16 JANUARY 1926, Page 3

The mineowners may have foreseen what amounted to a rebuff

from the Commission, and yet have decided that they had better put forward an extreme case in .view of the certainty that the miners will also present an extreme case. Bargainers naturally demand more than they expect. All the same, we doubt whether the owners were well advised in the circumstances to repeat the tactics by which they forfeited sympathy during the crisis in the autumn. We cannot be persuaded to believe that a cut in wages and an increase in working hours are the road to success. All the victorious ten- dencies in industry are now in the opposite direction. The mineowners have exposed themselves to the criticism : " You have not got a solution at all."

* * * *