The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-08-15
THE RESOLUTIONS
WERE TOO RADICAL
Wage Committees Report Rejected at
Hazleton Yesterday by United
Mine Workers-open Air Meeting
Held.

Hazleton, Pa, Aug. 14.-This morn
ing's session of the United Mine Work
ers' convention was barren of results.
1t was expected that the committee on
wage scale and the committee on reso-
lutions would : both make reports at
this session, but owing to the inabil-
| ity of the committeeman to agree on
the matters referred to them yester-
day, no reports We're made, and the
delegates in convention consumed the
entire session by reviewing the con-
ditions in the anthracite coal region
since 1891 In discussing the question
of wages, one of the delegates said
that wages in the bituminous coal
! fields had been increased 81 per cent,
| while in the anthracite region there
had been an average decrease of IL per
cent.
| Attention was called by delegate
| to the employment of boys under four
| teen years of age in breakers and IN
| mines, which, he said, is contrary to
| law. No certificates are issued to boys
under fourteen years of age, but some
| of the delegates stated that many
| families are so poor that the fathers
of the boys signed papers stating that
| their children were of legal age, when
| in fact they were not, in order that
the boys could secure work.
Among the grievances presented ty
| the various delegates at the morning
session were the following:
Failure of the companies to comply with the
emimonthly law, alleged excessive dockage the
! company store system and the alleged excessive
| price of powder.
| The committee on resolutions reported this
| afternoon as follows
| That the mine workers of the anthracite field
ask for advance Of 10 per cent in wages and
! l5 per cent. in the wages of all outside labor.
That the price of powder be reduced from 50. 70
to Sl.5O, which, it believes, would still give
! the operators and coal companies a profit.
| That the coal companies and operators comply
with the law by paying their men every two
weeks
That 2,24O pounds constitute the weight of
! ton at all mines.
That check clerks to be paid by the com.
panies be stationed at all scales.
That the operators and coal companies be given
ten days in which TO consider these demands
II at the expiration Of that time no Joint con-
ference is held or if the operators ignore the de.
mands then President Mitchell shall be empow.
| cred to call a meeting of the national board and
/ make another demand. Ii the operators and COM
/ panles do not grant the second demand by Sept.
/ 10, President Mitchell shall be authorized to
! tl'st uoNn N'Ih IN lne lITee ulslTlClS OF the
anthracite field at once.
! a discussion lasting the entire after
noon followed, with the result that the
resolutions were rejected and the COM
mittee instructed to frame others,
among them one calling on the oper-
ators for a joint conference. The opin-
! ion of the leaders in the convention
was that the resolutions were too radl-
cal in tone, and that as long as no
joint conference had yet been called it
was out of the way to make any de-
mands. The resolutions committee re-
port, together with the wage scale, will
be presented tomorrow, after which the
business of the convention will prob
ably be wound up.
A big open-air meeting was held
| on Broad street tonight. President
Mitchell, Mother" Jones and members
Of the national board were the speak
| ers.