NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE position in the coal dispute when we write is that if a settlement is not reached quickly matters may drift so far as to be virtually beyond control. Things would then in a sense "settle themselves." The miners would continue to drift back to work, perhaps faster, and at length the stage would be reached at which industry would no longer be conscious of the shocks of the Coal stoppage. We simply cannot share the belief, however, of many of the mineowners that this end to the stoppage would in any way be a settlement. The causes of discontent and unrest would remain. The miners would feel that in spite of the strong opinions expressed by the Royal Commission in favour of a national settle- ment, and in spite of the similar expressions of belief by the Government, they had had to jay the toll of the vanquished to the victors. They would feel that their national organization had been designedly broken up, and they would probably set to work -to prepare for the day when they could reopen the whole issue.
