The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-11-17
Some of the Demands Re-
 garded as Absurd
CONDEMNS THE LABOR UNION
Statement Charges That for Some Reason the Production to the Man Has Decreased Since Union
 Men Got In the Mines.

Philadelphia, November 16.-The state- ment of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation company, submitted to the anthracite coal strike commission now in session at Scranton, Pa., in an answer to the de- mands of the miners. was made public here today. The answer recites the de- veIopments of the company from the date of its charter in 1922. refers to the expense of operation and to the com paratively small profits, and declares the demand of the employees for an increase of 20 per cent is unjustifiable, the reason given in support of the demand not being founded on fact. Accompanying the state ment are two exhibits. One shows the earnings of the employees of the com pany for one year, based on the time worked during 1901, the number of the several classes of workmen and the rates paid according to the pay roll for the first half of May 1902. The other is a catalogue of overt acts. charged to the striking employees of the company during the recent contest, the riots, assaults and disturbances of various kinds being numbered at upward of sixty. The an- swer states:
 'The Lehigh Coal and Navigation com- pany is the oldest corporation engaged in the mining of coal in the anthracite region. It was chartered in 1922, and was the successor of the Lehigh Coal Mining company, which was organized in 1893. It also acquired certain rights on the Lehigh river which were granted in 1918.
 Owns 14,oo0 Acres.
 ''It owns and controls about 14000 acres of coal lands in Carbon and Schuylkill counties. which are estimated to contain over 5OOs00,OOO tons of available unmined coal. Its employees number about 5000 and it's capacity of production is over 2OO.OOO,- COG tons a month. It's capital stock and funded debt amount to upwards of $S2- 100000 All of ts capital stock and bonds were issued for full value. but although it's more important coal lands were pur- chased at time when the country was a wilderness, and all it's lands have been acquired at moderate prices, the divi- dends upon its capital stock to date only average 4.O2 per cent. The profit on coal mined by the company during the ten years ending December 31, 1901, has aver aged II. .09 cents per ton after charging off taxes on coal lands and depreciation, but not including any charge for royalty, which represents the value of the coal in the ground. Nor were the rates of freight on the railroad exorbitant as Is shown by the fact that the company operated it's own canal, and found 1t advantageous to send the coal to market over the rail- road rather than by the canal.
 Referring to the claim of the miners that better wages are paid in the bitu- minous fields for substantially similar work, the answer states:
 This company does not know what rate of wages Is paid in the bftuminous coal fields thu oughout the country. but there is nowhere in any fields substantially similar work to that which is done un- der contract in the mines of this com Iapy. It is fact, however, that miners of ordinary skill and experience have al- ways been able to go from the mines of this company to any other mining region throughout the country snd obtain em- ployment.
 MIners' Earnings.
 Tn 1so1 for a day of ten hours, con tract miners earned an average of $3.14 per day. skilled labor $2.31, unskilled la borers H.S3. boys $1 for work under ground. The rates for outside labor average as follows:
 Skilled labor $1.96 unskiled labor e1.2s. boys IT cents. The average annual earnings of adults were s475. .25.'
 Denial is made of the claim of the miners that their earnings are insuffi- cient to maintain the American standard of living, and concerning the employees of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation com pany these figures are given:
 Out Of 3063 families, 870 own their own houses. Pianos will be found in 146 and house organs in 337. The company owns and rents to its employees 6n houses at an average rental of S4.75 a month The character of these houses is fully up to the average in any part of the country occupied by any other class of workmen It has been tho policy of the company to sell surface rights to those of It's em- ployes who desired to put up their own houses, and for mary years there has been a steady demand on this account. The town of Summit Hill has popula- tion of about 5000 and almost the entire surface. with the dwellings. is now owned by employees of the company.
 The families of the employees have ann ple school accommodations with capable teachers, and over 300e children are in at- tendance, while over 75 per cent of the whole fund expended in the region Is de- rived from taxes paid by this company on it's coal estate.
 Employment of Boys.
 Regarding the employment of boys the statement says:
 "Slate picking is a very easy occupation compared to the work dcne by the boy upon a farm, and many of them are reeded to take care of the mine mules and do other light work. and in this way the wages of the household are largely and legitimately increased Since 1887 more than 250 young men have gone from Iansford and other villages in the neigh borhood to schools, become dentists chemists, architects, ministers and pro- fessors.
 Some of the foreigners prefer to live in very niggardly and squalid manner so that they may accumulate the larger part of their earnings and return to Eu- rope to live in idleness; but those who have their permanent home in the region have at least $l 100000 on deposit in the banks and saving funds in the vicinity. saved from the wages earned in the em- ploment of this company. The annual remittance to their families and friends abroad. through agencies in the region and vicinity amounted to s150000 or more. In 1884 the company established bene- ficia1 fund to which 1t has contributed the sum of $196.ss9 and the employees