The age-herald., 1899-06-20
MINERS IN SESSION
 TO FIX WAGE SCALE Largest Attendance in the History of
 the Order. GEORGE YOUNG PRESIDING Minimum Price Will in All Probability b8
 Fixed At FOrty-fiYe Cents. BASED ON A SLIDING SCALE Delegates Practically Agreed That All Mines Should be Placed on Same
 Footing-Coal Mine Opera
 tors Have Grievance.
BASED ON A SLIDING SCALE

met in this city at Fox'S hall yesterday morning, to decide the all important ques- tion of miners wages for the ensuing year. Nothing was accomplished yesterday ex- cept the organization of the convention, such as appointing of committees and the like The most important work of the meet ing will be that of the scale committee, and
 it is doubted if they will be able to make their report before tomorrow. Indeed there are two committees, the one on resolutions and that on the new scale of wages, which are very important, and which act Jointly. Nearly every local lodge in the state, which is represented at the convention, passed a set of resolutions giving their views on what the nature of the scale should be, and it is the duty or | the committee resolutions to unify them
 as far as possible. The committee, keeping | in mind the resolutions, will then confer
 with the scale committee the, matter of forming the mining scale ofA7wages Only one or two of the resolutions sent in by the various locals were alike in all par l ticulars, many of them differing widely Miners At Blue Creek . One thing that seems agreed upon, is that
 the miners at Blue Creek shall be placed on
  other mines In 1897 there was some kind of serious misunderstanding between the
 miners themselves when the contract came to be signed and in some manner the Blue Creek miners were put in such a position that they received 41a cents per ton less
 than did the miners of other places, and they have been in that fix ever since. It is practically admitted that all of the other I2I in
 raise Warrior and one or two other mines that also receive smaller wages will also
 be put on an equality with other mines.
 Another point on which most of the dele
 gations agree, is that the minimum price per ton shall be 45 cents with a sliding
 scale when pig iron goes above certain
 point. None of the resolutions from the
 different locals, however were read in the
 convention, but were referred to the com
 mittee immediately.
 Another serious question which the con-
 vention will have to contend with is the statement on the part of the operators of
 steam and domestic coal mines, that coal is not advancing in value, compared with
 pig iron. The big furnace companies base the pay of their coal miners on the price
 of pig, and as it is usually high at this time,
  on their coal mines. This is not the case
 with the companies which have no fur
 naces to depend on, and consequently they
 object to any excessive scale being insisted
 upon. How the convention will get around this fact is not known.
 Whatever scale the convention agrees
 upon will be final and as soon as this is accomplished the operators of the various
 mines will be given formal invitations to
 meet with the convention in discussing the
 signing of the contract It is thought that this will hardly be done before Thursday, or even later. The action of the conven- ton is final unless it fails to come to an agreement with the operators in which case it is possible that the matter will Do referred pack to the various locals before a strike is ordered. But such a serious step
 as this is not apprehended. Called to Order
 The convention was called to order yes-
 terday morning about 10 o'clock by Presl- dent George Young, and by his side sat William R. Fairey, member of the na- tional executive committee, and formerly president of the Alabama district. In calling the delegates to order, President
 
 the convention, and urged the delegates to be courteous towards one another and try
 as hard as possible to adjust any difference of opinion they had for the sake of the miner common interests.
 Secretary Clemo made q very interesting report during the meeting, showing that there were about 1000 miners belonging to
 the state organization, just about twice as
 many there were last year. The finances of the organization have also increased In proportion. There are now twenty-four locals in the district. Secretary Clemo stated to a reporter later, however, that this work of organization was still to be pushed vigorously, as only two of the mines
 in Walker county and none in Winston
 were organized, as well as various mines
 in other parts of the state.
 Committees Announced The following committees were an-
 nounced early in the meeting by Presi-
 dent Young:
 Committee on Credentiols-Dave John
 son, Blocton, chairman; Tom Tinney Pratt
 Cit; Wm. George, Adger; L. B. Evans,
 West Pratt; s. L. Brooks, Pratt City; AL bert Ellis, Blocton; N. L. Matthews, Belle Ellen; J. A. Usher Cardiff; Ed Bradley, BloSsburg.
 Committee on Order of Business-Dave Kirkpatrick. Pratt City; c. s. Smith, Bloc ton; J. G. Lyles, Galloway; Ed Roach. Blocton; J. H. Stockton, Belle Ellen. Committee on Resolutions-Adam Pow, Pratt City, chairman; J. P. Nelson, of
 Hargrove; G. B. Reynolds, Blocton; w. R. Sells, Belle Sumter; w. L. Turner, Mary Lee.
 Committee on Scale-Frank Fournier, of
 Pratt City, chairman; Joe Hallier, of Bloc