Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1900-10-20
HAVE REACHED The LIMIT.
PsnnsylyaniR Coal Operators Say Thes
Have No More to OftsE
Their Men.

lnelF mens
Scranton, Pa, Oct. 1S.-In Response
TO a request for statement as to his
views on the answer of the United
Mine Workers to the operators prop
osition, T. II. Watkins, president OF
the Temple Iron Co., which company
is largely interested in coal mining
last night gave out somewhat
lengthy statement in which he says
in part:
eve will give our men reasonable
time to return to work, trusting that
they will see the mistake of being
guided and influenced by men, who,
however honest and sincere they may
be in their efforts to benefit the mi.
ners of the anthracite, are unable to
advise them intelligently and for their
best good, because of their ignorance
of the conditions controlling the
| trade.
'Mr. Mitchell apparently thinks
that the control or The mining opera.
tions rests in the hands of one or two
persons, notably Mr.. Morgan, or that
there is a trust Of some sort which
can decide the whole question, when,
as a matter of fact, there are only
three or four of the transportation
companies in which anyone concerned
has any influence, and they do not
represent thirty per cent. of the
whole anthracite tonnage. More than
one hundred different companies and
individuals are interested in mining
the total tonnage, and no one man
can control or have the slightest in.
fuence over their action.
THE one thing the companies are
apparently agreed upon, is that they
will not agree, Efforts have beer
made for years to get some plan to
which all could agree, to control the
tonnage, so that fair prices could be
secured for product which requires
so large an investment of money with
such a great risk to the labor EN-.
ployed as well as the capital EN-.
ployed, but effort after effort has
failed through failure to agree on
plan that would not violate the laws,
and to which all would subscribe.
"But Mr.. Mitchell comes here and
says in effect that no mine workers
shall 90 to work until every operator
does just exactly what the other one
does, and that the Iehigh and schuyl-
kill men must have a new basis before
the men in the Lacl;awanna and Wy.
oming regions can go to work.
There are some individual opera,
tors and some companies, who will
lose their last dollar before they will
enter into any arrangement with an.
other operator or viii join in an ar.
rangement to recognize the union by
agreeing to any arrangement Mr.
Mitehell's organization dictates for
settlement of the strike.
THE leaders of the organization,
trust, will soon see their mistake in
insisting upon any further action by
the companies, and order the strike
off.
"The United Mine Workers will lay
themselves upen, If they have not al
ready done so, to the charge of being
the largest and most dangerous trust
to the public welfare that has ever
existed, and the organization will
make the mistake of all others that
have failed by going too far and us,
ing its power to hurt the public as
well as those directly interested,
Our company will be glad to dis.
cuss ;he matter with our employees
when they are ready to meet us with
view to going back to work without
regard to what Schuyllin operators
may do. The strike has already cost
us a great deal of money, and the
men much more, as well as loss OF
trade which we may not recover in
years. In the meantime soft coal
mines are working night and day fill
ing the place Of anthracite coal"
Before giving out the statement Mr.,
Watkins submitted it to various ope.
rators, among them Superintendent
Lathrope, of the Lehigh Valley Coal
Co., at Wilkesbarre, and it received
unanimous approval. The fact that
J. p. Morgan & Co., are allied with the
Temple Iron Co., and that Mr.. Wat.
kins and Mr.. Lathrope are chairuen
Of the operators committee in their
respective territories, gives added inn
portance to the statement.
A conference of operators is TO take
place to-day at one o'clock in the of
fee of the Temple Iron Co, Its imme.
diate purpose is not declared, but
generally speaking it is as good as
certain that the counter proposition
made by the miners is to be consid-
cred.
Another prominent operator, f. L.
Fuller in an interview last night, said
the operators are not called upon to
do anything except continue their pa
tient policy of waiting a reasonable
length of time for their men to re.
turn to work,
"There is nothing before the opera
iors either collectively or individual.
~" said Mr.. Fuller. I'VE, or many of
Us, offered our men an advance in
wages, addressing n notice of the
saue direct to our respective en-
ployes We have heard nothing from
them as yet. OF course we have seen
in the newspapers that convention
of miners passed some resolutions.
They are not addressed to us and as
far as we know they were not from
our employees. 1t is now up to the op-
orators"
Ran Into q Misplaced Switch.