The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-13
Absolutely Disputed.

>. Agreements between employers and
employees through workingmens organ
izations and the ordinary method of reg
ulating production and wages In the bit
luminous coal field and in other large in
dustries are beneficial, successful and in
keeping with The spirit of the times.
This is absolutely disputed by the oper-
ators in the bituminous region
,. Unions of working men tend to better
discipline among the men and to the in.-
provement of their physical, moral and
mental condition, and to the preservation
of friendly relations between the EN-
ployer and employe.
TO the statement that labor unions im-
prove both the morals and discipline of
their members. we answer, that this may
be true when applied to some Oreaniza
tions. But when applied to the Miners
Union as now conducted, we enter most
emphatic denial, and propose to introduce
evidence showing that prior to the ad
vent of the organization know as the
United Mine Workers of America, 1t was
considered bad form to kill or MAIN Il
citizen who attempted to exercise the
right to sell his labor, guaranteed him
under the constitution of the United
States. We also propose to show that the
vast number of brutal murders and beat
ings committed during the past five
months show that the teachings of the
NlntIS UNION has Drought ABOUT Slcll
moral obliquity as to cause its members
to believe themselves justified III these
acts of violence, and We will prove that
the officers and the members of this union
have justified this course by defending
both by counsel and by procuring bail
for those who have been guilty of these
atrocious acts. In regard to discipline,
we offer to prove that the dictation of the
Miners union as TO whom we should hire
u
discharge, has resulted i'm such absolute
and continued insubordination of en-
ployes in the anthra cite mines as to bring
about absolute reduction in efficiency of
from 10 TO 20 per cent. This can be con-
clusively proven by the daily production
per man AS shown by the mine inspectors
report of 1899, and compared to the same
production of 1901. These statistics in
some instances show falling off of -
per cent, entirely due to lack of ability
to enforce discipline by discharge,
Only Effective Method.
A. Experience shows that the trade
agreement is the only effective method by
which IL is possible to regulate questions
arising between employer and employed
in large industries and that a trade
agreement is the only possible way to es-
tablish the relations between the em
ployer and the wage worker in the am
thraCite field on lust and permanent
basis. and as far as possible TO do away
with any cause for the recurrence oil such
difficulties as those you now (the Anthra-
cite Coal StlSie Commissionl have been
called in to settle
We deny this statement and offer 10
show that for twenty years prior To the
advent of the Miners union, the miners
had been able to maintain standard of
hour wages higher than any other class
of employees without regard TO skill re-
qured This they have done during long
periods of depression i'm business. We
will show that during some of these pc
riods the bituminous miners have been
forced to accept as low as one dollar per
day while at the same time the men en-
gagged i'm anthracite mining received from
forty cents to one dollar per hour. We
will show that this scale of wages has
been maintained without the help on as
sistance of any labor union or organiza-
ton whatever, and practically without
strikes or lockouts. We Will also show
that since the advent of the Miners
union we have had seven months of com
plete idleness, and many, many days and
weeks of idleness at individual collieries
as the result of the attempt of the Miners
union to manage and control the opera