Litchfield enquirer., 1877-08-16
.arbe great trouble here in Scranton, ;

'sThe great trouble here iii Scranton,
 said an officer of the Delaware, Lacka-
 wanna and Western Company, who has
 been acquainted with the coal business
 of the corporation for 9 years, cit is our
 population, an excess of miners for the
 work to be done" The company, few
 years ago, purchased large tracts of land
 along the valley, embracing an area of
 about four miles in length. It sunk shafts
 at great expense, at time when the pros-
 pect seemed to warrant the belief that there would be g steady demand tor all the coal that could be brought eout sof them. The miners Hooked to the region, and during the war;, when nearly all the
 men employed were foreigners, they cons stantly brought out friends and relatives
 until the scarcity of labor that had for a
 time existed ceased and when the panic
 came, Tn 1873, it was suddenly found that
 the supply of coal would have to be limit
 ed and there soon came complaints of lack of employment. Retrenchment
 soon became sHecessarys and the
 company was compelled to adopt a plan
 of working part of it's mines and regula-
 ting the supply of coal somewhat by the demands A system was at length arrang-
 ed of atrking the mines alterfately, with
 atview of at once keeping the mines in or
 der, free from gas and water, and of fur
 nishing all the miners with an equal
 amount of the work that was to be done.
 The conpany's prices of 1871. .iwere not
 changed at the 1873 panic. They remain ed high until January, 1875, when there was general reduction of 10 per cent
 In September, 1876. thefe was another re-
 duction of 10 per cent, which the officers,
 say was only made because it was abso- lutely necessary. In March last a third.
 reduction-this time ofr16 per cent--was
 ordetAd, and theL wholes range of men were then paid 35 per cent. less than four years previous The books or pay rolls of l the company show that the average of wages paid to the, miners during last month was about SIS or $19. The com- Ipany does not now, nor hes it ever
 owned, store, preferring to pay the men in cash, and let them get along with their money as they shall themselves deter mine. The effect of the reductions on the various grades of workmen can be ascertained by reference to the table of rates published two days .ago in the Times. That rate was fixed because the
 company felt that it could not continue the prices that had been paid before. The
 company is not better prepared to make
 an advance than it was a year ago, and it is out of the question to suppose for a
 minute that the order of reduction can be
 rescinded. If it had been possible to abandon several of the mines at once they lwould have been closed, long ago. But ! the mines are so constructed that if the pumps were stopped which are used to keep one clear of water, not only one but several others communicating. with it Ewouh be flooded. During dull times the Lpumps must be worked, although they are a constant expense. and the taxes are always aceumulating on the land. @ E The Directors say they are not insensi- sblei to the difficulties which the men have had to encounter. but say also that they | have done the best they could to keep all
 the men employed for part of the time,
 preferring to distribute the work to giy
 ing it out to few to the exclusion of the
 rest.-Nea0 York Times. .,