The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-18
LIvELIEsT SESSION YET HELD
MANAGER MAY BE COMPELLED TO
EXPLAIN TO JUDGE GRAY.
Mr.. WolvertOn's Address and Attor-
ney Burns's Statement I'm Behalf
of Independents.

who have been admitted to the arbitration
began calling witnesses.
The sessions to-day were probably the
liveliest vet held by the commission. At
the morning session the miners lawyers
challenged the fairness of certain wage
handed TO the commission by
the Pennsylvania Coal Company and In
the afternoon Lawyer Darrow had spir-
tied discussion with Chairman Gray as to
whether the miners had a right to know
who is paying the lawyers representing
the nonunion men before the commission.
Mr.. barrow asserted they were employed
by the coal operators. Preceding this ST.
mon p. Wolverton, counsel for the Reading
Company, who delivered the opening adj
dress on behalf of all the large coal COM
panies. made the point in his address that
the recognition of the union is not an is
sue before the commission, which brought
out a protest from Mr.. Darrow. The lat
ter asserted that If IL were not, then the
operators should be forbidden from present
ing testimony that tended to show the
union was responsible for all the alleged
violence committed during the strike.
WAGE STATEMENTS.
The alleged unfairness of the wage state
ments came to the notice of the commits
sion as result of it's inquiry into the child
labor question in this vicinity. Several
little girls testified on Monday that they
worked all night in silk mill in order to
help their fathers, who were employed In
the mines and received poor pay. Yester-
day Everett Warren who represents the
Erie Company, which controls the Pennsyl-
vania Coal Company in whose mines some or
those fathers worked, handed to the COM
mission a memorandum showing that one
fat har QCf "a
himself and laborer, and that the other
father received $1,000 for himself and la
borer. AT the opening of the session to-
day the miners placed the two parents
on the stand, and they swore that the
earnings mentioned were divided among
from four to six men. This testimony
Gray asked if the figures on the memo
randum were taken from the wage state
ment already filed by the company with
the commission. Mr.. Warren replied in
the affirmative.
Chairman Gray then requested counsel
for the company to indicate in its state
ment, handed up, whether the figures given
are for one, two or more men. 1--WE don't
say 1T shakes our faith in the statement"
he continued. UNLESS you can show, how
ever, that there is none of these cases. such
as are suggested by this testimony, it will
very materially shake our faith in it.
MR.. MAY EXPLAINS.
The company, through its general mana
statement He said: 1.-The Pennsylvania
Coal Company has two systems-one where
there are four men in a place and known
as a four-handed place. another in which
there are only two men and known as a
two-handed place. There may be places
where only one man works and there may
be places where there are four men work.
ing, but that fact is not known to the COM
pany itself The company does not keep a
record of the individuals in a contract or
the number. 1t only keeps the name of
the man in whose name the place is run
1t can be possible that there are more men
in place than the company has any cog
nizance of, but that is entirely outside it's
province. The company" he said, does
not pay the laborer; 1t pays only the man in
whose name the place appears"
Mr.. DarrOw crOSS-examined Mr. Nav.
and the latter said he did not know whether
two, four six men worked to earn the
money indicated on the memorandum
handed to the commission, adding that he
got the figures from the auditor of the
company.
You saw these figures handed to me, to
the newspapers and to the commission and
you did not state to any one that you did
not know how many men shared in the
money earned" said Mr. barrow.
Il did not say anything about it either
one way or the other" replied Mr.. Nav.
This ended the matter.
The miners here rested their case and
Mr.. Wolverton formally opened the oper-
ators' side of the controversy by reading
statement which presented the views OF
all the large coal companies. In closing he
said: THE respondents will show that
after the settlement of 1900 there was ap-
parently a concerted effort on the part OF
the miners to restrict the output, evidently
to prevent the producers from Accumulate
ing stock of coal to meet emergencies
such as floods and strikes, and when the
strike was ordered in May there was less
than one months supply of coal in the
market. The rate of wages in the anthra-
cite region is not 40 or 80 per cent. lower
than in the soft coal region. but actually
higher. 1t will be shown that the average
earnings of all employees of manufacturing
establishments, covering 300 differen,
classes, skilled and unskilled labor, is be.
low the average earnings of the miner in
the anthracite coal region. 1t will be shown
that the system by which the coal is
weighed is the only method that can be
adopted, and that the miners and laborers
do not now work eight hours and in the
majority of cases of miners less than six
INDEPENDENT OPERATORS.
Ira III. Burns, one of the attorneys fol
the independent operators, then presented
the opening statement of the individual
companies. The statement concluded a.
follows: THE varying conditions of work
at the respective mines make 1t impossible
to lay down hard and fast rule that will
do equal justice to all concerned. If an,
award is made by this commission in favor
| OF the united Mine workers We maintain
that as a condition precedent there SHOULD
be some substantial assurance on the par
of such United Mine Workers that the,
| Will in the future refrain from in any wa,
interfering with or molesting persons wht
wish to work in about the mines, bu
who do not belong to the union.
THE wanton persecution OF nonuniOr
| men, who ask only TO be allowed to carr
/ their daily bread in peace, is a shame [,
those who commit or allow such persecu
/ ton and a blot on the administration O
/ justice in the State of Pennsylvania. With
| out the assistance of mob violence and ter
| rorization no strike could exist for an,
| length of time. We could have produce,
coal during the last strike in much large
| quantities than were actually mined III tn
men who desired TO work for us had no
ened with death unless they abandone,
| their work
Ii was arranged that the attorneys repre-
senting the nonunion men should first cal
| their witnesses, and five witnesses wer
| produced, who testified that strikers ha
| killed one man and had more or less Sc
| verely injured two other men who worke
| during the suspension. The first witnes
| was Mrs. James Wenston, the wife of tn
| murdered man. and the second was he
| son-in-law. Mr.. barrow asked the min
/ law who was paying for the lawyers VIII
| are representing the nonunion men, an
/ then ensued lively tilt Counsel for tn
| witness objected and Mr.. Darrow insiste
| that he and the commission had a right I
| know who were back of the nonunion mer
| but Chairman Gray differed with him. Mi
| barrow insisted he had a right TO know