Most of the founding unions were part of the Federated District. This had been created in 1888 and covered Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, the Midland Counties, Lancashire and Cheshire, and North Wales. In these districts, most output was used within the UK and, as a result, variations in international trade had less impact on them. Their unions were opposed to payment of miners on a "sliding scale" based on the selling price of coal, a practice which was standard in South Wales, Northumberland and Durham. In recognition of this status, a single Conciliation Board was created for the Federated District. The Federated District unions often worked together and opposed initiatives of the other MFGB affiliates. In 1918, a majority of the MFGB decided instead to campaign for a single National Wages Board and this led to the break-up of the Federated District. A. R. Griffin claimed that this "...did incalculable harm to the miners of the Midlands without doing any good to anyone else".