Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1879-12-06
THE MINING JOURNAL.
]. p. ODER, EDITOR.
FRosTBURa, MD, DEC. 8, 1879,
sL1p1Ne-scALE WAGES IN MINING

The commercial men In the Forth Of En-
gland seem to be strongly attached to the
ssliding scales" for the mechanical deter
Of wages BIZ the price Of the pro-
duct Of the labor employed. In the Dur
ham coal trade, negotiations are now TAX
ing place In regard to the renewal of that
which the strike CT few months ago sus-
pended; and in the Cleveland iron trade,
the mine-owners have suggested the regu-
lation Of wages by sliding scale bas~d
uron the price Of iron. 1t is understood
that both these will be free from that OBJ
jectionable clause which frustrated the op- !
rrati. Of the previous scale in the Oar /
han coal trade, a clause, fixing the mini |
mum rate OF wages. In both industries,
with proper basis, such a scale might be
simultaneously brought into use, for the
price of coal is an easy ascertainable fact,
a ID the labor involved n winnig it is
fixed proporti:n. Assuming, then, that
the price of coal represents. as it roughly
doe the extent of the demand for coal,
ard thus for the .olliers' labor, that price
is as fair a test of the market value Ct the
labor as can be pr, duced. 1t is little
different with the ironstone industries,
for coal undergoes no change before its
price is asrertained, but in the method
suggested it is proposed to regulate the
iron miners wages by the price of pig
iron, which includes for its production not
only labor at the iron mines, but also a.
the coal mires, limestone quarries and
l. asst furnaces This is due to the fact
LAT iron store Is COZ parativelv little sold
the great bu'h of that produced heins
smelt.d at the blast furnaces BIZ longing to
the mine-owners. Hence, tue resultant
pig-iron is taken as the best test of tie val
NC Of the labor Of tho iron miners. but 1t
will lie Seer that it is a test further re-
moved. Ifh9weyer methods Of aholishiDg
strikes such as these could be successfully
introduced in the north, there would be
greater continuity Of work and less violent
and rapid fluctuations in price, because
the cost of production would be. more
readily asceltainablc, and tine changes it
underwent would be more readily aprreci'
ated in the market.-London D1ily Necs.
1t cannot be denied that the fire.
quent recurrence of strikes is fruit
full soulc e of doubt and unrest, COM
mercially speaking. Manufacturers
and operators are continually subject
to the annoyance Of inserting the
clause, Subject to strikes in their
contracts-a provision which embar-
raises the particular trade concerned
all the way from producer to consrm-
or. Moreover, collateral industries
and their dependencies are affected un-
til the entire body polite works more
or less upon contingency. So insld-
uouely does this perple1;ty ramify all
the avenues of trade the ordinary eye
does not and cannot follow its wind
ings. Those within the circles OF
commercial activity, however, feel the
lar when the whirl of business is
Sprayed" by an inopportune stop
race of wheel somewhere within
the domain of the great system.
1t we're almost idle to look for the
causes of these interrupt, rs. The
capt. fundamentally interested and
the workingnen directly employed
each have thei: theories, bit mainly
and generally both are wrong, be-
cause self-interest the great lever of
business action, must be hidden from
public view. But, with more sagacl-
ty, the former is answerable fer the
larger share Of cull ability. Unwll-
ling to divide with the laborer due
portion of the profits, his business cor
necticn IS studied round of conceal
ments. He has enacted commercial
laws and encountered business dialect
with terms less significant of what
they mean than what they do not,
and ioterpretahle only by tie com
parativcly few and shrewd aluma1
who have passed though his cunning
alma mater. The unsophisticated
man of the world has little or no time
or inclination to study the symbols of
trade algebrcics, TIE great question
with hm is-am l, the factor in this
sysiem, getting my share of my earn
ings?
AS long as this vital question is
reeatived by the large dividends of
banks, corporations and public carri-
CTS, or tecloudsd ty the elegant lin
80 o. superfne traffic, he will be rest
less, troublesome, disafscted. These
are the unfortunate, logical effects,
which follow oppression, no matter
how deccrous, polished or polite.
This is his situation now. The
widespread disquiet pervading the
lstor elements Of this Countrywide
restlegsness uneas;ness and discor.