Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1902-09-29

the form Of an agreement the wages
that shah be paio and the conditions
Of employment that shall obtain for a
specified period.
As to the reasonableness Of these
demands we have proposed t. submit
20 and abide by the award II an I'M
partial board of arbitration
There could be no grosser perver,
sion of truth than the assertion OF
the operators that the mine workers
anion is lawless organization. Dur
ing the past 20 weeks the whole
power Of the union has been exerted
20 preserve the peace among a volun
tarily idle population Of threequarters
of million, and it is a tribute to the
activity Of our officers and the loyalty
and self-restraint Of our members
that We have been more successful in
allaying violence than the coal and
iron police in melting it Despite all
har precautions we regret that oeea.
sional violence has resulted but it
would be as logical to charge any one
Of the religious. social or political or
CARNATIONS. or even the United States
government. with being an unlawful
organization. because some of its ad-
herents transgress the law, as it is
to charge the United Mine Workers
Of America with being an Unlawful
organization, because some of its
members violate the law
Wrongly Blamed With Crimes.
The public should be made aware,
however that the operators and a
certain section Of the press are by no
means discriminating in the fixing Of
responsibility. and that crimes of vic.
lence are laid to the doors Of strik-
ers when imported guardians of law
aud order. the armed coal and iron
police. are clearly and Enthusiastically
at fault Some time ago the Bellevue
washery. at Scranton, was destroyed
by lightning; a reward was offered
by the coal company for the arrest
and conviction of the person who set
fire to the washery. This is an ex.
ample of the manner in which the
strikers are maligned.
Mr.. Baer assumes that the pump.
men. engineers and fremen were
called out so that the mines would
be destroyed and with their destruc.
ton 1000 men. with their wives and
children dependent upon their labors.
would be deprived of work for long
time. The truth Is that the strike Of
the pumpmen. engineers and firemen
was called in their own interest abso.
lutely. and by their own request; Il
was not for the purpose OF removing
grievances against which they alone
complained and against which some
Of them had inaugurated an independ'
emit. though unsuccessful. strike more
than one year ago.
Lose Millions Rather Than Yield.
"Reverting to the demands of the
miners for increased wages and i'm.
proved environment, Mr.. Baer claims
that be cannot possibly pay an in.
crease in wages that would amount
to 10 or IS cents ton to the miners
but he and the allied presidents ad
nit that they can afford to sacrifice
temporarily. a large market and lose
millions Of dollars rather than pay
this increase. Nevertheless, without
advancing the miners wages one cent
the operators did raise the market
price last year from 80 to so cents
per ton and at the present time Mr.
BaeF and his fellow presidents are
forcing the public to pay from Sc to
$40 in excess upon ton of coal in
order to save this same public 10 or
Is cents.
Mr.. Baer states that 40 per cent
of the coal produced is sold in the
market below the cost of producing
but be fails to say that the larger
portion of this 10 per cent is made UP
of grades of coal for which the miners
receive no compensation whatever.
THE rise in wages in 1900 was
more than counterbalanced by an in
crease in the cost Of living, which
left the miner worse off than before
Mr.. Baer claims that this advance
Of 10 per cent which was paid the
miners in 1900 cost the companies
more than 10 cents a ton, but this is
at least, problematical In March
1902. the Engineering and Mining
Journal (see issue of March 29) made
a careful calculation, in order 'tc
show what effect the increase In
wages last year had upon the cost OF
coal AS a result of this compute
ton, based upon the figures of the
Delaware and Hudson, the Delaware
Laekawanna and Western and the
Lehigh Coal and Nav alton company
the Engineering and Mining Journal
which cannot be accused of being
either friendly or fair to US, states
that the conclusion to be drawn is
that the resulting increase in cost
was not large; in all probability moi
over 5 cents a ton at the outside"
Small Wage Yearly.
mr.. Baer claims that the average
pay per working day in his mines Ii
$1S9 Admitting, for the sake of ar
gument, the correctness of his figures
this would make, upon the average
number of working days in 1901, 8
grand total of $26S per employee, or
an average of sos per week. Thus
as a result of the strenuously opposed
and bitterly regretted advance wrung
from the operators by the strike OF
! 1900, the average adult employee of the
Reading Coal and iron company Is
permitted to spend upon himself. his
wife and children the muniticent sum