In the dispute between the South Wales coalowners and the
Mines Department about the amount of the State subsidy in aid of wages in September, Sir William Pleader, as arbitrator, decided last week that the coalowners were in the right. The agreement of June 28th had, he said, been " obviously prepared ander great pressure and without that full and detailed considera- tion which the complexity of the problem required." He construed it to mean that the owners were liable for wages at 72.6 per cent. over the 1915 standard, and not at 97.5 per cent., as the Department contended. The State has to pay tho differ- ence out of the unexpended balance of the subsidy. It is strange that agreements relating to the coal industry should always be liable to conflicting interpretations, especially in South Wales, but we are glad to find that the coalowners were not in fault this time. On the question of the rates of wages to be paid in October Sir William Pleader, as chairman of the National Wages Board, ruled that the September rates should remain in force. It is feared that some collieries, at least, cannot face the heavy loss thin entailed. On the other hand, Mr. Hartshorn, one of the miners' leaders, has begun to make violent speeches de- nouncing the coalowners for their " callous indifference to the hardships of the miners." Yet the coalowners cannot be expected to work the mines at a loss for an indefinite period.
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