Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-04-16
FIRST EDITION.
The Coal Miners and Operators.


pENr-rHE WAGES THE MINERS MAKE-wHAr
THE OPERATORS DEMAND
| TO Tie Editor Of the Commercial:
notice your comments in Mondays p per
Oh The Coal mining Troubles" In what way
when, and where have the operators "announc-
ed their" resolution to "crush the miners or,
ganizations?" The operators have not 30 an
| nounced, and moreover do not wish to crush the
workmans associations. Again and again, have
heard operators say they would rather work
with the Union than out OF it, and this for very
| clear reasons. But this association, from igno-
rance OF its members and demagogueism on the
part OF its leaders, has gradually assumed power
and authority, tyrannical and unlawful, both
IN its general society and it's local
| district committees. House bill 1T8 presented
at the last sesaion of the Pennsylvania Legisla-
ture, il q fair sample OF the capacity" of this
ignorance. Its tyranny over operators has be-
come 80 unbearable AS to force them-indvidu-
| ais, hrmH and cOrporations-into combination
which means to fight to the bitter end the ques-
| ton IN to "who shall manage the mines y The
| question OF wages, simply, can be arbtrated or
compromised but the claim of the workmen TO
make rules for the management of the miners
must be surrendered.
With the close Of navigation the market for
coal becomes very contracted. Orders for coal
or storage room could not have been found on
the first OF January last or for weeks after suf-
icent to take the production of all the coal re-
gion for one day. There was nothing to do but
to to stop work.
A new year commencing, and their customers
were supplied with coal. now was the time for
the operators to ASSERT their rights and saw what
they would do for the coming season. Let us
look at their offer. 1. was 1st-For out side
labor
First class wages ..........l. LOO per day
Second class wages. .......1.35 "
Within week, see by the COMMERCIAL that
laborers in the Wilmington rolling mills are paid
s7 and IS per week, and that the P. W. & B. r.
IL. Company, are advertising for 200 laborers at
apay OF $l.25 per day and that the work may
last all Summer. If these strikers had listened
to reason they would have had work for ten or
eleven months OF this year.
End. The miners and,inside laborers are paid on
the basis system, wages being graduated accor-
ding to the price Of coal. TO get at the wages we
must go back to the result OF last year. / have
before me an extract from the pay roll of col
liery showing earnings OF ten ''average miners
for last October, WORKING eight hours a day for
twenty-six days.
Average amount paid. id...................S12 1922 23
Deduction for labor, powder, and oil. .... 81. IS
Net amount paid each. .................. 91.05
Showing all average per day. .......... $50
The price Of coal that.month was eleven per
cent above the basis.
Taking off this eleven per cent from
the amount paid and we have.,......... 100, 13
Pay at the basis. Observation-Disclosures. 7795
or pay per day. Observation-Disclosures. 800
Therefore the workmen would not allow wa
ges to "sde' below minimum basis. Now
the operators say, and in saying it recognize the
Union:
can inside work to be on basis system. Ba-
sis, S2 so for coal at Port Carbon" " Inside la
bor and miners wages to be reduced ten per
cent from present basis prices" No maxi.
m m M mil mt ia ra In On
" down as well AZ sup" according to the price
of coal.
Compare the above figures with tho wages re
ceyed by any class of workmen where as little
skill is required as in mining coal and say II q
reduction of ten per cent is hardship in view
of tho general shrinkage of values.
Sd. On this same pay roll l find that gangway
men earned an average OF S562 per day, and
work at chutes and headings averaged So per
day, under the contract system and superinten-
dent tells me that "some of the gangway men
have made as high as Blk or seven dollars per
day. The operators say " Contract work to
be reduced twenty per cent" Do you not think
with me that these wages of s5 to 81 per day
will bear reduction Of twenty per cent?
There has been no speculation made by the
operators in COAL nor advantage taken Of the
strike. Wilmington and Philadelphia consul
mers have been buying their coal until now at
prices averaging Soc to s1.00 less than other win
ters, though the weather has been 30 severe. All
the coal i'll first hands has been held without ad
vance, and deliveries have been made at Port
Richmond, this month, at 5l.00 ton less than
the November prices Now that stocks are ex-
hausted the responsibility is no longer with the
operators II coal in second or third hands goes
up to S2O per ton, consumers must hold the
workmens association responsible.
The workmen are held to these ext RENE mea-
sures through fear OF violence. The coffin no
tices of which can furnish you samples are no
idle threats. l know of collieres where if the
law had authority and would protect the work.
men now and for the future, work would be re-
sumed tomorrow by men glad Of the chance.
Admit that i'll this free country, every man
has right to ask what he thinks proper for his
services, and that employers may pay what they
please without any coercion intimidation
from Others and you will take away the corner
stone Of the present strike and topple the whole
structure to the ground.
No cry against monopoes' or "corpora-
tions" is in order until this point is settled.
The work Of the miners is hard and attended
with danger, yet it is motto that "once a miner
always miner" Statistics will show that the
death rate is greatly increased during the years
in which strikes occur owing to the derange-
ment Of the work and increased recklessness on
the part of the workmen.
This workmen's association is saying to the
consumers, "we have taken charge OF the mines
and you can have coal only when we allow it"
The consumers will soon have something to say,
and it seems to me it would be proper to ask
these workmen to furnish
FACTS AND FIGURES.