The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-15

hands Of Mr.. Mitchell and his COL
leagues. ! am particularly anxious not
to say anything that might be con-
strued otherwise. will say that in
my opinion the proposition made by
the operators, at least so far as their
designation of who should be invited
to go on the commission of arbitration
lis concerned, is an insult to the presi-
dent of the United States. desire that
the president should use his discretion
in the selection of the personnel Of the
commission. By indirection it would
seem from the operators proposition
that the president has evil designs on
the mine owners. No one believes this.
The operators Indicate what class of
men should be selected for the per-
sonnet Of the commission.
For instance, they say that an ex-
pert mining engineer experienced in
the mining of coal and other minerals
and not In any way connected with
coal mining properties, shall be one of
the members. In other words, this one
must be an expert miner out Of job.
This member must either have been
employed In the mines as an expert or
must expect or hope to be employed in
the future. Another must be an emil
nent sociologist. Well, who? Must
he be speculative sociologist, theo-
rist or what? Another member is to
be some man actively participating in
the mining and selling of coal and ia
miliar with the commercial value as
well as the physical part of the bust
ness. This must certainly be one Of
the operators or one of their repre-
sentatives. No other man familiar
with the commercial features Of the
business in those fields fits that de-
Scription.
I'm the classes of persons from whom
the mine owners prescribe the COM
mission shall be selected there Is to be
not single representative of the man
who digs coal, the man who works in
and about the mine.
Nov, as a matter Of fact, the entire
question Of selection and appointment
Of a commission should be left to the
president Of the United States. Mr..
Mitchell has said that he will be per-
fectly satisfied with whomever the
president selects. If the mine owners
are to be permitted to suggest who
shall constitute the arbitration COM
mission, why in all fairness should 1t
not follow that Mr.. Mitchell should
likewise be permitted to make sug-
gestions as to the personnel of the
commission? I hope that the president
will decline to act on this proposition
Of the mine owners unless he is given
free hand"
Suggested for the Commission.
Two names suggested for members
of the commission of arbitration are
Carroll D. Wright, the commissioner
of labor, and E. w. Parker, statistician
of the United States geological sur
vey. Col. Wright has. been acting as
advisor for the president ever since
the inception of the coal troubles, and
enjoys the confidence of both sides of
the great labor fight. He might be
named as the sociological expert" of
the commission.
E. w. Parker, of Texas, who has
been in service of the survey here for
some years, is considered one of the
best authorities in the country on the
subject Of coal. He had charge of an
important part of the recent census
statistics. The general opinion is that
the selection of the member to be IAN
army or navy engineer" will be con-
fined to the army, and that to Secreta-
ry Root will be left the designation of
some engineering officer of his depart
meut -