No Decision at Meeting Between Masters and Men London, Feb. 27.
A joint conference of cotton employers and operatives' leaders at Manchester to-day, after a discussion lasting four hours, adjourned until Monday next, without reaching any decision.
'An official statement says that] the operatives' representatives hand-fed the employers a note regretting that the Intter did not favour the establishment of a statutory eommittee to inggire into the position of the Lancashire cotton industry and declaring. that neither the wages paid nor the 48 hour week are the feauses of the unsatisfactory state of the industry. The note said that the real cotises would be found elsewhere and that an independent impartial inquiry would be most likely correctly to dingiose the 'The operatives cannot agree employers' proposals to appoint a committee of twelve representatives from each side Jeonsider the factors in cost of production of yarn and cloth and to report within @ month how production costs can be reduced so to secure a greater volume of trade.
The employers, in reply, pointed out that they had definitely with-[drawn the specific recommendations for reduction of wages and increase of hours, but that they had not Withdrawn the questions of _in-Vestigating the effect of the present wages and hours upon their competitive power. The employers would collaborate with the opera-Hives in. ascertaining "any facts mutually agreed to be germane to those questions.
'The conference then adjourned to enable the operatives' representa tives to consider the employers" last proposal—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.