The citizen., 1902-10-24
FROM THE CAPITAL.
Our Correspondent Talks in
General About Wash
ingtOn.
(Communicatedl.
" ASHINGTON,

been accomplished and the peo-
pie must thank Mr. Roosevelt for
the result. While the indications
are that sooner or later the Oper
atorS would have had to back
down from their unwarranted po-
Sition. their having done so now
is due TO the earnest and intelll
gent efforts of the President. AS
President Mitchell remarks in his
letter accepting the arbitration
commission appointed by the
President, Il the operators had
been willing to submit the matter
to arbitration at the outset, and
as they have done now, there
need have been no strike; and 1t
is to be hoped that the lesson of
the anthracite strike of 1902 will
burn deep and will result in the
calling in of fair and disinterested
arbitrators in all future labor diff
ticultieS.
In the November bulletin of
the Bureau of Labor appear
speeches made to the President
by the operators at their first
White House conference, along
with a number of statistics con-
cerning the industry. Among
other things, the statement is
made over the signature of Presi-
ident Baer that, to the 26, ,21O
miners employed by the Reading
mines, wages were paid which
average S296.20 per year. From
this amount must be deducted
rent and the cost of powder and
oil. the assessment for the com
pany doctor, etc, leaving a net
balance for the miner and his
family of $14S, little over 81. rs
per week. On the surface, the
miners appear to receive good
wages by the day, but the num-
Der of days employed reduces the
weekly income to the figure given.
If there were plenty of miners
who were willing to return to
work at those wages, provided
they were given adequate military
protection, it is interesting to
know what becomes of that abun-
dant prosperity which is the Re
publican slogan and on which Mr..
Hanna urges the people to "stand
pat"
While the utmost satisfaction
is expressed with the personnel
of the arbitration committee the
President has appointed, it is
generally conceded that the work
before the commission is of her
culean character. Among the
contentious of the miners are that
they shall have representative
at the weighing dumps who shall
be appointed by their union and
shall be paid by the operators.
They also demand 20 per cent in
crease OF wages and an eight hour
day for the laborers, the miners
proper working by the piece.
There may be no injustice in the
present system of docking, but in
view Of the figures it is not sur
prising that the miners believe
there is. For instance, from one
cOlliery of the Delaware and Hud-
son, there were mined 234, 1928 tons
of coal and the miners we're paid
for but 1SS, ,329. In another col j.
liery of the same company the
coal mined amounted to 497, ,23S
tons and the miners were paid for
Ala, ,491. In an Ontario and Hud,
son colliery the coal min e d
amounted to $780, and the min
ers were paid for 239, 269 tons.
These figures are taken from the
report of the state mine inspector.
Secretary Shaw has finally been
compelled to resort to the pur
chase of bonds He has long re-
sisted the pressure in this direc-
tion for the reason that he did
not wish to follow in the footsteps
of Secretary Gage, but once he
began to cater to the demands of
the Wall street interests they
forced him to it. 1t is estimated
that the present purchase will
amount to $4,000, 600, as the
Treasury is paying 1879 for bonds
of 1925. This purchase when
completed will bring the total
amount of money released from
the Treasury, including the in
creased bank circulation which
Mr.. Shaw has made possible, up
to So, 900, 900. 1t is claimed that
this will end Secretary's efforts in
this direction and will relieve the
money stringency although it is
hard to tell how long it will re-
NAMED relieved, as long as the
government, by means of tariff
out of all proportion to its needs,
continues to collect duties far in
excess of the possible disburse.
ments.
AS a stump speaker Mr.. Shaw
will doubtless prove a diversion,
if not an amusement. 1t is re-
/ ported that at recent DOW WOW