Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-07-28


strike to q termination. deplores the
poverty and misery OF the vast army Of
miners and their families. and claims
that the public has been misled by
crafty and false statements as to the
causes responsible for the present and
past turmoil The resolutions Say:
Resolved, That We favor the speedy
adjustment of the strike and all ques-
tons andcontroversies connected there
with by Cancellation employed in a joint
conference of miners and their employ
ers. and that failing. of an adjudication
by a tribunal of arbitrators composed
Of three United States judges or three
other gentlemen of national repute and
in whom the entire country can repose
confidence.
Resolved, That We favor the prin-
ciple and practice of uniformity in its
true and honest sense, but We are un-
alterably opposed to it in the false and
perverted sense in which it has been
used to cloak sham schemes and trans
parent frauds.
Resolved, That we favor true and
honest weights and measures, cash pay
ments and all other just and equitable
methods in the prosecution of the coal
business
d =
foul falsehood and a glaring outrage
the charges and insinuations SO often
publicly made that general dishonesty
has been practiced in weights and meas
ures in the mining industry of western
Pennsylvania.
Resolved, That the efforts to fasten
On the public mind these slanderous and
atrocious charges, are a moral crime,
and that We denounce the guilty author
d this accusation as a moral criminal,
violating Gods holy commandment:
Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour
Resolved, That We are ready and
willing to advance the wages of the
miners, but find ourselves unable to do
this to the full extent demanded by
them, viz: % per cent. advance on the
prices that were paid prior to the strike
and now being paid by one of the largest
coal companies in western Pennsyl-
yaria. and which company presents the
chief obstacle to the settlement of the
present conflict
After the resolutions had been read
the chairman asked to have some por-
lions eliminated, but the colonel re-
fused enphatically to allow a single
word to be dropped, and after a short
ence. The meeting then adjourned I'M
til TO O'Clock this morning. Last night
General Little and others called on Col
onel Rend at his hotel and asked that
he reconsider his action and enter the
conference again to insure success of
the meeting. He replied that he would
cordially indorse and cooperate in any
plan the conference agreed upon if so
per cent. of the district operators would
give their consent to the same. He be-
lieves it impossible to secure 81 per cent
for uniformity as De Armitt demands,
| and is willing to do as so per cent. of
the operators wish.
I Colonel Rend took the minority report
with him and Chairman Dempster de-
cided that as Colonel Rend had left the
meeting and taken the report with him
1t was not part of the record of the ses-
sion and could not be acted upon. w. p
De Armitt said he wanted it distinctly
understood that the call to adopt uni
formity did not have anything to do with
the strike. as he did not propose to arbi-
trate anything while under fire, nor ad-
init that the operators were towards.