The miners' delegates would, it is believed, have accepted the
Government's very liberal offer at their meeting on Friday week. But on that day the railwaymen rejected the Government's proposals and threatened a strike. The miners, the transport workers, and the railwaymen, forming a "Triple Alliance," had agreed on common action in regard to striking. Thus, although the miners and transport workers were by now on the point of arranging a settlement of all disputes, the railwaymen seemed to be about to involve them and the community in a common disaster. Wiser counsels, however, prevailed. The leaders of the "Triple Alliance" met Mr. Boner Law and two of his colleagues last Saturday, and in their Conference, of which a full official report was published, cleared up some of the strange ambiguities and dangerously vague expressions which seem to creep into most labour agreements. Mr. Boner Law displayed admirable tact and patience. He told the delegates plainly that the Government were committing themselves to a very large expenditure in the hope of contenting the railwaymen and the miners, but that the country was in a serious financial position, and could not do more at present. He reminded them, too, that they stood to gain far more by peaceful negotiation than by fighting the State.
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