Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-01-19
MUST HAVE MINE RUN
The Sine Qua Non Of the Coal
Miners in the Conference with
Operators at Chicago.
THAT Is RATCHFURD's STATEMENT.

Willing 10 Discuss the Scale OF Wages. bvf
Talk About "SIine Run" Is Time Wasted
That Principle Slated to Win the Fight
How the. Operators Stand - Matter
Now in the Hands Of the Joint Scale
Committee.
Chicago. Jan. 19.-The conference Of
mine operators and employees began its
serious work yesterday. The scale COM
mitsee was completed and went to work
on the most veSed questions-indeed
The only Questions-before the confer
ence. and meantime the conference IT,
self took recess Until afternoon, as if it
expected the scale committee to be
ready to report by that time. What
ever the conference expected, there was
no report upon its reconvening and it
ADJOURNED to today. The two difficult
questions In the scale committee are
those OF mine run" or screened coal,
and wages. Both are indissoIubly CON-
nected by the miners and the acceptance
OF rejection of the one necessarily car
fies the acceptance or rejection Of the
other.
.Minc Run" Is likely to Win.
The session of the scale committee
developed the fact that the mine run"
system wond undoubtedly be adopted
ny The convention. The miners dele
gates are a Unit for the abolishmelt of
the screen system. Prominent Ohio op-
orators. however. are not disposed to
accept the mine run" proposition. and
The only discordant note in ne secret
conference was n declaration BY a heavy
ohio operator that he would go nome
auf procure contracts with his sinsrs
on the lump" basis. President, Ratch-
FORD occupied large portion Of the
session with a Discussion of the several
roiEts az issue, amckg them being the
hlgner scale. mime run. eight-hour day
and betterInent 4 The mIrers' condition
generally. He, it is understood. fa-
vored movement to weed out uaskilled
labor In the minus
Wants to tpiift tire Goal Miners.
by this arrangement a.e mcn as !.
elaFs would lie placed on a much higher
r!anc. ana opCrators wol,d in their turn
D. benefited. Cheek weighing was dis
cusscd - Patrick Dolss. Th. commit
tee did not reach n vote on any of the
questions discussed. Members of the
committee are inclined To work In ,
deliberate manner and the Seht he
tween oaio and Pennsylvania oys.- tuf-
ferentials viii undoubtedly be a warm
one.
Basis Of the Intcrstatc Scale.
Colonel \. l.. Sweet was made chair
man Of rhc joint scale committee. On
taking the gav1 he said rie first thinS
~ cohsiier was what basis should be
adopted to effect an interstate scale.
Operator Dempster moved that the
basic rate Of Sc cents for Pennsylvania
be adopted as the horizontal from which
To- make diferentials. W. II. Lewis for
the miners psoved as an amendment
th1t the mine run be made the basis of
payment in all states.
President Ratchford said that the
miners had agreed in convention to de-
mand raise. The operators knew IL.
and the world knew it. Whatever spar.
ring. therefore, might be done in the
sessions Of the joint scale committees
must be done by the operators thAn-
selves
Ratehforsi States the Ultimafum.
We may have to leave" concluded
Ratchford. without securing what we
are entitled 10. We are re:Biy to SUBJ
ordinate our wage scale to the nIfne
run demand. This, however, we de
mand.'
Chairman Sweet backed up Ratch-
ford. The Illinois operatives, he said.
had tried the mine run. and were sssis-
fed. We like IL and Will retain it.
Now, it's for you men of other states
TO decide what you Will do" Thereupon
the discussion became general. In
diana operators. to a degree, followed
the lead of Illinois, bst Ohio and Penn
syivania bitterly fought the PROPOSE
ton.
DETERMINATION on BOTH SIDES.