The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1902-10-10
REASONS FOR THE COAL STRIKE.

Rev DIR. William F. Bran1. of this
county, recently addrcsseda letter to the
Baltimore Sun, asking for some iniorma-
ton concerning the cause of the coal
strike The Sun saw fit to answer Mr..
Brands inquiry through its editorial
columns, and we publish below what it
says:
Rev. DIR. William F. Brand. of Hartford
county, who is widely known throughout
Maryland as a gentleman of learning. piety
and benevolence, writes to ask The Sun to
state specifically the complaints or demands
of the striking miners in the anthracite coal
region. 1T is sclfevident." DIR. Brand writes
that there must be some serious ground OF
complaint else the miners would not continue
to suffer they must do. 1t is evident that
the operators must have a serious reason for
refusing what is asked
The sun has several times published in it's
news columns the demand upon the mine own
crs by their employees, and yet there seems to
be many persons, like DIR. Brand who have
no certain knowledge of the differences he
tween the contcnding parties in the present
great and disastrous strike.
HioHtS1H NIL Joiii .AibS4iSAi'
of the United Mine Workers. made a public
statement OF the controversy asst appears to
the strikers. and summarized their demands
| as follows:
Eirst-An increase in wages for men EN-
ploycd on pcccwork.
Scc"nd--A reduction in the hours of labor
for men employed by the day.
Third-Paymcnt for Il legal ton of coal.
Fourth--rhat the coal we mine shall be
homes tly weighed and correctly recorded
Fitth-Wc favor incorporating i'll the form
of IN agreement the wages that shall he paid
and the conditions OF employment that shall
obtain for Il specific period.
As to the rcasonablcncSs of these demands
| We have proposed to submit to and abide by
| lhc award of an impartial board of arhitra-
| ton.
On the other hand the mneowners declare
| that the wages paid are liberal and i'll COM
| parison with wages paid i'll like employment
| fair and Just. In 1900 there a strike of
| the miners. which was ended by the grant OF
increased pay. Mr.. Mitchell. in reIcrencc to
| this. says that since this increase in pay The
cost Of living has increased to greater en-
| tent, and the miners are worse of today than
they W. before their wages were raised.
/ Mr. Baer. the president of the Reading
| Company, asserts that the average pay for
miners employed by his company is $50 81
| day. Compared with the wages of other
artisans. this rate of pay for men whose work
| is not interrupted by the weather would not
appear to he disproportionate. But. as DR..
Brand remarks, men do not engage i'll Il
desperate struggle like this without some
serious cause. They do not do it for fun
| Mr.. Carroll ID. Wright. who III adc an invcSti
| CATION of conditions at the mines at the re-
| quest of President Roosevelt, throws light
| upon this grievance about wages. ltwaS re
| ported to him that the mines are operated
about 200 days in the year. In that time Tho
miner must earn enough to support hintsel
and his family for whole year. Two hun
drcd times $1.S9 is $37S, very small sun
for house rent and the support of family 70
a whole year at prevailing prosperity price:
for the ncccSSarcs of life. And conditions arr
aggravated. it is claimed by compelling tn
miner to take his pay in orders on the com
pany stores, where high prices are charged
The miners ask for a decrease i'll the worl
hours per day without decrease in wages 81
that wages may be earned for go days in I
year instead of 200 days. Another grievanc
which the miners consider intolcrabe is n
they allcgc. that the coal they mine is no
correctly or honestly weighed and that the
are compelled to mine more than ton of CO.;
for the price of a ton. They contend for tn
> |
check the weights of the car.
DR.. Brand further says that lit is eviden
that the operators must have serious reaso
for refusing what is asked, because they AZ
at this time suffering heavy loss. The cor
. dition uf the mincowner and of the mine
worker is essentially different. When til
mine shuts down for any considerable time
means that the miner is deprived of the ncce
.,r;,s Of nt,t a,,I tI,.,I hi fIT
, may suffer for bread. To the mineowncr
means nothing of the kind. He does not ha y
to give up single luxury and he can affor
to wait indefinitely until the nottingham
starved into submission. knowing, perhap
4 that later on he can make good all his iuSSt
| by increasing the price OF coal. The min
owner says that his employees have no re-
grievance; that they well paid. and that
: majority of them willing and anxious
@ return to work and are prevented from dom
SO by the intimidation of a minority.
But the real obstacle in the way of I;
efforts to compromise and settle the strike
:. the opposition of the mincowncrs to the o
: ganizltion of their employees. The labor q
ganizatiOn is power. II can impress itSt
= upon State Legislatures and obta ain the t
actment of laws for the protection of the lv
= of workingmen and for the amclioration
Il their condition. 1t stands in the way of II
=, blacklist 1t makes the great corporation
which employ labor careful about reducir
IS wages. In short. the corporation does III
< like the labor union, and will not recognize
r. nor treat with it if it can help doing
the estimation of the people. labor has
" much right to organize capital.
l. In this present strike the people suffer fro
h the refusal of the workingmcn to submit, iu
=, as they suffer from the refusal of the operate
to grant terms. But their sympathcs Il
with the former not because they are po
ie and the others rich, but because they thin
IT the attitude of the coal barons is arroga
&c and unjust, and because the demands of t
miners seem, in the main, reasonable and "a
III and at least entitled to submission to an il
IL partial tribunal.