Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-29
PAYoOEa1IHE MINERS
Question Before the Strike
Commission.
BASIS OF SETTLEMENT
POLITICAL ECONOMISTS AWAIT
ING THE DECISION.
important Issues Involved in the Rul-
ing of the Arbitrators-Hear-
ings at:scranton, Pa.

Inc majority of the members of the an
thraclte coai strike commission left here al
. o CLOCK this afternoon over the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad for Scranton, Pa, where
kinney Will meet tomorrow morning to be-
gin their investigation Of the conditions
IN the mining region. The party consisted
OF Commissioner of Labor Carroll ID.
Wright, General John NJ Wilson, Bishop
spauidlng, Grand Chief E. f. Clarke of the
| order OF Railroad Conductors, Assistant
| Decorders Moseley- and NELL and three
stenographers. The other members of the
| commission also expected to reach
scranton by tomorrow morning. Judge
| tray, The chairman, is at Wilmington, Del.
ana expects to board the train on Its ar
rival there late this afternoon. Messrs.
| watkins and Parker are in New York city,
| and have been Officially notified of the de-
parture of the others from here. The COM
mission Will spend tomorrow at Scranton
arranging the details of the trip through
/ the coal fields. The hearings will not be-
| gin until the formal claims of the miners
| and the answer of the operators have been
/ filed.
First Hearing at Scranton.
| The first place to be visited by the COM
mission after leaving Scranton probably
!
mission through the coal fields in advance
| of the hearings will be of a preliminary
| character as the same points, in all prob
| ability, will be visited later for the pur-
| pose of taking the testimony of the mine
| bosses. foremen and the miners themselves.
| To require the miners to leave their work
| and travel any considerable distance to tes-
| tify before the commission, would involve
| considerable hardship upon the men and
| also interfere to some extent with the act
| ual working of the mines. In the prelimn-
! airy inspection and inquiry into the condi-
| lions at the mines the itinerary will be
| mapped QUITO cover the several important
coal fields of the anthracite region. I'M
| portant towns representative of each of the
| fields will be visited. 1t Is expected that
the commission will proceed to Wilkesbarre
| and then to Pittston. which points, like
| Scranton, are in what Is known as the
| northern coal basin. Then the middle-east-
/ ern fields and the southern coal fields will
| be visited Ia turn. The towns to be visited
| probably will . include Hazleton, Shenan-
| doah, Pottsville, Tamaqua, Shamokin and
| Carbondale
| No one of the members of the commits
| sion Is willing to be quoted in predictions
Of the length Of time the work of the COM
mission will coHsume. They say that they
| will go into the subject exhaustively, and
one of them said privately today that he
| believed the report would be ready within
"If eithef Of the parties to the contro-
| versy shogld2 refuse to abide by the de-
| cision of the commission, what could be
| DONE the commissioner was asked.
| 81 do ndt regard THAT a possibility"
was his answer. I'VE see no reason to an
| ticipate anything of the sort. 1 do not
| believe that either side could face the force
of public opinioA by rejecting the conclu-
| sions which they have agreed in advance
] to accept"
| The commissioners go on a special car,
but every member of the party will pay his
own expenses, waiting to be reimbursed by
| Congress
| Among the many interesting phases of
| the arbitration proceedings affecting the
| coal industry and one which is regarded
| as of the utmost Importance in order that
| the work of the commission shall be Of ad-
| vantage in the settlement of such questions
| in the future, is the basis on which de-
| termination of wages that should be paid
| to the miners is to rest. The miners have
| demanded increase of 20 per cent in the
! rate paid for piece work and a reduction of
| 20 per cent in the hours Of men working by
| the day. The question being asked Is how
| the commission shall determine whether
| the wages should be Increased.
Theories of Wages.
The political economists of the past have
! based their theories of wages upon the
| principles of supply and demand, just as
| they have argued as to how the prices of
| commodities are fixed. In the case of wages,
| the influence of labor organizations has
made itself felt in a demand that stipulated
| rates OF wages should be paid as result
| of a demand of all the men engaged In
| trade, although without that united effort
| the employer might make terms with his
| Workmen individually at a lower rate,
| based on the tact that there would nearly
| always be surplus of labor forced by
| necessity to work at such rates as the men
| could secure. The fixing of wages by deal
| ing with men individually has operated
| with great force when applied to bodies of
men doing mechanical work recurring but
| a Rnt bo Iah
| union 1t is argued by those most familiar
with the subject has introduced the element
| of equity between the employer and the
| employee by which they claim that wages
| should be regulated In view of the pro-
ductiye value of the labor.
| Fixing Rate of Wages.
| In all arbitration proceedings in the past
| the establishment of any principles on which
| wages and hours of labor should be regu-
| lated has been very much wanting, and
leaders of labor organizations are wonder
| ing whether the commission, now about to
| get to work seriously to adjust the difficult
| ties in the coal regions and to suggest some
| plan by which such difficulties may be
| avoided in the future, will be able to enunci-
| ate any principles which may be helpful in
| the future in dealing with such disputes in
| other industries. Whether wages should be
| fixed by the amount of profit In the bus
| mess, whether the necessities of the men,
/ or whether the wages prevailing in other
industries In the same locality should be
made the basis for a discussion looking to a
determination of the question are ali mat
tiers Of interest "a students Of economics
| II the profitabifnessSof industry as a
whole were to determine rates of wages,
that would be-afuiyaient to- a declaration
| that capital is entitled only to a given
| amount Of profit. or at least should share its
| profits with its labor. If mems necessities
were to be the basis of an adjudication.
| then the standard of living that should pre-
vail would Be Fbrdught into the dispute, not
1 SO much in relation to standards Of living
| that now prevail but with regard to stand
| ards that should exist for the best develop
ment Of th51peepie
Academic Questions.
| Those whoC have most carefully inyesti-
gated questions Gslating to labor feel quite
| sure that these matters at this time are
| largely academic and too abstruse to en-
| gage the attention Of any arbitration board
They rather look upon them as principles
| to be evolved by time and as the result OF
general discussion