Arizona republican., 1902-11-15

Scranton, Pa, November 14.-The an thracite coal strike commission ap- pointed by President Roosevelt to ar bitrate the differences existing between the mine workers of the hard coal fields of Pennsylvania and their employers today began hearing testimony by which it will determine whether or not the workmen are receiving fair and just wages for their labor and whether their conditions should not be i'm proved.
 The star witness for the miners President John Mitchell-took the stand in the forenoon, and when the commits sion adjourned at 4 o'clock in the after noon he was still under a fire of cross examination by David w. Wilcox, general counsel for the Delaware and Hudson company. It was trying day for the miners leader, but he seemed to stand the test well. The heaviest fire of questions aimed at him was in the afternoon session, and when tho hour of adjournment was reached Will COX was still propounding questions and testing Mitchell's memory.
 The opening of the sessions was a notable day in the. annals of law in the upper anthracite region. Such an ar ray of lawyers had never been seen in this part of the state, and it is doubtful whether so many attorneys were ever on one side of a case in this state as were present in the interests of the coal companies today. Ranged around three tables in front of the seven commits sioners were no less than thirty law yers, twenty-four of whom were look ing after the interests of the mine owners. In addition to these there were many members. of the bar pres ent who came merely to look on.
 The courtroom at both sessions was packed almost to suffocation and scores of persons were unable to gain admit tance. Judge Gray, as chairman of the commission, being versed in court pro- l ceedings and in law, was the only spokesman for the commission. He at times asked questions, and at the very close of the afternoon session directed ! query at Mitchell which Wilcox had been leading up to for some time. The chairman asked MT. Mitchell whether his organization approved the act of withdrawing from or denying the nec- essaries of life to those who had of tended the organization, and he re- piled:
 I should say, emphatically mo-"
 During the day Wilcox asked MT. Mitchell many questions as to the poli- cies of the union, the method of calling strikes, ability of the union to main | tain discipline and prevent the mem- | bers of the union from violating the 1 law, and also as to the liability of the union breaking contracts. It was ap- parent to many of those present who understood the situation that Willcox's object was to attempt to prove by i Mitchell's own testimony that the con- | tention of the companies that the miners union was an irresponsible or ganization and that trade agreements l therefore could not be safely entered into, were well founded. During the
 hearing the statement was brought oui
 for the first time since the late strike was begun that the union had disbursed S1,500,000 among the union and non-
 union men who were on a strike
 One of the questions which came uI i before the commission was the advis- ability of hearing counsel on behalf o1 the non-union men who remained al
 work during the strike. Attorney Johr
 T. Lenahan, one of the attorneys fol
 the non-union men, asked the commis sion what his status before the arbitra.
 tors was. Judge Gray informed hin
 that the question would be taken un-
 der consideration and an answer would probably be given him tomorrow.
 Mitchell before taking the witnes:
 stand in the forenoon, presented tn,
 miners side of the case in a six thou sand word statement. It took hin
 forty minutes to read his address, anc