith's declaration that he was willing to stand by
the Report was more valuable because simpler. We cannot help feeling that the Government showed a want of imagination at this point. When these speeches were published they could have said in effect : "Done with you ! You have at last admitted that it will be necessary to review wages. The only obstacle to the acceptance of the Report is removed. So let us get back to the position before the strike and put the Report into operation." The miners' leaders could hardly have refused. We believe that that would be much the best way of ending the dispute. We are not among those who think that there is something economically vicious in the plan for working longer hours. We agree with Lord Haldane and Mr. Hodges that longer hours might be preferable to lower wages. But what we want in the mines is reorganization and lasting settlement. The Report could give us that, but a mere Hours Act coupled with bits of the Report could not.
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