Although the miners ' dispute has not been settled and the
time is running out, there are grounds for hope. The mineowners are evidently anxious not to repeat the mistakes of the dock employers, and they have gone an appreciable way towards meeting the demands of the men. They say that their offer is final, and such a statement has rather a dangerous sound about it, even when the offer is a just one. Roughly, the men asked that the minimum wage should be increased from 20 per cent. above the 1914 standard to 40 per cent. The owners offer to make the standard 30 per cent. above that of 1914. The great difficulty is, as always with the mining industry, that the various mines would be differently affected. Coal-winning is easier in some coal-fields than in others. The men's leaders are divided as to the wisdom of accepting the employers' offer, but the unbending- men of South Wales and Lancashire at present call the tune.
