My individual experience abundantly confirms the opinion expressed by the Committee of the House of Commons, to the effect that the prices of coal, which prevailed for years before the present rise commenced, were so low that they did not afford a reasonable profit to the owners of collieries in general, or such remuneration as the workmen might, with regard to the hazardous and arduous nature of their labour, reasonably expect. The rise in the rate of wages has not, under the exceptional circumstances, been unreasonable; and it is certain that the real order of events has been, first, the rise in price of iron, then a rise in the price of coal, and lastly a rise in the rate of wages. On the other hand, great as the profits in the coal trade have been, it is a question whether the last two years have compensated the coal-owners for the former protracted era of stagnation, and, in many cases, of serious loss. In a letter addressed to _The Times_, early in the present year, in which the case of the masters was ably argued, Mr. Laing narrated the history of the Bleanavon Company. Owing to various causes, that concern had been worked for several years without profit. Only within the last three years had it become a profitable undertaking; and yet all through a long period of adversity an amount of £3,000 to £4,000 a week was paid in wages, at the same rate as by the most prosperous iron works; and the capital sunk by the original proprietors was the means of creating a town, and supporting a population of 9,000, in a secluded mountain valley of South Wales. Causes which will lead to a reduction in price of coal. The present unprecedented prosperity may continue for a year or two years at the most, but, at the end of that time, the influx of capital into the coal trade, attracted by the present high profits, will infallibly lead to some reduction of price. New coal pits are being sunk. Old pits are being improved. More workmen are being trained in the business of mining. Hence we may look with confidence to an augmentation of the output, and to a sufficient supply for the ordinary demands of consumers. The insufficient profits of former days cannot be attributed to the unreasonable standard at which wages were maintained. The excessive competition in the supply of coal was the true cause of the unfortunate position of the trade. And as in the former period of depression, so in the sudden and it may be short-lived prosperity of the present day, the rates of wages must be regarded, not as a cause, but as a consequence, of an abnormal position of affairs. Hours of labour.