It remains to be pointed out that, though the miners
had up till Friday morning refused to yield, a great deal of satisfac- tion was shown by them at the speech of the Prime Minister. And no wonder ; for the Government have not only accepted the principle of the minimum wage for underground workers, "with adequate safeguards," but have declared their intention, if necessary, of making it the law of the land. We may note here a curious statement of a London news agenoy. It is that for certain reasons "a most important statement made by the Prime Minister is not given in the official report of his speech." As to the nature of this statement we have no know- ledge. If we must try and sum up the situation in a sentence, it is that the miners can at any moment have legislation to enforce their demands, as modified by the Government proposal.
