The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-26

Whether 1t was the protest of the in
dependent operators or a realization on
| the part OF the coal road presidents
| that u settlement "out OF court" of the
strike controversy was not to the liking
of the thinking public, the fact now
develops that the proposed amicable adj
| justment is all off.
| Both the mathematics and the ethics
| of the strike dispute are to be threshed
| out before the commission.
1t was thought all along, until yes
| terday, that all the big companies were
| acquiescng, at least, in Wayne Mac
Veaghs activities towards amicable adj
justment. 1t now seems as If Mr.. Mac
Veagh was acting on his own account
in every step he took beyond making
arrangements for conferences, at which
the parties might agree as to facts con-
cernng wage and labor statistics.
Maybe this is doing Mr. MacVeagh
an injustice, but if it is the blame lies
| with the coal presidents. Either he has
been borne beyond his authority by his
enthusiasm, or the coal presidents have
repudiated him after giving the author
| ity he has been acting under, presum-
ably.
Negotiations Are Off.
Be that as it may, the negotiations,
authorized or unauthorized for amc-
able adjustment, are all off.
The committee of Independent oper-
ators, which went to New York to have
| a conference with the coal presidents
yesterday, returned last night, wreathed
in smiles. The afternoon dispatches told
| in detail of the big companies having
in, %ln; ,,,io ND
all confirmed these dispatches.
One of the committee said last night:
! eve gained our point. Everything we
sought was acceded to. 1t required
| little or no argument on our part to
| convince the coal presidents that the
| hearings before the commission should
be proceeded with. They had about
come to this conclusion themselves.
"It is great victory for u.s." he con-
| tinued. Under the amicable adjust
ment plan we were to have been en-
gineered out of court, without being
given an opportunity Of defending our
declaration Of May last, that we were
paying all the wages our business war;
ranted and that we We're denied the
| right to hire and discharge men with
out the consent of the United Mine
Workers. We want to show this, and
we can show it,
Developments Anticipated.
| The commissioners, it would seem,
half anticipated yesterdays develop
ments. Ostensibly they adjourned to
give the parties opportunity to agree
| on figures bearing on the wage ques-
ton, and for nothing else. Chairman
Gray expressed the hope that when the
parties came together they might reach
an agreement ION nearly all, if not all,
of the points in dispute, but by no word
or sign did he indicate that the COM
mission expected they would do more
than that for which the adjournment
was specifically granted, namely, the
agreement of the parties to figures on
wages. To further fortify itself, the
commission, in a statement from it's
subcommittee, Saturday afternoon, de-
clared that no matter what agreement
the parties might arrive at the COM
mission was not bound to accept it for
incorporation in it's award. If any
| agreements the parties arrived at met
with the full approval of the commits
sion, such agreement or agreements
would be made part of the commissions
award. If the commission did not ap-
prove, the amicable adjus tment efforts
We're all in vain.
What They Expected
1t is certain that Mr.. Mitchell and
the other miners representatives went
to Washington expecting to deal with
duly accredited representatives of all
the big companies. They had been led
to believe that Mr.. MacVeagh had been
authorized to offer as a basis of set
tlement ten per cent. advance in
wages, a nine hour, day and the other
concessions previously told about.
The fact that they found the appar-
entity repudiated Mr.. MacVeagh the
only one in Washington TO deal with
them and that he had nothing to offer
except his good offices left them with
nothing to do but return to Scranton
the way they came. Mr.. Mitchell, Mr..
Dmrow and Mr.. Lloyd will be back
here today TO prepare for n continual
ton of their fight before the commits
SiOnerS