Meanwhile the coal stoppage is not ended, and Mr. Baldwin's
proposals for a settlement have been issued and are beipg discussed. In taking charge of the negotiations he shows that he has given up all hope of a direct settle- ment of the wages question between the owners and the miners. His proposals are described as being " on the lines " of the Commission's Report. It will be asked at once, Why not the Report, the whole Report and nothing Ibut the Report ? It will be asked also whether it is not dangerous for the Commission's scheme—which provided something that everybody disliked and was for that reason probably a just compromise—to be scrapped in favour of a selective scheme. If the Government begin !selecting things from the Report will not the mineowners and the miners also want to select, with the result that the Report will gradually disappear ? The answer, which seems to us to be a convincing one, is that Mr. Baldwin wants to put his scheme through as quickly as possible and that he rejects only those portions of the Report which would not immediately affect wages but which would cause delay in the reconstruction. It is for this reason, as we understand it, that he drops temporarily the Commission's proposals that the royalty owners should be bought out and that municipalities should be authorized to sell coal. There is no reason why these points should not appear again later. In the meantime a levy would be made on the royalties for welfare purposes. * * * *
Previous page
