The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-09-17
REPORT ON THECOAL STRIKE
The Result Of Carroll D. Wrighl's
Investigations.
PRESIDENT CANNOT INTERFERE
The Commissioner Says That the Oper
ators Should Concede . Nine n our Day
The Chief Cause OF Dimculty. He
Finds, Is the Lack OF Confidence he.
tween Employers and Employees.

Washington. d. c. - The report OF
Carroll d. Wright. the Commissioner
Of Labor. on the anthracite coal strike.
has been made public.
Commissioner Wright finds that
there Is no confidence existing between
the employees and their employers.
This. he believes. is one Of the chic!
causes of the difficulties between the
operators and miners. Commissioner
Wright suggests that 1t would be rea-
sonable and just for the operators to
concele at once nine-hour day for Il
period of six months as an experiment.
He suggests that there should he or
ganizcd a joint committee OH concilia-
ton. composed Of representatives OF
the operators and Of u new union OF
anthracite employees. TO which all
grievances should be referred for In
vestigation. and their decision should
he final and binding upon all parties.
and that there should be no intcrfer.
ence with non-union men.
In the course Of his report Coinmis'
sioner Wright says that the facts seem
to show that. in contradistinctiOn to
most strikes. the officers Of the miners
union. with perhaps one or two excep.
tiOns. persistently opposed the present
strike on the ground that 1t would
probably last all summer and entail
great hardship and suffering upon the
mine workers. as well rs work incal.
culable injury To the industrial inter.
ests Of the country.
Some of the operators and some OF
the union officers believe that no great
progress will be made toward q more
peaceful condition In the mining re-
gions until the anthracite miners have
a union of their own. All OF the Oper.
ators whom Mr.. Wright met dlsclaimad
distinctly that they had any antagOn-
ism to labor unions as such. They did
object. and most seriously. to some Of
the methods adopted by the union. and
they feel that when asked to make u
contract with the unions the latter
should put themselves In q position TO
be pecunlarily responsible for carrying
out such contracts.
The specific demand Of the union
that where miners are paid by weight.
2224O pounds shall constitute Iii. ton.
represents lonS-sianding difficulty.
The miners see little difficulty In adopt.
Ing the system Of payment by weight.
but they claim that they age sys;emat-
ically defraudcd by the arbitrary ac-
tlon of the bosses. who determine how
much reduction shall be made for i'm
purities. AMI they especially complain
that they are defrauded when paid by
the wagon or car load.
When 1t Is shown that ton OF coal.
says Mr.. Wright. contains a varying
percentage of refuse as 1t comes from,
the mine. 1t Is difficult to see the force
Of the argument why 1t should not be
weighed and the miner paid for the
work he does. At least the operators.
he thinks. ought to share In the loss
Of labor In mining Impurities.
The demand Of the miners that
wages be Increased ten per cent. in :he
rates per ton TO those men who per-
form contract work. and ten per cent.
reduction In the time Of those who
work by the day. Is backed by the
statement that. after the Increase
which was granted In 1000. the prices
Of all commodities in a mining region
were advanced accordingly. They urge
that 1t Is exceedingly difficult for them
to live properly on their present wages.
The reduction Of time Is put forward
by the miners. and hacked by the state
ment that their work takes only about
200 days in Il year. and for the remain.
der Of the time they are practically
idle. The operators meet this demand
with the statement that they are un-
able to market only sixty per cent. Of
the capacity Of their mines. and that
their fixed charges. including the pump.
ing. care Of the mines. etc. go on for
twenty.four hours a day and every day
in the year. They insist that the in-
crease OF twenty per cent. In wages.
which the men demand. would mean
about fOrty-six cents ton increase.
The total amount Of wages paid in the
anthracite coal fields last year Is stated
by the operators to have been about
66.OOO.0OO. The increase under the
original demand OF the miners. the
operators state. would be about SO.