It was on the 9th of April that our Miners' Delegate Conference passed the following resolution which was strictly in conformity with the T.U.C. Committee’s statement of February 26th, quoted above:-
"That this Conference, having considered the report of the Royal Commission and the proposals of the coalowners thereon, recommends the districts as follows:—
"(a) That no assent be given to any proposal for increasing the length of the working day.
"(b) That the principle of a national wage agreement with a national minimum percentage be firmly adhered to.
"(c) That inasmuch as wages are already too low, we cannot assent to any proposals for reducing wages.
"These recommendations to be remitted to the districts for their immediate consideration and decision, after which a further delegate conference be called as speedily as possible for the purpose of arriving at a final decision."
On April 30th our lock-out notices terminated without any proposals being placed by the coalowners before the miners’ leaders for consideration. The only proposals were those placed at the pit-heads, which were worse than those put forward last July, and roused the indignation of every decent human being who understood them. They gave us, for information, these scales, with their variations from district to district, just before they were put up at the pit-tops. They would not discuss them. They would not negotiate with us for any national scale whatever.
Not until 1-15 p.m. on the 30th April, when the men had already been locked out, were terms placed before the miners’ leaders through the medium of the British Prime Minister. These terms were:—
A reduction in the minimum percentage to 20 per cent. above 1914, instead of the existing 33⅓ per cent., on condition that the working hours should be extended from seven to eight per day for at least three and a-half years.
These proposals the miners’ leaders as well as the T.U.C. Negotiating Committee—especially J.H. Thomas—agreed were not worthy even of consideration.
In the meantime the T.U.C. General Council, recognising that a struggle was inevitable owing to the attitude of the
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