The Prime Minister explained the terms of settlement in the
House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon. The miner's mini- mum wages are to be 20 per cent, more than the pre-war standard or minimum wages. In each district the new standard wages, together with the other costs of production and 17 per cent. of the standard wages as standard profits, are to be a first charge on the industry. Any surplus will be divided, 83 per cent. going to increase wages and 17 per cent going to increase profits. Miners paid by the day, whose wages, as measured by the standard, are too low for their subsistence, will receive special allowances. The Government grant will be used to prevent the reductions in wages below the March rates from exceeding 2s. a shift in July, 2s. 6d. in August, and 38. in September, The Prime Minister pointed out that, but for the grant, the immediate reduction necessary would be 9s. 6d. a day in South Wales, where the wages paid were exceptionally high, 6s. 3d. in Northumberland, and 5s. in Lancashire and Scotland. Where the subsidy was paid, the owners would forgo any claim to additional profit.
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