The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-01-23
READINGS HEAVY LOSSES.
President Corbin Makes a Startling
Showing in q Statement.

furnished to the press long statement re-
viewing the history Of its relations with It's
employees, and defending its course in re-
fusing to yield to the demands of its striking
railroad operatives and miners. After mar
rating the circumstances of the strike which
began at Port Richmond, Mr.. Corbin says:
THE men who left the service of the COM
pany had never made, and have never, 10
this day, made any complaint that they were
worked an unreasonable number Of hours;
that their wages were not fair wages for the
work performed, or that in any single in
stance they had been treated otherwise than
kindly by the management.
BLAMING THE MEN.
Notwithstanding this, and that under the
terms of their employment with the com
pany, they were bound to render honest
and faithful service complying with all the
reasonable orders it might make in the reg
ular transaction of its business, they Vio-
lated every obligation Of this character and
by their own act cancelled any obligation
there might have been on the part of the
company to retain them in its service.
| over $500 men voluntarily left our ser
vice. The same number of new and cOmpe-
tent men presented themselves for service
with the company. They were employed
and will be retained so long as they perform
their duties faithfully.
NOT A FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZATIONS.
1--WE have never made any objec-
ton to labor organizations. In employing
labor we have never asked the question
whether an employe was a member of one
or not So long as men perform the duties
they owe to this company properly we shall
stand by them whether they be union, or
nonunion men. No man shall be ostracized,
and no man will be ostracized because
he does not. Our employees will be expected
to render faithful service and take orders
from the management in relation to its bus
mess promptly and without question As
long as they do this they will retain its con
fidence and friendship; but any action here
after, such as has been taken heretofore by
employees, will merit and receive the same
treatment The trouble on the railroad Is
ended and will never be opened up again"
FIGHT OF THE MINERS.
Mr.. Corbin then reviews at great length
the history of the Reading company's
trouble with the coal miners, recites the
terms of the agreement with regard to
wages made between the miners and the
company in September last and says: Not
withst lnding the terms of this agreement,
the miners refused to continue at work in
the mines after Jan. |, as they had promised
to do. | am informed that they did this for
two reasons:
~. Because we would not reinstate the
men who were discharged on the railroad !;
and
''2. Because we would not continue the
per cent advance, which we had under this
agreement paid for four months, and we
are informed that they would on no basis of
wages have been willing to return to work
unless we had first reinstated the railroad
men or arbitrated that question. As | have
stated this question is ended, and no matter
| N wit la- tril tyil hp
submitted to arbitration.
GOVERNED BY COMPETITION.
"As to the question of wages to be paid
to the miners we have always paid and have
always been willing to pay as high wages
for mining coal in the market as those in
competitions with this one To pay more
than our competitors for mining our coal
would practically drive us out of the COM
petitive market, and the only market to
which we could bring our coal would be to
such points on the line of the Philadelphia
and Reading railroad as are, by reason of
their location, compelled TO buy from us
and could not buy from other people.
CLAIM TO BE SORRY.
1--WE regret exceedingly that this action
on the part of the employees of our road. as
well as the action OF the miners, promises
to bring such disastrous results TO those
portions of the State dependent upon the
| output Oh Tue IAtdlll8 cDllltIltSs Dub lneT6
is no alternative for this company, that
can see, except to insist upon:
Il. The right to manage its own property,
and
- The right toemploy labor in the min
ing of its coal so that it will have at least
an equal chance with its neighbors in every
competitive market in which anthracite
coal goes.
HEAVY LOSSES ALLEGED.
| IL 1
1873 and ending Jan. l. 1888, this company
has mined 81 100000 tons of coal; paid to
its miners S57, 10000. and has received as
net proceeds for coal so mined only 81,
$40, 600 making actual loss in mining of its
coal of 81, 10000 during that pc
riod. In other words, we have
distributed throughout the country
81 ,000, 900 tons of coal, the miners have re-
ceived every dollar of the net money we
obtained for it and we lost in the operation
$l2 ,270,0 900 besides; and during all these
twelve years the stockholders of the rail
road company which transported this Goa,
who have paid up S40,OO0OOO of money
for their stock have not received
one cent by way of dividends, and they
j. have just been called upon. with a portion
of the junior securities, to pay in, by way of
assessments, Sl2 600 900 of fresh money to
make good the losses of the companies. In
view of these results it is not time now, ac-
Cordlng 10 my Judgment, to undertake to
pay more money for the same class of labor
than is paid by other competitive COM
panies.
WHAT ONE OF THE LEADERS SAYS.
After reading President Corbin's state
ment relative TO the position of the Read
ing Company on the strike John B. Kelly,
OF the Rallroaders Executive Committee
and Master Workman of Local Assembly
No. 10l07 said that the men had never de
MED the rights of the company to manage
its own property and that the rail
readers did not strike origi-
nally because Objectionable men were
not Knights of LABOR, but that the strike
was due largely to the actirn of the COM
pany in overrunning, the Port Richmond
} yards with Plukerton detectives before the
result of the first conference had become
known. A large number of men, he said,
had become indignant at this treatment
even before the matter had been discussed
and left work of their own ac-
) cord without waiting for any
) order from their Assemblies The
men were willing IS consent to the dis
) charge of the five crews and those leaders
in the movement, but hundreds of men
along the line were turned away with the
information that there were no places for
them, and this was what he called victmi-
zation, leaving no alternative but to strike
He declared that the men were now fighting