The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-19
RECOGNITION OF UNION
THE PRINCIPAL THING
Continued from Page -

desire Of a man who has property to
utilize it and get an income from it.
I think that probably is true" was
Mr.. MitchelPs response.
Judge Gray-If you can imagine ali
men ceasing to work at once. the whole
social machine would stop?
Mr.. Mitchell-Yes.
Commissioner Wright asked: DO
you consider il .Justifable for the en-
ployers in a certain district, in order
to resist the demands of the labor
union, to paralyze that industry or any
group of 4ndustries?'
mo, do not think it is proper" Mr..
Mitchell replied
Would the same answer be made if
1 should substitute unions instead Of
employers ?' ss .r-.-.5-
= think in either case" answer ed
Mr.. Mitchell, some other avenue of
adjustment than the paralysis of the
industry should be sought"
Mr.. Mitchell, answering the commits
| siOners, said the United Mine Workers
did not incorporate because jne step
/ was not necessary. An organization to
become financially responsible, he said,
must have a large fund, and this the
working people did not have. He said
that employers who object to treating
/ OF contracting with the union because
/ it is not Incorporated would oppose
| treating with it anyhow.
Recognition Of the Union.
Commissioner Wright asked Mr..
/ Mitchell what he meant by recognition
( of. the union. and the witness replied:
| 1T means that the employers shall
/ make agreements regulating hours of
/ labor, wages, etc, with the union, and
| that the union as such would be held
responsible for a rigid compliance with
those agreements"
The cross examination was next
/ taken up by ". w. Ross of New York,
counsel for the Delaware. Laekawanna
q Western, who had just begun to
question the witness when the noon re-
cess hour arrived.
In the afternoon Mr.. Ross line Of
examination was for some time di-
rected toward testing Mr.. EIitchelTS
knowledge of bituminous mine work
ing, the number of men employed, the
wages paid and comparison of these
with the wages paid. in the anthracite
fields Regarding the number of hours
the men work in the hard coal regions,
Mr. Mitchell said that when the
breakers run ten hours the men usu-
ally work seven, eight or nine hours
When the breaker runs less the men
work in proportion On the average,
:. however. the men worked more hours
than the breakers
AS matter Of fact said Mr.. Ross,
has not your organization stopped the
miners from working on days when
the breakers were idle?"
Mr.. Mitchell admitted that in this
; district the rule is that the men shall
; not prepare coal on idle days. This,
; he said, was for the purpose of pre-
; venting favOritiSm.
; You have spoken of the existence
; Of favoritism,' Mr.. Ross said, land
, you referred to the excessive system OF
? docking Do they exist in other
: mines?'
, THAT is my information. was the
; reply.
In reply to another question by Mr.
' Ross, Mr. Mitchell declared that the
, rule of the local unions not to pre-
: pare coal when the breakers were idle
: did not have for its object the restric.
= ton OF the output
, If these miners should be permitted
TO work." asked Mr.. Ross, con thes,
: idle days, the output would have beer
greater, would it not2"
Il don't know whether your com
pany wanted more coal than the miners
produced or not
7 I'VE have VARIED for several year
all the coal we could get. We hav
e never been able really. to supply on
). orders.
. s-That information Mr.. Mitchell an
swered, lis much different from wha
+ I usually got from the men you rep
resent, because they said their sale
n were limited entirely by the cempeti
ton of bitumiRous COAL
z We are not discussing competition
at present" Mr.. Ross remarked. Dur
2 ing this era of prosperity we worke
all the miners we could to advantage.
Il say" said Mr. Mitchell, furthe
! answering the question, that that in
{ formation is contrary to the statement
| made by the presidents of your com
pany."
I. At the request of counsel, Mr.. Mitch
ell here gave history Of his conneC
ton with organized labor He said tina
q he secured a recognition of the unto
and a change Of some ten hours
II eight in the state of Illinois in L
spring of 1898. There was no strik
We did what we are trying 10 DO her
we asked the operators TO meet I
/. and we agreed on an advance of
n