This attitude of Mr. Baldwin towards the miners' proposals was
more or less described in a brief letter which he sent to them on Friday, September 24th. The defect of the letter was that it omitted to mention that the only cause of the breakdown of the plan for a three- party conference was the owners' refusal to attend. Literally the Government seemed to accept the respon- sibility and odium of turning down the proposals as the result of exercising their own judgment, whereas they had actually been careful to find out first whether there was any chance of the owners coming to a conference. All this time, of course, the Prime Minister's own offer of the National Arbitration Tribunal remained open. Such was the position when the House of Commons reassembled on Monday. The Prime Minister on that day reviewed the negotiations to an accompaniment of interruptions, and explained why the creation of a National Arbitration Tribunal subsequent to district settlements was now the only possible policy. He did not disguise, however, his annoyance and indignation when he described the part played by the owners. He declared that in refusing to attend a three-party conference they had acted with " stupidity " and with "a want of courtesy" to the Government. Whatever their views might be, attendance at the proposed conference was their "plain duty."
Previous page
