Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-08-03
SCALE Is TOO HIGH.
SMELTER MANAGERS SAY THEY
CANNOT PAY 1T.
Statement Issued In which IL = CiaIs.sd
THAI the smaiteEs Have lice. pissrssn.
mated Against.

mated Against.
Denver. Aug. 2.-Iianager Grant this
uftcrhoOn, backed by the operating
committee, declares that the SmeiIcrs
cannot resume operations under the
scale recommended yesterday. The
committee has issued what IL pracIIc-
ally sh ulIimaIum, which would Incl
cate that the company In not ''bluiiing"
III Its persistence In keeping the works
closed down. The following letter
was prepared FOR publication as the
iinnl statement Of the manascrs to-
day:
Denver. Aug. ITO the Editor Of
the Times: III" decision Of the board of
arbitration cannot br accepted 10y the
American Smelling ani Refining Com
pany. because II 4 unreasonable ana
unjust. The board has undertaken nr-
bitrarlly To Interfere with the indus
trial conditions IN Colorado IN such u
way which cannot fnii. ir persisted In.
To bring about great hardship To ih'. III
dustrits nlrcady established aui Io
surely prevent new Industries from
establishing themselves here.
We do not brilcv. Their. Is n single
Industry In Colorado employing 'wcn-
ty-nvc men or mon. That ins advanced
Its seal" Of wages ahoyc the scale
which prevailed before I'll. panic Of
lS.Ei.
Have the wns,s OF the miners Of
this stat" bccn advanced above the
scale which prevailed before Ill. panic
OF 1857:
Have the wages of the railway en-.
ploycs b,rn advanced above III. seal
which prevailed before the panic Of
1881:
Have the wages Of III" iron and steel
worker. bscn advanced above Ill. scale
that pr vail d before III. panic II iSs;:
Have the wages Of the Trnmway en-.
ploycs In Denver h-cn advanced above
the scale which prevailed before the
panic oT is:r,;
Mr.. Ey.rs can probably answer this
question.
linv" the war,s or III. hors".hocrs
been advanced above the scale TINT cS-
isic,i hcNpfr the ripsiic Of is.EiI
Mr.. kcbchnn. who II president NJ
their union. eau answer this question.
Have tho wng,-- nt the er'ni army Of
clerks ard statesmen In I'll. business
houses of this stat" been advanced
nbov. tie sal. which prevailed before
the panic II is.c.:
Aud yet the smelling Industry.
which. together with mining. IL the
cornerstone Of this states prosperity.
IL singled out FROM all others aud ar.
icrcd arbitrarily to advance til" wages
of its employees 10 per cent. above the
high scale which existed h"for- icr..
and which was voluntarily restored hy
this company June !. i>.f,. just before
the strike. The fact l.. thcr- II moth.
Ing In the Industrial situation of this
state which would Justify this great In.
crease H. otir wage scale. which. ne.
cor,lin: to til" rrrutnin' n'intipn OF the
beard Of arbitration. would br over ~
per cent. mprr than had h~'n paid IN
our business with entire satisfaction ia
our employees from is:r; until June I.
is.D.
This action Of the bonr,l ip advoCnf.
ing 10 per cent. advance alovr the
IS'ra seal" will tend TO cause discomfort
among Industrial workers In other
lines. who will naturally irmnnd the
same advance. The hnari having -.
tablisiicd the precedent In Our case.
must do I'll. same for them. or NIL
the great industries of this state the
mining industry can least AFFORD 'r
make sucl, mn advance In wages ns the
board has recommended.
If any one believes tho smelling
charge On ores can bc arbitrarily nj.
vnnccd a. cents or 81 per ton. let him
consult any Of the great low.crnde
miners Of Gilpin county. Icndvillr.
Aspen and the san Juan. and they VIII
say ut once that such an advance
would cut on more than ~ per cent. Of
the tonnage OF those districts.