The next important event was that the Executive of the
Miners' Federation wrote to Mr. Churchill, inviting him to convene and attend a Conference of the owners and the miners. " We are prepared," wrote Mr. Cook, " to enter into negotiations for a new national agreement, with a view to a reduction in labour costs to meet the immediate necessities of the industry." The phrase " labour costs " must have been chosen with anxious consideration. It involves both wages and hours though neither is mentioned. At this ' point it remained for the Mining Association to make its contribution by agreeing to attend the proposed three-party conference. Unfor- tunately, the Mining Association has in a formal sense ceased to exist—or at least, the owners say so— because since the Hours Act was passed it has split up into its separate units, in order that the owners may concentrate their attention on district arrangements. The answer of the Mining Association, therefore, was that as a body it could not attend the conference, but it accepted the invitation to send representatives to meet the Coal Committee of the Cabinet.
* * * *
