New-York tribune., 1900-09-26
A CONFLICT Of INTERESTS.
THE STRIKE SITUATION FROM THE
MINE OWNERS POINT OF VIEW.
my TELEGRAPH TO THE rRipuxE.l

tBY TELEGRAPH TO TRIBUNEI
scranton, Penn. Sept 25.-There were more
I accessions TO the ranks of the strikers to-day
and according TO reports received by President
Mitchell upward of hundred and thirty
thousand men are now out.
Superintendent e. Z. Loomis Of the Lacka-
! wanna coal department to-day issued the follow
| ing statement the strike situation:
No fair consideration OF the present trountS IN
the coal fields can be given without hrst c9nsiosi5 ger
| ing the relationship between the anthraSite anu
hltuminous mining sections OF America tne e0n o
ditons under which these two classes OF coal are
vestment required to produce ton of anthracite
coal is many times greater than Is necessarE ~. 70
operators of the anthracite and bituminous coal
regions nave been hgntins c~oi1erti ~ e' je eItSent
therefore, that two businesses which are so directly
andeT an ailaton OF their employees for It must
be apparent that whatever operates TO decrease or
vartageous to the producer of anthracite coal, or
vice versa. he present trouble in the anthracite
coal region is lhe direct result OF orsanlZa2n per
fected and carried out by officials OF the United
Mine Workers of America, whose interest, up to
this time has always been with the production OF
6itumnous coal! These men from Fresident ja Jonn
exceptions. are men whose practical knowledge of
coal mining has been confined to the bituminous
miners stand out only two real demands:
FiTstmThe Ss recognition OF the United Mine
second-An increase in the yearly earnings Of en-
In regard TO re-ogniuon-The United Mine
Workers in addition 10 being Differed and affiliated
shown themselves thoroughly irresponsibie aud
have taken position that all miners shall repudiate
honestly and fairly with them, simply for the pur-
pose of crippling whole industry and running the
good well as the bad engaged in II. and IN the
Markle case. days since the labor leaders in
they had sA with their employers and go or strike
even if their demands were compiled with. Under
In the minds Of the public why the anthracite oper
ators canaot under any circumstances. recognize
a union Of this character.
An Increase in yearly earnings can be brought
about in TWO ways: O An increase in the rates to
be paid, which operators claim the conditions will
h0 mt M eafH @ 0f in ha a
thTacite regions are being paid generally sPeaking,
mine lone OF the first to go out on strikel the
August payTolls show average monthly earnings FOR
worked while iaborcrs averaged 81 sS a day and a
lackawanna ard Western mines shows that the
acreage daily net wage Of miners for the year
1899 was s. 70 for ten hours work and the miners
laborers, 81 So. While this wage is based on a
that the miners and inside laborers do not actually
would seem evident from the above that the wages
compare very iavorably with those paid any
worker IN the same general class Of labor .r,,,o-
Of boys in the anthracite coal districts. these
Wto4 Statement 81 his paps&s that he IS above
twelve years OF at which the laws of the
worker outside Of the mines To obtain for him
position in the mines mule driver, the nrst
step the road TO promotion. his parents must
present certificate to the effect that he IS over
the age Of fourteen years. These boys all earn
fully % per cent for the days they work than
boys OF the age I'm the general field of en-
pioyment throughout the country.
An increase in the mine workers income must
come from increase in the number of days
worked. Nothing which the United Mine Workers
have vet proposed will have tendency to increase
The number of days work. On the other hand. the
conditions which they have brought about
the anthracite miners. The operators, the
other hand, have been most persistent in their eff
forts to enlarge their market. and the production
or anthracite coal has steadily increased during
the last year Thousands of great industrial
Germs have been induced to burn anthracite coal but
many Of these industrial plants now.
count of the strike brought by the United Mine
luminous coal The miners IN The hltuminous re-
gion, as a result. are reaping the benefits OF the
anthracite coal miners misfortunes- 1t will take
years Tor the anthracite coal miner to recover from
the damage TO his interests which has already
been effected hy his turning to representatives
or the hituminous region (fs greatest competitor
this temporary management of his affairs
The surprise occasioned by the importation
OF soft coal TO this region has not yet subsided
When approached on the subject President
Mitchell said to-day that he would make an
effort 10 locate the place from which il was
conveyed He expressed belief that il came
from Western Pennsylvania or West Virginia
where he says, the miners are not organized
Mr.. Mitchell gave assurances that no more soft
coal would be brought here, and that the mat
ter would be attended to satisfactorily