List Saturday the Mines Department i,ssued a statement thilito Mr.
Bridgeman's object had been to make possible thitk reopening of negotiations between the owners and, the miners. The miners' leaders had, however, declared that they were unwilling to meet the owners unless the owners.' notice to terminate the present agreement was withdrawn. If this were done the miners NVould meet the owners again at anytime. At first sight it seemed to be a small matter to ask the owners to withdraw the notice. Fresh negotiations could then have taken place with a clean Slate. It has been pointed out, however, by the Par- liamentary Correspondent of the Times that the owners wished to maintain the notice for the sake of those collieries which, though losing money, have continued to work in the hope that negotiations with the miners would lead 100 to a scheme for reducing the cost of production. It 101 would be unfair, the owners think, to cancel the notice and run the risk of failing to arrive at a settlement, and of having to issue the notices afresh. Moreover, they 102 were only following the precedent set. by the miners themselves a year ago when they gave notice to terminate the agreement but did not cancel the notice when a Government inquiry was instituted.
