n Ireland--are still unsettled; the
Turkish Treaty is not yet ratified; the cost of living continues to
rise, and the ratio of unemployment has alarmingly advanced, especially
in the case of ex-service men.

These last are to be found work in the building trades, with, it is
hoped, the assistance of the trade unions, but, if that hope is
disappointed, then without it. The country requires half-a-million
houses built. "Here are men who could assist," said the PRIME MINISTER,
"and we propose that they should be allowed to assist."

Over a prospect already sufficiently bleak there broods the shadow of
the coal-strike. Sir ROBERT HORNE, in presenting the case for the
Government, was admirably clear but, perhaps naturally, a little cold.
Only when the new lighting arrangement had flooded the House with
artificial sunshine did the Minister warm up a little and hint that a
way of peace might yet be found.

I wonder if it was by accident or artifice that Mr. BRACE began his plea
for the miners with the admission that they had only dropped the demand
for the reduction of fourteen shillings and twopence in the price of
domestic coal when they discovered that "the money was not there."
Anyhow the laughter that ensued served to put Members into a good temper
and to cause them to lend a friendly ear to his suggestion that the two
shillings advance, though in his view only "dust in the balance," should
be "temporarily" conceded, pending the establishment of a tribunal which
should permanently settle the conditions of the mining industry. The
increase of output which everyone desired would then be brought about.

Most of the speakers who followed seemed to think that Mr. BRACE had
sown the seed of a settlement. It was left to the PRIME MINISTER, who
evidently did not relish the task, to awaken the House from its
beautiful dream. He pointed out that to accept the proposal would be to
give the miners what they had originally claimed, without any guarantee
that the greater output would be forthcoming. If it were not forthcoming
and the two shillings were taken away, what would happen? "A strike,"
cried someone. "Precisely," said Mr. LLOYD GEORGE; only it would have
been provoked by the Government instead of by the miners. He was not
prepared to do business on those lines.

And so the debate came to an end rather than a conclusion.

_Wednesday, October 20th._--The Peers plunged into the morasses of the
Irish Question. Lord CREWE ask