Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-29
MES THAT WAGES ARE FAIR AND JUST
DiggerI Of BitumilouS Get 90 Per Cent
More Than Anthracite.
FORMER work THE SHORTER DAY, ALSO
Have Maximum of Eight Hsuu to the
Latter's Ten Hours.
PER CAPITA OUTPUT NOT DIMINISHING
Last Years Far In Excess of Amount
tor Previous Years-what Miners
mountaineering Law
ISssness and the Police,

/
ISssness and the Police,
PHILADELPHIA. Sept 2s-Yresident
Mitchell of the United Mine Workers today
gavo out the following statement:
| The recent utterances OF Mr.. Baer.
spokesman OF the Anthracite Coal trust.
| Mr.. Hewitt and other interested persons
disclose a well-dehned purpose to confuse
and cloud the real causes which resulted
in the coal strike and an attempt to divert
attention from the actual issues involved.
However misleading as are their utteranHes,
It is a relief to know ihat they now admit
that the public has ghts and interests
which cannot be ignored with impunity.
and inasmuch the public must be the
final arbiter OF the coal strike, Il is i'm
perative that 1t shall not be deceived by
statements which are at variance with the
facts. With the purpose OF correcting some
| OF the false Impressions and misreprcsenta-
tions contained In the statements of the
gentleman referred TO- I issue this letter.
| ''It is not my intention to point out the
innumerable instances in which Mr.. Baer
has erred in statement and allegation. His
| unsupported assertions that certain things
are true cannot be accepted as final or
| conclusive, particularly in view Of the fact
that unquestioned authorities can be cited
to prove him to be in error in this
matter.
Are the Wages FART
'Mr Raer states that the wages paid
in the anthracite coal regions are. COM
pared with the wages paid in Ike en-
ployment, fair and just BY like employ
ment' MIR. Baer must refer to bituminous
coal mining. l willing and prepared
to demonstrate that wages in the btu-
minous coal fields are from 20 to 40 per
cent higher than those paid for similar
classes of work in the anthracite fields
The fact is that the minimum wage re-
ceived by any class Of adult mine workers
in the soft coal mines is 26h cents per
J hour while the minimum wage paid to
boys is 121a cents per hour. In the an
thracite coal mines men performing pre-
cisely the same labor receive from 13 to
, 20 cents per hour, while boys are paid
as low as cents an hour and 'ly re-
ceive TO exceeds vents per hour. 1'--
THE bituminous miner works maxi
mum Of eight hours per day, which is two
hours less than men IN the anthracite
fields are rl, tired to work; moreover, the
anthracite mine worker labors under the
further disadvantage OF being more liable
to be killed or injured, the casualties being
, 50 per cent greater In the anthracite than
e in the bituminous mines.
Some other Errors.
= "There are other statements Of Mr..
Baer which are equally inco: rect; among
these are his assertion that the miners
only worked from four to six hours per
day and his further assertion that the
lowest scale Of wages was So cents for
e boy slate pickers.' II Mr.. Baer desires,
5 shall gladly furnish him with the names
and addresses of thousands OF slate pickeIs,
each Of whom received much less than
, 25 cents per day. and l shall be willing
e to have the returns verified by the COM
panies' pay rolls.
"Tbo next misstatement Of Mr.. Baer TO
which l shall give notice is that which
claims that for some mysterious reason
Y the miners restricted the output of the
mines Mr.. Baer claims that in this man
ner the product OF the collieries has been
reduced about 12h per cent, and that in the
case Of the Reading company It amour led
, 70 more than 1,O00,O 900 tons. This is vitality
n important II true. but 1t is not true. The
] fact is that instead OF a loss OF 100000
tons there was an increase in the year 1901
. from the mines operated by the Reading
y company OF s3s 243 tons, and a total increase
I from all the anthracite mines OF 5000. 900
{ tons (see the report OF Pennsylvania state
= bureau OF mines.) The output OF coal In
o 1901 was far in excess OF that Of any year
= in the history Of coal mining. and even a
d paper so avowedly and bitterly hostile to
r the Mine Workers union as the Engineer
ing and Mining Journal admits that 'vir-
tually the only restriction on output was
shortage Of cars This shortage tho
Journal continues, soon became marked
. and by the end OF November the Reading
colleries and those of some other COM
panies were mining on short time Tissue
Of January I, 1902
Per Capita Output Greater.
Il although this statement does not admit
y OF any such construction. It is still posi-
e BILE that Mr.. Basr still refers to the per
!, capita output, but ever here he errs
10 careful calculation of per capita output
10 from the Pennsylvania state bureau OF
d mines shows that despite Mr.. Baer's s.
10 sertion that the miners worked only from
y four 10 six hours per day and despite tho
Is assertion that the men restricted the out
put the per capita production In 1901. the
year complained Of was greater than the
n per capita output for any single one OF the
thirty-one years Of which we have record
n from 1870 to 1900. In attempting to account
for the increased tonnage the operators
point TO the installation Of labor saving
machinery which reduces the proportion OF
men and boys employed by the day. II We
Il disregard all mine workers whose labor
Il might be saved ~ such appliances and
s take simply tho output per certihcated and
n employed miner we hnd that the produo-
81 tion per miner was 1,271 tons in 1897 l,292
l. tons in 1898. 1,3s3 tons in 1893, ,ssl tons
g In 1900, while in the year 1901 II was 1905
= tons. ! refer Mr.. Baer TO the annual reports
OF the Pennsylvania state bureau OF mines
and ask II these figures do not refute tho
\. statement that organization In the coal
\, mines is inimical 70 good workmanship
n among the miners
"since the very inception OF this strike the
aims. objects and ideals OF the United Mine
/ Workers OF America have been wilfully
ID distorted by small army OF critics We
"a, have been uniuatly malgned
what the Miners Demand.