Evening star., 1902-01-21
Important Convention Meets at In
diauapolis, Ind, Today.
DEMAND FOR INCREASE EXPECTED
Operators Likely to Propose a 10
Per Cent Reduction.
THE PRESIDENTS REPORT

! In indianapolis, Ind, yeSterday{ with
| nearly one thousand delegates present. II
| is confidently expected by President
| Mitchell, Secretary Wilson and other off,
Gals that the meeting will develop into the
! largest convention ever held by labor union
| lists. Delegates are here from twenty -four
states, representing every bituminous and
anthracite coal field in the United States.
| Ben Tillett, the famous British labor leader,
| who is in this country studying labor con-
| ditions, arrived last night to be the guest
| of President Mitchell and the miners until
Wednesday or Thursday. The convention
will continue until January 80, wnen the
| joint conference with the operators of OHIO,
Pennsylvania, Illinois and Indiana will be-
gin. This last conference will probably last
for ten days.
1t is the understanding that the delegates
| are preparing to ask for an advance that
Will be equivalent to an all-round Increase
of at least 10 per cent. Along with this re-
port. however, is another to the effect that
many of the operators have determined to
take stand for reduction of 10 per cent
on the ground that they have had an un-
profitable year and that the prospects for
the coming year are not bright enough to
warrant even continuation of the present
scale. 1t is not believed though, that there
will be lockout, as the miners and opera
tors of the four states that sign the COM
petitive scale have been able to reach an
agreement during the last year without
much trouble.
The convention was called to order by
PRESIDENT Mitchell. and after the dele
gates were seated the report of the creden-
tialS committee was called for.
President MitchelI's Report.
President Mitchells report covered six
| teen printed pages. He deplored the fact
that many local unions are Withholding
orfin Of +l,n
! that 10000 miners are paying dues to the
local unions, from whom the national asso-
citation gets no benefit. He urges vigorous
action. President Mitchell reviews the
strikes of the year in the southwest, in
Hopkins county, KY; the Dearmitt strike,
the Thatcher and Mattewan strikes, and of
the Kentucky strikes. he says:
THE situation in Kentucky deserves and
should receive your careful consideration.
Provision should be made to continue this
contest until the mine owners agree to
meet and treat with their former employees;
| it should be continued until the operators
/ concede the same wages and conditions of
the employment as have been willingly con-
ceded by the mine owners who sell their
coal in the same markets, and whose nat
ural advantages are no greater than those
enjoyed by the operators of Hopkins
county"
AntagOnized in West Virginia.
OF the West Virginia situation he says:
All especial effort mas DSen maze during
the year 1901 to organize the miners of
West Virginia, and while we have not met
with the success our efforts warranted, yet
am pleased to report the organization of
forty-five new local unions in district H.
and the prospect of a rapid increase in
membership during the coming year. West
Virginia-or, properly speaking, district IL
is now more thoroughly organized than at
any other time IN it's history; there is
total of eighty local unions in that district
with membership of approximately 5000.
1.-The antagoniSm to our organiZa ton on
the part of operators of West Virginia has
been more pronounced than ever before; ac-
tive participation in the organization by
any West Virginia miner is Invariably fol-
lowed by dismissal from employment. In
order to protect ourselves and our members
who have been VictimiZed We have found
it necessary to spend considerable money.
l should recommend that this convention
make provision to supply requisite fund
to properly maintain those who may be
discharged for activity in the union in the
Virginias."
In the Anthracite Fields.
In summing up conditions in the anthra-
cite fields he says:
while upon the whole the situation in
the anthracite fields during the past year
has been very encouraging, there are still
some questions which are source of an
noyance and which have created considera-.
BILE discomfort among the mine workers
there.
II am still Of the opinion that the aues-
ton of an eight-hour work day, recogni-
ton Of our organization and minimum
day wage scale should be The paramount
Issue in the anthracite field; and / believe
that I voice the sentiments of all antnra-
cite miners when say that they are ready
and willing to take any step this convention
may determine upon to attain these ends"
The report urges that the executive board
members receive s.. 80 per day and says:
Il recommend that the constitution be
amended so as to provide that each mem-
ber Of the national executive board shall
cast one vote for each one hundred mem
bers he represents. This will give each dis
trict representation in proportion to the
number of members located in the district;
and in order that the incoming president
vice president and secretary treasurer, may
have voting power equal to that Of other
members Of the national executive board, l
should further recommend that they oe in
vested with power to cast the same number
Of votes on the executive board as Is cast
by the member representing the district
from which each Of the three national obi
GERS comes.
Change in E1ecting Omcers.
'The time has come in the life of our or
ganization, when in our judgment the Sc
lection Of national officers should be made
by direct vote Of the members of the local
unions.
with the exception OF slump in prices
during March and May last year, and a
rapid increase during the month of Decem-
Der, coal prices have been steady, and,
upon the whole, considered good. believe
1t is safe to say that never before in the
history of trade have prices been more sta
BILE. with less cause for complaint by reason
of keen competition.
II am of opinion that every possible
effort consistent with reason should be eX-
erted to have our agreements made upon
an absolute run-of-mine basis In all dis
tricts represented in the joint convention
this year.
I'm the formation of our next national
agreement 1t is imperative that the ma
chine mining scale in the states of Indiana,
Ohio and Pennsylvania be revised. The
basis of machine mining in the districts
above enumerated is not only unfair, but
Is also fundamentally wrong.
The necessity OF our organization exer-
cising jurisdiction over all men employed
In or around the mines has been more than
emphasized during the past year.
strongly recommend that the executive
board be empowered to admit the coal
hosting lsas engineers in a body. and grant
cover the United States-and thar they be