New-York tribune., 1902-12-18

II any district, and the results shouiu not oo
charged to any but those who are responsible
1t will be shown by reliable statistics and the
healthy occupatioa and that aside from accidents
its heathfulness compares favoraoly with all otner
70 the third claim made by the complains ntsn
be weighed and fixing a minimum rate per ton-it
will be shown that in the larger part OF the an
and other conditions it is not only impractica@nIe Die
put almost impossible to adopt sncH y tbis
portion OF the anthracite region. by which the coa
material including rock and slate must be brought
to the surface, it is the only method that can De
AS to the claim for the reduction Of the hours
he shown tbar miners and lab0rers do not
work eight hours. and that as to the miners IN
It is to be hoped that after the testimony in be- be.
naif or the respondents has oesn 1HIy h se maid
TO them not only equal 10. but greater IhGlI'
and that their conditions and surroundings are not
intolerabie the paid agitators and organizers s
ing between the operators and employees which pre-
yaed prior TO 1900 for over thirty years VIZ
sion. when it has heard all OF the evidence: VIII oe
By ' iengthy period Of Peace between
ployers and employees.
Mr. Darrow called attention to the reference
in the statement that recognition Of the union
is not issue before the commission. and SAID
if the commission should sustain that claim
then the operators should have no right to pre-
NiOiTlAIS So---
mitted during the strike instigated by the
union.
James Torrey. of the Delaware and Hudson
made the point that the miners occupied most
of the time trying to show that the union was
not responsible for it, and that 1t would be un-
fair for the commission to deny the right Of
the operators to combat that testimony
FOR INDEPENDENT OPERATORS.
The matter went no further. and Ira H Burns,
one of the attorneys for the independent oper-
ators. presented the following statement of the
individual companies:
The object and organization of this commission
Il IS not based on the common statute law but
has for its foundation only the agreenen. OF n .,e
force its judgments, and its findings must @ neces-
stances ii will easily be that the most care
fu invetgaton as to the facts and the n
order give satisfaction to the immediate parties
well as to the general public. who are deeply III
terested in the ultimate result .La
1t seems TO US that the questions SO Iae as 81 tnTy @
may be considered under three ggneff third non
union men and discrnination
AS TO wages, it may be well to refer to the the
gestion Of the appointment Of this commission. as
bo6sd fS2w bv e P1ssdan of he Tnfed states
he is willing perform that service. to whom shau
spective companies and their employees,
whether they belong TO union or not; ana the ne 1e
we are not discriminating against the United
shall not discriminate against refuse to work
with non-union men: that there shall be no os
owing 20 the varying physical conditions Of the an
thracite mines. each colliery is proniem os
It will be noticed that the questions at issue"
vorkmen as another. but between the respec-
tive companies and their own employees. .,o s,h-
mission any question as wages should be settled
by an elimination Of the complaints and condi-
tiOnS each separate COlHeFS. ana Iildl Tue oIS
issues involved are those between the operator OF
each mine and the actually in his employ:
Again. think the Commission: before taking
any action looking TO an increase OF wages should
carefully consider upon whom such increase must
fall OF any increase in cost or productloh
authority class Of the poor in order 10
contribute to the comfort Of another ..,. -.
AS we understand II, one OF the chief duties or
taIpe OF iabor in and about the mines Is purely
a business proposition II Is the value the labor,
and not the necessities Of the laborer. that We are
his hire but the hire is nxed according to what
he does b and a not BY W What erns Re day This is
matter In which the Individual operators are par
deep. and Veins Of coal thin They neeessarily
haXe g5F 5 Itself sef necy ye entails large
fixed charges 1t may well be that the dl1efenSs
between an eight hour and ten hour day. to the
operator might mean the difference between a
profit and loss . 49,, ......,
mines make it impossible to lay down hard and
fast rule that will do equal justice to all con-
If any award is made by this Commission IN
condition precedent there should be some sub
stantiaI assurance on the part Of such United Nine
in any way interfering with or nolestlns o+rsohs
do not belong to the union
The wanton persecution of non-union men, who
only ask to be allowed their daily bread in
peace. is a shame to those who commit or allow
such persecution. and blot on the adminiStTa0m
OF justice in the State of Pennsylvania Nlthout
the assistance of mob violence and terrorlzatloLl
could have produced coal during the late strike in
much larger quantities than were actually n1ineu,
been stoned and beaten. and even threatened with
death. unless they abandoned their work
The statement IS signed by L H Burns ana
H c. Reynolds. counsel for the independents
It was arranged that the attorneys repre-
senting the non-union men should first call their
witnesses. and five witnesses were produced who
testified that strikers had killed one man tuu
had more or less seriously annoyed Two oGmea NE
men who worked during the SUSPENSION Inc
first witness was Mrs. James Wenston. the
wife of the murdered man. and the second was
her sen-in-law. Mr.. Darrow asked the Soh-ih-
law who paying for the lawyers VINO are
the non-union men, ana tneh I eh
sued the liveest tilt that has occurred IN me .tle
sessions Of the commission. Couhsei 4oI 'nS
witness objected and MI Darrow INSISTED ne |
and the commission had a right to know VINO |
were back of the non-unlon men, puI OhaIilldi
The chairman said it made no difference if the |
operators were paying for the lawyers ne auu-
ed that it mattered nothing in a court OF JustIc
where a man is tried for muFder, VINO pa paS M
the prosecution long as justice Is done Nj
insisted he had z rlSHt 10 hIio", Ne |
Cause this was peculiar case, and ex-Congress-
man Rrunrn also for the miners, claimed tnat |
,ba ,on-union men had virtually formed union |
because they had asked the commission to rec
ogniZe them in the award and protect tlltni
from losing their places, and that they dloo
= she'd for an increase in pay. The colloquy was |
caTried ON for some time, and, finally, Cha1r-
man Gray consulted his colleagues ano @ as d |
result quietly answered that the commissioners
thought it frnnnaterial who was back OF the non
,Inio1 men At O'Clock the commission ad-
iourned until tomorrow