Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-27
A Lively Conference Yesterday With
out Any Pleasing Results.
MATTERS NO BETTER EITHER WAY.
A FlOpper Turns Up at Meeting of the
Shippers Union,
AND HRIS SOON FIRED FROM THE ROOM

IS hard 70 say. Line meetlng InlS tllne was
made up of producers (shippers) and
dealers. Both parties stood their ground
well, and hot shot was fired from both
sides.
The conference had been sought by the
dealers, who invited the shippers-members
of the Producers Union as well as inde-
pendent shippers-to meet them, and, if
possible, arrange agreeable terms for all
parties shake hands and make peace. Mr..
Peter Hermes, President of the Milk
Dealers Union, acted as Chairman. There
were over 100 people present. After the
President had opened the meeting, Secre-
tary John Esplin read the following propo-
sition on the part of the dealers:
We, the dealers of Pittsburg Southside and
Allegheny, agree to pay the producers IL cents
per gallon for milk from April to October !,
and Is cents per gallon from October to April
l;provided the producers organize themselves
intoa union or association for the mutual pro-
lection of the dealers and shippers, and agree
to ship to union dealers only. For instance, If
aunion shipper is shipping milk to non-union
dealer and a union dealer wants the milk, he
will ship TO him as soon as notified. That the
shippers will bind themselves not to ship to
retailer, at less price than the dealers are
furnishing the milk to such parties.
TO HOLD MILK BACK
That they will agree to regulate the supply
according to the demand; that is if the dealers
have more milk than the market calls for, the
shipper will hold back pro rata share Of the
surplus milk.
That as soon as this agreement is adopted,
all former contracts shall become null and
void.
When this proposition had been read the
Chairman invited discussion of the same,
as the meeting had been called for the pur-
pose of getting at a fundamental basis of
agreement between the farmers and dealers.
There was a silence throughout the hall for
a moment but not for long. Mr.. A. M.
Brown, the attorney of the Producers
Union, from Canonsburg, now came for
ward, and in long speech attacked the
dealers with charges which, he said, the
farmers asked them to explain. He said the
dealers never had a fixed price for the
farmers before; in fact they paid the shippers
what they pleased. He said that the farmer
had always paid for sour milk and for milk
which had been alleged to be sour. He
charged the dealers with having stolen the
CIGdul OF Nll6 ullk anu udNluS eO1u IL, NI6u
the consumer ought TO have had it Then
he continued:
You do not contemplate paying for any losses
in your business, and you never have done So
You are willing to make all the profits; but the
farmer who has ever been known an honest
man, you make him bear all the losses. There
is not a business man, except yourself who is
not willing to stand some loss in his business
So things have gone on for years. You paid
the shippers what you liked, and, when you did
not feel like it. you did not pay at all. Now, is
it not natural that the farmers at last tried to
remedy that evil? They organized themselves
into union for their own protection, and they
then invited you to come and meet
them on fair grounds to arrange
a price that would give the farmer at least a
fair profit on his product. Now what did you
do? You ignored their advances, and laughed
at them. What was the result? The farmers
went to Mr.. Reed, and as soon as you saw that
you realized your mistake. Now you were
willing TO come around. l tell you Mr. Reed
has been the Moses of the farmers, the one who
led them out of the desert and say that Mr.,
Reed must not go; he has come to stay. The
farmers have made contract with him, and, as
honorable men, they have to abide by that con-
tract 1 am sure you dealers could not help
treating farmer with conrempt who had gone
back on a contract, and how could you trust
such a man as would enter into the contract
you proposed to make with the farmers?
Then he turned around to the farmers,
and concluded his remarks by telling them:
REAL iRURAL SUGAR.
Farmers, you have been in slavery for Is
years. Mr.. Reed has made a contract with
Eou to pay you fair price for your product.
tYou have won the battle already; therefore
stay by Mr.. Reed, stake your faith on him and
you will be all right"
Rev. C. Shields, of ZeIienople, said:
We have come to make peace, and not to de-
clare war. Bygones should be bygones. We
both made mistakes, dealers as well as
shippers. 1 do not like to have unfair
scharges made against the dealers by anybody.
I'VE have our Executive Committee here to
deal with you We do not want a monopoly or
"a trust and we do not want a commissioner
Give us fair puce and we will accept it.
Mr.. G. Eyrick, a dealer, expressed his
satisfaction with the last speaker. But he
said be did not like the LAWYERS at all 1t
seemed that the farmers had come to defy
them with Lawyers twaddle" They had
an honest business, and they had come to
meet the farmers honestly and fairly. They
had a contract with farmers before Mr.. Reed
had ever seen a COW, and vet the farmers
had cut them off at a moments notice If
they meant to defy them, it ought to be war
to the knife. 1--WE have plenty of milk,
and will get plenty tomorrow. Let the
farmers who have come here to defy us go
away; we don't want them" he concluded.
Mr.. Eyrich's speech was regarded by the
dealers as excellent, and some of them said
1t was a pity he had not taken hold of
Blackstone instead of a can when he was
young.
Mr.. Hemingway (dealer) said milk deal
ers are as honest as Canonsburg lawyers,
and he accused the farmers of coming to
them and having them blackguarded by a
lawyer, when they meant to meet them in
an honest, fair way.
NOT FOR WAR, BUT PEACE.
The President requested ''those shippers
who want to come to fair terms to stay and
and the others better go and not hinder the
proceedings with a lot of talk He said he
was sure that they can get all the milk they
want for the whole city of Pittsburg.
This wrangling lasted for over two hours.
Mr.. Cook, a non-union shipper, made sew
eral appeals to the Chair to come to busi-
ness; but, as soon as there was a chance,
the old grievances were again ventilated.
In the meantime Mr.. Reed was called
away, and soon Mr.. Brown and the Execu-
tive Committee of the Producers Union
left-aside from DR.. Irwin, who remained a
few minutes later.
When the others had all departed, the
talking and haranguing kept up until Mr..
Hemingway proposed that a committee of q
men, CON posed Of dealers, 9 union shippers
and 9 ,non-union shippers, be appointed
to meet md fix the price. This was agreed to;