The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-29
3aer Said to Have Made an Erroneous
Comparison Between Anthracite
and Btuminous Workers.
DENIAL THAT MINERS HAVE
RESTRICTED THE OUTPUT
On the Contrary, Says MIR. Mitchell,
the Product Has Been increased
Demands of the Miners Restated and
Allegations That the Union Favors
LawIessness Is Contradicted.

Mine Workers, tonight gave out the
following statement:
1.-THE recent utteranceS of Mr.. Baer,
spokesman of the anthracite coal trust.
Mr.. Hewitt and other interested per-
sons disclose a well defined purpose to
confuse and cloud the real causes
which resulted in the coal strike and
an attempt to divert attention from the
actual issues involved. However, mis-
leading are the utterances, it is a re-
lief to know that they now admit that
the public has rights and interests
which cannot be ignored with impun-
ty; and inasmuch as the public must
be the final arbiter of the coal strike
it is imperative that it shall not be
deceived by statements which are at
variance with the facts. With the
purpose of correcting some of the false
Impressions and misrepresentation
contained in the statements of the gen
tlemen referred to, issue this letter.
Says-Baer Has Erred.
"It is not my intention to point out
the innumerable instances in which Mr..
Baer has erred in statement and al
legation. His unsupported assertions
accepted as final or conclusive, par
ticularly in view Of the fact that I'M
questioned authorities can be cited to
prove him to be in error. Mr.. Baer
states that the wages paid in the an
thracite coal regions are, compared
with the wages paid in like employ
ment, fair and just BY like employ
ment' Mr.. Baer must refer to bitumin
Gus coal mining 1 am willing and
prepared to demonstrate that wages in
the bituminous coal fields are from
90 to 40 per cent higher than those
paid for similar classes of work in the
anthracite fields
"The fact is that the minimum wage
received by any adult class of mine
workers in the soft coal mines Is 26A
cents per hour, while the minimum
wage paid to boys is 1914 cents per
hour. In the anthracite coal mines
men performing precisely the same
labor receive from Is to 20 cents per
hour, while boys are paid as low as 5
cents per hour and rarely receive to
exceed cents per hour.
Works Two Hours Less.
"The bituminous miner works max
imum of eight hours per day, which
Is two hours less than men in the an
thracite field are required to work;
moreover the anthracite mine worker
labors under the further disadvantage
of being more liable to be killed or in
jured, the casualties being so per cent
greater in the anthracite than in the
bituminous mines.
There are other statements of Mr..
Baer which are equally incorrect;
among these is his assertion that the
miners only worked from four to six
hours per day and his further asser-
ton, that the lowest scale of wages
was S5 cents for boy slate pickers' If
Mr.. Baer desires, I shall gladly fur
nish him with the names and address,
es of thousands of slate pickers, each
of whom received much less than So
cents per day, and 1 shall be willing
to have the returns verified by the
company's pay rolls.
"The next misstatement of Mr..
Baer to which l shall give notice is
that which claims that for some mys-
terious reason the miners restricted
the output of the mines. Mr.. Baer
claims that in this manner the prod
uct of the collieries has been reduced
about 1919 per cent and that in the
case of the Reading company, il
amounted to more than 100000 TONS
This is not true.
Increase in Output.
'The fact is that, instead of a loss
of 1,000, 900 tons, there was an increase
In the year 1901 from the mines oper-
ated by the Reading company, of $685.
243 tons, and a total increase from al
the anthracite mines of 100000 tons
The output of coal in 1901 was far in
excess of that Of any year in the his
tory of coal mining. In attempting tc
increased cr0 H.
operators point to the installation Of
labor saving machinery, which re-
duces the proportion of men and boys
employed by the day. If we disregard
all mine workers whose labor might
be saved by such appliances and take
simply the output per certified anC
employed miner, we find that the pro-
1897, 1928 tons In 1898, 1883 tons ir
1899, 1891 tons in 1900, while in the
year 1901 1t was 1,5S5 tons
"Since the very inception Of this
strike the aims, objects and ideals o1
the United Mine Workers of America
have been willfully distorted by g
small army of critics. We have beer
uniustly maligned and our motives anG
purposes maliciously impugned.
Miners Demands Repeated.
1--WE therefore take this opportunity
TO repeat specifically that we do moi
seek to interfere with the manage
ment of the coal properties or with
the proper discipline of the working
force; but we do demand:
'First, an increase in wages for mer
EMPLOYED on piece work; second, re-
duction in the hours of labor for mer
employed by the day; third, payment
for a legal ton of coal; fourth, thai
the coal we mine shall be honestly
weighed and correctly recorded; fifth
z