New-York tribune., 1902-12-12
PROFITS NOT CRITERION.
O,zlv n Factor uDetermana11g' Miners
Wages, Judge Gray Says


only witnesses the miners have to put on ,,ie
| stand now are some of the employees OF the
| Temple Coal and Iron Company, and the Lehsn
| and WiIkesbarre Philadelphia and ReadlhS anu
Lehigh Valley companies. The failure 10 pu'
| District Presidents Nichols and Duly on 'i,E
| stand occasions some surprise II was VI -i'0'
| ly intended that they should go on anu oli'
| day early in the hearing President Nlchoiis wiz
had been carefully posting himself. started Tor
the stand. The operators oeileVe 'ile
not to put him on is due to the knowledge th''
| .ba,, baa rrana,ed a rigorous cross examira-
ton for him. ~,
| The operators fear they say. that thev VIII
have to ask for a short recess when me iiiiiiei
! end in order to prepare their case Inc COM, ~
! mission however wants to hear testimony "i
| the end of next week, and then adjourn loi i
holidays and conclude the hearings IN 'aIu . ;.
| What will be done cannot be Determined uil'i
the operators attorneys have hnished colsui'" ~
tions which are now being held, and which VIII
he continued tomorrow. They will try 10 se'
their case in such shape that they can proceeu-
They expect TO take not longer than three
weeks unless the cross examination Is TOO lohS'
This they say they understand will be IenSths'
because the mine workers hope to MAKE up
much of their case from it. and get at iac's
which they are not now IN position TO ascei-
tain.
II was held bv the court to-day that the
profits of operators cannot be CONSIDERED te s'i
criterion for the measure Of the miners wages
This grew from an effort of Mr.. Darrow by
calling J. L. Crawford an Independent opeTa1oi'
70 show the large profits of the operators Inc
call 10 the stand surprise to MI Crd"-
ford, but he agreed to go on. After few gen
oral Questions he was asked what he received
for the coal he sold.
ct do not know he said. AT least not ex-
actly.''
Gould you come pretty near to It
L think could if 1 wanted to, but do NOT
consider 1t pertinent to this case
You were one Of the independents who went
tn New-York to see the big operators. and want
ed a full investigation and hearing, and yet you
say that you will not tell this commission what
you get for your coal
"I do not think It is anybodys business Mr
Crawford replied. He said later. however, that
he sold to the Delaware. Lackawanna and west
ern on contract and got 65 per cent of their sell
ing nrice but he did not know what that was,
az he had not received his November returns
Objections were made to further examination
on this line by Mr. Burns. for the independents
Mr. Warren, for the Delaware, LackaWanna
and Western. and Mr.. Torrey, for the Delaware
and Hudson Then Mr.. Darrow explained the
point he wished TO make.
I'VE have a right to know something OF the
prosperity OF these gentlemen" he said A
great deal has been said by various witnesses as
TO the selling price of coal. Mr.. MacNeagh has
said that an increase in the miners pay Wouio
rest on the poor people We have shown what
they were getting for the coal in the past, ana
we expect TO show that they are now getting a
great deal more. In a sense. at least, these
workers are partners in this industry, and they
have a right to part Of the profits that
come on account OF better conditions. If these
gentlemen are now getting better prices for the
coal on account of these conditions. why should
not the miners, who dig the coal, get some share
of the benefits? Suppose they had to sell their
coal at So or 81 ton. they would Immediately
show that they could not pay better wages
". L. Connell, one of the most prominent in
dependent operators. exclaimed that they had
not said that they could not afford to pay the
increase. but they did contend that they now
paid fair wages for a fair amount of work.
'Whether we sell coal at a profit or a loss does
not enter into the question at an,'' he said
Judge Gray agreed with him. II think" he
said that the profits of the operators should
be criterion. at least the sole criterion. OF
the measure Of the miners wages And yet it
has a bearing on the situation. I do not see.
however, how the excessive price of coal. which
was due to unusual conditions Of famine
have any bearing on this question. What we are
here for is to decide what is fair in profit shar
ing We will of course, not be able TO shut our
eyes entirely to the market price of coal, or say
1t is irrelevant to the question. Agreeing that
the question of wages is not to be settled by the
profits Of the employers. we will take it for what
it is worth
Mr.. Crawford then explained that he had been
for some time absorbed in the doings Of the
commission and had not followed prices
How much have -ou mined, them asked
Mr.. Darrow.
Nine hundred to a thousand tons day
And you mean TO say that you do not know
how much you are getting for that?"
'-I do. / ship to the Delaware, Lackawanra
and Western and get my returns once month.
I have quoted no prices lately to any one, be
cause have had no other coal to sell It's all
under contract
How much did you get from the Delaware
Lackawanna and Western for your coal in Oc
tober, then?" asked Mr.. Darrow. About how
much?"
well about s. 30 a tom
1fr. Crawford said that he was selling coal at
retail in this city now at So 25 a ton.
A number of mine workers were put the
stand to-day to testify regarding conditions at
ern Temple Coal and Iron Company and the
Delaware and Hudson company mines Harry
Williams an employe of the Pardees, said that
he worked in the breakers when nine years
old. He is now twenty-five. When sixteen he
lost his leg while making a coupling, but he re-
ceived nothing for his injury, while when he
returned to work, he held responsible for
a debt of his father and the money was de-
Quoted from his WAGES
Several Delaware, Lackawanna and Western
men told how the size of the cars had increased
In the last several years without a correspond
ing increase in the amount of wages
In the cross-exaranation Messrs. Warren and
Torrey got out several good points. One man
working in Delaware, Lackawanna and West
ern mine seventeen days and nine hours had
earned net, after paying his laborer and for sup
plies. S15 S2 Another, for ten days Of ten hours
each, got $50 AZ net. This was man who COM
planned that the company was trying 10 put him
on a seven shift.