2 DECEMBER 1916, Page 2

It was announced on Thursday that the • Government, acting

under the powers- of the Defence • of the Realm Act, have taken control of the South Wales coalfields, where a fierce wages dispute had lately broken out. The Department through which the Govern- ment are acting is the Board of Trade. The new regulations, state that the coal mines subject to the regulations " pass into • the possession " of the Board of Trade " as from the date of the. Order." The owners, agents, and managers become for the- time, in effect, the servants of the Department. The men, we understand, were asking .far an advance of 15 per cent. and the owners for a reduction of 10 per cent. It is stated that the Board of Trade announcement was a surprise to both sides in the dispute.