Government Intervention ?
It is natural for the public- to look to the Ministry of Labour in this crisis. The Deputy Lord Mayor of Manchester did his best by bringing the parties together, but he could not make them agree. Sir Henry Betterton and his expert advisers might surely take up the task of conciliation. Somebody will haVe to do it sooner or later, and every day that is wasted adds to Lancashire's loss. The Ministry prefers, of course, to be invited by at least one side, if not by both sides, lest by attempting and failing to mediate it may make matters worse. But the cotton industry is too important to the nation to be left in its present chaos for the sake of a formality. It would be well if our industrial relations were so amicable that recourse could be had to the Industrial Court, which seemed, . when established in 1919, to promise a happier future, free from strikes. But the Court cannot operate in a wages dispute except at the express desire of both parties. Intervention by the Ministry must come first, and it cannot come too soon.
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