The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-25
The Individual Operator.


~ peace seemed to be lowering
over the deliberations of the
strike commission and the
negotiations Of the attorneys OF the big
aompanies with the attorneys of John
Mitchell and the miners union We're
tending toward Il handclasp of fellow
ship and good will. why should the So
called Independent operators raise cry
of alarm and threaten to shoe that
dove away? We can imagine persons
at a distance asking this question and
forsthe enlightenment it might be ap-
propriate to explain.
The independent operator is in diff
ferent position from the big company
operator He has only his coal mine to
draw revenue from. and usually it is a
mine which some big company has got
through with and in which he is pick
ing the leavings. The big company, on
the other hand, has both it's mines and
Ats railroads. and it can run one very
close to the margin of actual loss if it
can reCoup from the other.
When the mine troubles began they
caught the Independent. Or more prop
erly, the individual Operator-for he
isn't nearly as independent as he looks
between the upper and the neither mill
stone. The union wouldn't treat with
him or let its men work for him except
by a general settlement and while his
mine and that of the big company
We're both idle the difference in favor
Of the big company was that it's rail-
road trains We're running and helping
to keep the wolf from its door. AS a
matter of fact, the so-called independ-
ent operator was about as dependent a
specimen of business man as could be
found in the land, having neither the
power to bargain for labor without the
big companies consent, nor the assur-
ance that if he could come to terms
with the union and get men to go into
his mine he,could then get cars to carry
the mined coal to market.
The strike of 1900 brought some meas
ure of relief TO the individual operator,
in that it forced the big companies to
execute Il contract with him agreeing
to take his entire output Indefinitely
upon u percentage basis conditional
wages help to determine the tidewater
price, the individual operator had no
voice OF hand in deciding TO fight the
second demand of the miners union for
Increased pay. hut again was caught
between two warning elements each
stronger than himself. With Il trust on
nop and n trust underneath he was
truly an object of pity.
But When, after suffering great loss
from Il strike he could neither avert
nor settle and straining his credit in
some Instances almost to the breaking
point, he managed toward the latter
end of rbe struggle to get some OF his
properties in operation along comes tbs
sudden lay-down in Wall street, the biz
companies throw up their hands and
the commission is appointed The com
mission invites the individual opera tor
10 participate in its hearings, he pre-
plres his case and his evidence and is
about ready to show 10 the commits
sion and the country the exact truth
about the whole anthracite situation
when, again, the big companies exc
cute one of their peculiar moves by
trying to negotiate a settlement out of
court ana once more the man whom il
concerns most deeply is not consulted
Naturally the individual operator is
becoming tired of thus being used us q
foot ball and his dispatching AN EN-
tdssy to New York to discov en- If pos.
tible where he is at is. Il symptom OF
Pnwillingness which the mosuls would
~ well to heed,
All these internal troubles in, the
operating side of the coal trade are OF
interest ia, the general public only d.
they tend 10 explain the peculiarities
Qf the business Whether they shall bt
patched up or emphasized can make
little difference to the strike commits,
sion, which Is operating under char,
Ter from the whole people to Safeguard
their interests and establish anthracite
Industrial relations ON a just and per,
Hlanept basis. The commission has sait
that 1t Will not surrender its function.
to paid, attorneys of special interest.
and; =. the public has confidence in ii.
wortls p