Evening journal., 1891-02-07
A BIG BATTLE IMMINENT.
Coke Operators and Their Min
ers the Principals.
WHAT THE MEN WILL FIGHT FOR.
They wan. Their car. weighed Under
the Eyes Of one Of Their own Repre-
sentatises-The Operators Propose .
Ten Per rent. Reduction in wages.

Ten Per rent. Reduction in Wages.
NEW YORK, Feb "A special to Tn,
Herald from Pittsburg says. beginning
next Monday the Connellsville coke regior
is expected to be the scene Of what will ii
many respects be the hardest fought battl,
between labor and capital ia the history o
Pennsylvania, where contests involving
great interests have for 4 generation been
common On one side will be ranged th,
coke operators, strong with the profits Of
prosperous decade. On the other will stand
1900 workingmen, compaetly organized
and led by men who have the confidence Of
the miners Of the whole country The EN-.
ployes demand an increase Of wages Of l2is
per cent, that scales shall be located al
every mine and that one Of their represent
atives be permitted to stand at these scales
to see that just weight Is represented foi
each car
The operators insist that instead Of az
advance in wages the workmen shall &c
cept a reduction Of ten per cent and they
decline to CONSULT the other propositions.
The Alleged Causes.
contest. Underlying them are issues NOR,
important For the workmen the stake is
a measure Of industrial independence, for
which they have made a long struggle
The history of the development Of the
great Connellsville coke region is without
a parallel Fifteen years ago, when ths
coke trade was comparatively in its in
fancy the native or naturalized employees
who had been working for starvation
wages inaugurated a strike. After a long
period Of idleness Hungarians were i'm
ported to take the places Of the strikers.
The newcomers were accustomed TO live
in novels and the low wages paid to them
by the coke operators were fortunes in
their eyes. They spread ont over the whole
region and held possession until 1855, when
the rapid increase in the demand for coke
made room ngain for workmen born In this
United States or those who had come to
this country with the intention Of assum
ing the duties Of citizenship
Organizing the Hungarians.
Among the newcomers were not few
shrewd fellows, who were quick 20 discov
er causes for complaint and Ingenious
enough 20 devise what they considered .
fair remedy. They found the wsges Of the
miners and all others employed ia the pro
| duction Of coke 50 low that the man who
could get employment as a day labnrer ID
any other section was considered lucky
They found also that il was considered
fair 70 compel q man to load 2,500 pounds
Of coal in a car ia the PIT and credit him
with only 2,O00 pounds that az every plnnt
| the employees were expected 70 patronize
the company stores, where exOrbitant
! prices were charged for inferior goods, and
that what WAS left Of the average manis
pay after the store bill was paid was re-
Quired To defray the expense Of keeping
his tools ia order and to secure the light
which enabled him TO work under ground
The remedy they conceived was organiza.
tion. 10 was slow work to bring the Hun.
garians 20 an understanding Of how they
might better their condition, but the or
ganizers were patient and in January,
1887, the operators were presented with q
| demand for increased wages. The opera
tors were ignorant, apparently, Of the
strength Of the organization, aud refused
| the demand
A New Power In the Coke Region.
''Then followed strike, during which
the savage nature Of the Hungarians who
had been imported to break the first strike
asserted itself After a few days Of idle
ness they threw off all restraint and
marched from mine to mine destroying
| property. At the end of two weeks the de-
mand for increased wages was granted,
and a new power was fairly established in
the coke region Nearly all the leaders OF
the strike of 1857 have disappeared, but the
organization Of coke workers has been
maintained and strengthened until IL Il
more compact than the union Of any other
| bo1p nf fa4f NINA IN tho nnrpfrg H4gh
year some new concession has been Oh.
tanned from the operators, and only once
has work been suspended, and that only
for short time. For two years past work
has gone on under agreements running
| for twelve months from Feb 10,
Under these agreements the operators
have been saved the annoyance Of strikes
| for trivial causes all differences arising
/ during the year being settled in conferences
| between committees Of the employees and
their employers; wages have been based Oh
the selling price Of coke and the company
store evil has practically been abolished
An Important Question.
But one Of the most important ques-
ti0ns was held ia allegiance until this year
viz. whether the employees shall have D
guarantee that at each mine they are
| credited with the true weight Of an the
| coal mined. There is a law on Pennsyl.
vania's statute books providing that check
weighmen selected and paid by the miners
shall be stationed at each mine, but this
has never been enforced in the Connells-
| vile region.
This year the w0rkmen felt themselves
strong enough to demand the privilege Of
exercising their right in this respect In
| presenting their demands under the terms
| of the agreement on the 10th of January
they stipulated that wages should be in.
| creased i2i< per cent; that scales shou' ]
be placed on every tipple, and that theiI
representatives be permitted to check the
weights as the law provides. The clause
/ providing for increased wages was pre-
sented in order that there might be some.
thing to compromise in. What they want
and what they will strike for next Monday,
unless all signs fail, is guarantee that
the coal they dig will be weighed honestly.
A Proposed Reduction.
1.-THE operators az first met the demand
| Of the men with the claim that trade was
depressed, that for this reason they could
not grant any increase in wages, and that
they could not afford TO incur the expense
Of placing scales under each 'tipple' tC
weigh the coal In the last days they have
taken a stand not only against the intro
duction of scales, but for reduction of Il
per cent. in wages. The general belief is
that the battles of 1875 and 1887 are to bt
fought over again. The first was won by
the operators, and they had their own way
for eleven years. The second resulted in
victory for the miners.
4 ttTha third xx-sD Hatatrt.tt,a . l.