The outlook in the Labour world has slightly improved during
the past week. On Monday the Welsh miners of the Cambrian Collieries rescinded their resolution to give a month's notice, and decided to take a ballot of the entire coal- field on the subject of a general strike. Negotiations have been reopened with a view to settling the dispute at the Ely pit which led to the crisis. The Great Northern Railway dispute is clearly tending towards a solution, the Conciliation Board having agreed on an appeal to Lord Macdonnell, out of the interpretation of whose award the dispute has largely arisen. In Lancashire a mass meeting of the master cotton spinners has unanimously decided to order a general lock-out if the cardroom operatives refuse to submit the points in dispute to arbitration. The reply of the cardroom operatives has not yet been received. Finally, the Conference between the Employers Federation and the Boilermakers' Society opened on Wednes- day at Edinburgh, the men's representatives making it clear that, as they decline to assume plenary powers, their decision will only take the form of a recommendation, and will have to be confirmed by the members of the Society. So far no settlement has been arrived at, but a general feeling is abroad that the exchange of proposals will result in a scheme which will end the lock-out at an early date.
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