To return to the negotiations between the owners and the
miners. On Tuesday the miners agreed provisionally to a 2s. flat reduction in wages equivalent to £30,000,000 a year,
and demanded thei the Exchequer should contribute the • equivalent of £31,000,000 a year in order to make up the deficit Naturally, Sir Robert Home refused this proposal, and he suggested that the miners should agree to a reduction which in the poorest districts would reach a maximum of Ss. 6d. per shift. There was no daylight in them exchanges, but on Wednesday affairs took a better turn. The miners insisted that the reduction should be a uniform amount throughout all districts. This seems to involve some kind of a pool, though we do not know yet exactly how the plan would work out. Sir Robert Home, apparently, did not reject this. He also stated that the Government would help the industry for four months if the owners would give up their profits for four months instead of for three.
