Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-07-12
AN|CaBLE CONFERENCE
GIVES RENEWED HOPE
THAT THE AMALGAMATED ASSoCI-
ALTON AND THE Z. :. STEEL
CORPORATION
WILL REACH AN AGREEMENT.
PRESIDENT sHAFFER PRESENTS
THE MEMS SIDE OF THE GREAT
CONTROVERSY.

great labor conference at the Hotel
Lincoln to-day failed to come to any
agreement. Another conference will be
held -morr morning. The object
of the conference was the settlement
of the strike ordered by the Amalg1-
mated Association of Iron, Steel & fin
Workers In the mills of the American
Sheet Steel Company and in those Of
the American Steel Hoop Company.
The conference also had another pur-
pose in view. the prevention OF a gen
eral strike in all the mills controlled
by the United States Steel Corporation,
the two companies in whose mills the
strike has been ordered being constit-
uent companies of the great steel COM
bine.
Two sessions of the conference were
held to-day. The first convened shortly
after 10 o'clock in the morning. AT
noon the meeting adjourned for dinner.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the Sec
ond session was convened and WAS
continued until ) O'Clock. AS a settle
ment within a reasonable time was seen
10 be out of the question. the confer
ence adjourned to meet at 10 o'clock
tomorrow morning.
The Amalgamated Association was
represented at the conference by Pres
s-. g. .al tHo axaattiyn Cnn-
mittee.
The steel interests at the conference
were represented by John Warner. OF
New York, chief Of the operating de-
partment of the American Sheet Steel
Company; /. w. jerks, OF Pittsburg,
manager of the American Steel Hoop
Company; Veryl Preston, of New
York, late president of the American
Steel Hoop Company; Warner Arms
and w. M. Leeds, of New York, vice
presidents of the American Tin Plate
Company; ard Charles W. Bray OF
Pittsburg, chief engineer of the same
The United States Steel Cor
poration is said to have been indirect
Iy represented by Messrs. Warner and
Preston.
At the afternoon session President
Shaffer. in behalf Of the Amalgamated
Association, formally presented the
case for the organized workmen and
the strikers. He laid stress upon the
fact that until this year, the union had
made no effort to force a union in all
the plants of the combine for the rea-
son that it was thought best to have
that movement originate and DE car
RED on among the worxmen In the
mills. The officials of the various
companies had plainly indicated, ne
said, that they are working on a policy
for operating their n%on-union plants IN
preference to the union mills, and only
working the latter when it is absolute
ly necessary. This plan, he declared, is
forcing the union men to desert their
organization in order to get work. The
idle mills being union, and the union
men being rendered poverty-stricken as
the price for being members OF the or
ganization, means either that the Anal
gamated Association is going to be dis
banded soon, or else the ~non-union
mills will have to be made union so
that equal justice will be given to all.
1T was a matter of life and death for
the Amalgamated Association that the
n%on-union mills be done away with, as
Mr.. Shaffer put the situation. The al
legged method adopted by the American
Sheet Steel Company is practically
starving the employees Of the Old Mead
ow mills in Scottdale into a n%on-union
agreement, was elaborated upon and
the demand made by the company that
the mill be left out of the scale entire
ly in the future was taken as an indi-
cation of what the general plan of the
company is in dealing with the Amalga-
mated Association. 1t meant, he said,
slow starvation or else complete sur
| render to the company and the giving
up of all rights to organized unions in
their plants.
In reply to the statements of Presi-
dent Shaffer, the officers of the various
companies present gave an outline of
their position. They denied any inten-
ton of working an injustice toward
union workmen in their mills. The
feeling for the ~Amalgamateo men had
always been friendly, they said, and
they had no desire to force any trou-
Bile among them.
The plea on both sides was listened
to with the closest attention by all OF
the members of the conference. The
tone in each side was amicable and 1t
was apparent that the manufacturers
representatives were prepared to go a
long way to gain a peaceful solution OF
the existing differences. The members
of the two peace conference committees
began presenting argumnts in favor OF
tehir different positions in the trouble,
and this continued until 5 o'clock in
ne afternoon, when by agreement the
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