The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-15
MINERS INCLINED
TO HESITATE
Continued From First Page.

what they allege to be many flaws.
Their greatest objection to it is that
the operators dictate to the president
from what class Of men he shall Sc
lect the arbitrators, and charge the
operators with lack of faith in the
president when they do not give him
free hand to pick the men he wants.
Another obiection> to it is that the
president is limited to four men in
selecting the jurist on the commission.
Neither are they sure, they say, that
labor would be represented, because
the proposal does not specifically say
so, and add that they have no assur-
ance that a man of prominence, emf
nent as a sociologist," would cover this
objection.
A great many of the strikers think
the proposition should be accepted, and
that the miners should trust to Presi-
dent Roosevelt to do the best he can
under the conditions laid down by the
coal-road presidents. An argument
was made by one miner at the Hart
hotel today that Mr.. Mitchell could
not We'll afford to turn down the prop
osition after already Offering to per-
nit the president to select the mem
bers of the commission. He thought
the president would appreciate the
trust put in him and see that the
miners had fair play. Others in the
same class thought that not much
harm could be done by accepting the
proposition, but that in the end much
good will result.
Still a Third View.
There is still a third view held by
the miners, and that is to refuse to ac-
cept the plan offered and make a
proposition, embodying some
of the suggestions contained in the op-
orators offer. One proposition sug-
gested was that the operators, the
miners and the president each select
a. number of men to act as board
This was mentioned to President
Mitchell, but he would make no COM
ment on it.
Strike headquarters presented an
animated scene all day and evening
The news of the operators proposal to
arbitrate spread through the region
quickly, and a crowd soon gathered
and fingered around the hotel all day
President Mitchell had many visitors
who called to get the news. He, how
ever, treated all callers alike and
gave out no information. In the early
hours the. situation appeared mixed
but toward noon reports came in from
outlying districts to the effect that
many men looked unfavorably upon
an indication of what might be ex-
peeted. This was a -damper on the
enthusiasm of the citizens generally
who thought they saw a ray of hope
for the ending of the strike. AS an
indication of how some Of the men felt
a local leader, who, was among the
strikers in the outskirts of the city
came into headquarters and quoted
the men as saying that they would
rather do down to straight defeat
than surrender to the employers on
the conditions they propose.
! ~ Little Movement in Coal,
The situation around the collierfes
was partially lost sight of because of
last nights developments, but there
was no material change from that OF
yesterday. The arbitration talk acted
/ as a check upon the movement of men
returning to work and it is probable
there Will be no great movement in
this direction until some definite con-
clusion is reached in the arbitration
The prospect for a coal supply to meet
the rapidly approaching cold weather
is by no means bright. If the miners
should accept the arbitration plan OF
the operators it would take at least
two weeks before the details of send
ing them back could be worked out
AS Lie OUTLOOK IOr drDlCraC10n is
rather dark it can be safely said that
there will be little more coal on the
market for some time to come than
there Is at present.
+ Morgan Tried to End Strike.
1t developed here tonight that Ma
than Strauss, of New York, with the
assistance of J. P. Morgan, has been
endeavoring for the past few days to
end the strike. Mr.. Strauss was rep
resented here by A. L. Kinkead, Syl-
vester Burns and w. L. Wilmer, of
New York. Mr.. Strauss had received
the assurance from Mr.. Morgan that
if the men would return to work that
he (Mr. Morgan would see that JUS
tice was done the miners, but he did
not care to have anything to do with
the union. The proposition was laid
before Mr.. Mitchell, and he refused it
on the ground that he would not ad-
wise the men to return to work on the
hope that Mr.. Morgan would do some
thing for them. The representatives of
Mr.. Strauss received the final answer
today, and they gave out the informa-
ton tonight.
The three district presidents, with
Mr.. Mitchell, late tonight discussed
the situation. They will take up the
operators arbitration plan tomorrow.