Mr. Boner Law, replying on the amendment, which was rejected
by 311 votes to 59, pointed out that the Government had done a great deal to increase wages and reduce the hours of labour, and that it bad checked " profiteering " with more success than any foreign Government by taxation and by controlling prices. As for the coal industry, he said that we must consider the effect of an immense increase in the cost of production before we agreed to it. The public drew a clear distinction between strikes directed against employers and strikes aimed at the community, which the Government must defend. He welcomed the rejection by most Trade Union leaders of " the old idea of improving the conditions of workmen by doing lees work "—as fatal an idea as that of the niggardly employer who cuts down piece rates because he thinks the workmen are earning too much. Mr. Boner Law thought that the chief obstacles to a resumption of industry were lack of capital and credit, and a want of confidence on the part of employers in the face of labour unrest and falling prices. Exces- sive demands, prompted by the workman's fear of unemploy- ment, tend to increase the very evil which he would exorcise.
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