The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-05-07

81. CLAIR, April 20.

To Ne naanw ssehs wesxwsxATs ADvooAss.
In the daily lss5ssns Of the 10th inst,
I find nm article on the g Anthracite
Coal Fislds and Schuylkill Miner
Strike" That being the fairest view
thas any-sf the city papers gave Of our
present strike, knowing that It's impair
tial ~ far ~ the correspondent had to
do with il, and no doubt but some time
and trouble has been expended 70 get
hold of such facts which are correct.
The basis system as it was established
in this country in 80, has been laid
before the public AMI explained. Also'
the basis Of the "Anthracite Coal
Board" which was offered to the
miners and laborers on the 4th Of April,
has been laid before the public fairly,
and squarely, as they agreed on it,
which basis the miners are out now re-
sisting. My object is to explain the
reason that the miners are striking
against the basis ofth Anthracite Coal
Board. The old basis of 80 was e3
per ton ut Port Carbon, at which price
the miner was to receive ola per week !;
inside laborer $l2 per week and out
side laborer $ll.O0 per week. The
new basis il $3.50 per ton at Port Car
bon, and the miners to receive $1,000
per week inside laborer $1,000 per
week; and outside laborer $500 per
week, and 90 per cent ON all advances,
the same 90 the old basis. When the
basis OF go was agreed upon, the opera
tors acknowledged that 20 per cent. was
fair advance. Therefore we knowing
that it must be o poor rule that wont
work both ways, have resisted against
the new basis, finding that the redue-
ton On the wages il too mnch; so cents
per ton, according to the operators
basis only calls for 10 per cent reduc-
ton. which would leave the miners
wages $3.50 per week instead Of el2 |;
the inside l&borer $1,000 instead of
4l0; and outside laborer $3.50 instead
OF %. Also the new basis takes 80 per
cent. fiom all contract work, which is
10 per cent too mach; for instance we
| will saw that coal has advanced from
t25O to 50 per ton. the miners would
he ensielesl to 10 per cent well ten per
cent ON el2 per week would give the
\ minera3l8.9 20 per week, instead of Ola ;
and inside laborer $l1 per week instead
of Sl2; and outside laborers $500 in
stead Of Sill. Therefore the miners
would be deficient Of 80 cents per week,
inside laborer OIL per week, and outside
laborers $l.l0 per week, according to
the old basis. When the basis of 80
was agreed upon the miners and Ia
borers understood that 20 per cent
was not the right advance, the under
standing was that $50 per cent vas the
right per centage according to the fixed
basis, for as % per ton is to $l4 per
week, 90 il a per ton to t1S.663 and
20 9S per ton is to $l2 per
week, % IL o. per ton 70 @l6
per week DC. which shows 3S4
per cent. to be the exact per centage
according to the basis, Being q mem
Der of the Royk;ssmsas' Beaseelsnt AssO-
eiaeiom, i understand that strike is the
very last means we wish 10 use for the
purpose of endeavoring 10 procure our
rights. The news has been widely
spread that miners are Overpaid for
their labor. Therefore. / would wish
for the public to know in round figures
what miners incomes per annum do
average. Before laying the figures / will
state that the Schuylkill miners do not
work more than eight months . year
ut farthest If we take the operators
figures Of the earnings Of contract
miners per week, which 10 far too high,
S23 per week for eight months, would
amount TO $3.50 o year, or $6l.S31 per
month for twelve months /; submitting
to 80 per cent. Of . reduction, would
leave q contract miner $42.94 per
month. Knowing from personal ex-
perience that these figures are too high,
/ would be satisfied in taking the more
reliable figures, which is about $40 per
month, for eight months; It will amount
to $500 year, or e46.66 per month for
twelve months il we take 80 per cent
off these it viii leave q contract miner
eS2. 81 per month. A miners working
days wages, according to the operators
basis, would earn in eight months 1884,
or $50 for twelve months. There Is .
few il every colliery which works
nearly full time, such az repairsmen,
about three or four in number. Now
| AZ cwn~As~n - hn af
Schuylkil justified in resisting against
the new basis, or are the above figures
enough for family to live on in the
mining regions. All men that know
anything about the mines, understand
that the miners as a class of men have
to suffer more than any other class Of
laborers. It's true that their laborers
have on times to work more than them,
but they have to breathe the most i'm
pure air, and encounter the most dan
ger. They have daily aud hourly to
breathe these gases, which injure their
constitutions and bring them to an un-
timely grave, also the risk Of being
burnt in the gas, which il the life Ia NOT
taken, takes q great amount OF money
for doctors medicines DC, without the
suffering. The danger of being wound
ed or killed by fall of coal or rock,
which every thinking man knows must
occur on times; every ton of coal that
goes to market goes with the miners
blood dripping on it, and reliable stats
tics proves that at an average they do
sacrifice fifteen years Of their lives The
operators find chance miner making
I q few hundred dollars, and without con-
sidering that some operators becomes
million aires, where others are reduced to
poverty. They want to equalize the
miners without thinking that some men
on their own merits becom rich in the
same business az others are made