The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-20

Mr.. Darrow insisted that Messrs.
Lenahan and O'Brien really represent
ed the operators and not the non-union
men.
Whether they be here in that way
or not" Judge Gray quickly replied,
they represent an important element
in the investigation, men who work for
their living and who are interested in
the findings of this commission. We
have considered that very carefully
from all sides" "a
Responding to a question from Com
missioner Watkins for a suggestion as
to what should oe done in the matter
of child labor, Mr.. Mitchell said that
a law should be enacted providing that
after a certain time children under Ia
years of age should not be employed
in the breakers. The only way now
that the operators could prevent the
evil would be to refuse to employ chill
dren until they are IA years old. 1t
frequently happened, he said, that par
ents swore falsely regarding the ages
Of children.
The miners president. after being
under the DISCRIMINATION of more
than half dozen lawyers for four and
half days, then left the witness
stand.
The Rev. Peter Roberts. d. D.. of
Mahony City, who is the author of a
book on the anthracite coal industry
took the stand and had just begun his
testimony when a recess was taken.
At the afternoon session Roberts
took up the social conditions in the
anthracite fields and followed this with
statistics to show that the occupation
of the mine worker is more hazardous
than any other large industry, not ex-
cepting that of railroading.
In the course of his examination by
Mr.. Darrow in the afternoon. Mr.. Rob-
erts furnished statistics showing that
the anthracite fields covered $50 square
miles. Out of a total population OF
$4,000 people, he said 100000 were di-
rectly dependent on the mines.
Methods of Payment.
Answering questions by Mr.. Wolver-
ton, DR.. Roberts said there were four
methods of payment in the anthracite
region, by the car, by weight, by the
yard and by the day. The wages paid
are far from uniform, he said, and ne
then went on to describe the changes
which had been made in the size of the
cars from seventy-two cubic feet until
they now vary from eighty to ninety
two feet. In moving the car from the
breast mine to the shaft, Mr.. Roberts
said, there was a per cent shake
down.
so that this measurement" inquired
Mr.. DarooW, gives the dishonest miner
the same wages as the miner who
loaded his car carefully"
Subsequent examination brought cut
the fact that the miner who put more
than six inches of topping on his car
receives no additional compensation for
it,.
Has the question of mining coal and
being paid by the car been a source of
Vexation and trouble and dissatisfac-
ton to the miner?" Mr.. Darrow asked.
The witness answered that it was one
of the complaints that have existed
since 1850. The first strike, in 1868, he
said, was on a demand for an eight
hour day.
Answering question by Commission
er Watkins. DR.. Roberts said there was
an effort made by the Individual oper-
ators TO import cheap labor into the
anthracite field. ct was done" said
he, through ship agents who got men
in New York to watch the vessels COM
ing in and turned the current of i'm
migration-that is, the Slav immigra-
tion-into the coal fields. Z"
Have miners been obtaining homes
to any extent during the last ten
years?" the witness was asked which
elected the response that they had
been. with the possible exception of the
Italians, who did not settle in the
United States.
Standard of Living.
Mr.. Roberts had compared the Slay
standard of living with. that Of the
native born American, showing it tC
be far below the standard of the Amer
lean workmen. Very few of the miners
he