The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-01
JOINT WAGE coErBpENo
Bitunlinous W0rkess
 Better than Anthra
Testmony of 1EitsAall 1sesee & strike conmissien Ota6 -
 Proof of This stassn1ns @ . by the zmplsyss1. M

Indianapolis. Jan. H.-Ths opeu o
 of the miners and operators 3osut wo5l conference did not open this morntnG rus til almost 10 o'clock. Aithoush Il - generally understood that tho scale eoGil- mittes, which went into sxsous1va ocds sion yesterday would have no rspore e6 make this morning hlnost n q tAe - minrs and delegates who ars h1oq9 M hsrs to ratify settlement. vs3s rry ent. #
 The scale committee. howsvn. 6Id l@ a formal report to maka. The rsDtet showed that on the prsiiminary vu1e tn executive ssssfon yesterday the cpexltc11 voted unanimously not to graut the in- crease in wages or changes n atnnoneCo of mining that were demanded " n miners. All demands made by tho mi1ers were voted on separately. 4. #
 The miners demands arc as fo1lpW1r
 "Ftrst--Absolute rln-of-mtne haske tee the entire competitive neld.
 "6econd-A fiat differential of I cou11 per ton between pick and machine-unl1e9 coal. HkF '.rhird-An advance of is i-z cents | ten on pick and machine.
 Fourth-A 30 per cent advance ou m inside labor based on the Columbus inct1o day scale agreement; uniform sca1e fer all outside day labor with appropriafe d. vance with the mining rates.
 'Fifth--Taat drivers and cakers shn1l be paid the same as track layers and timbermen."
 Cited 1fitchell's Testimopy. f
 Several operators aaddreseea the con- ference. giving reasons why the inrnea9e demanded should not he Erpnteds Teatk- mony given before the strike commaunt6p was quoted by the speakerG 10 show th6e were better than those tist 6xiated h the anthracite field. President Mitchsfrs testimony was repeated as proof Of this argument.
 Mir. Mitchell replied that while he said that the bituminous miners were faring' better than the anthracite man. his taatt- mony could not be made to apply Rener-I ally nor could 1t be shown that the aver age pay per capita was much better than that in the hard coal mines
 The Illinois operators repeated their de- mands and asked that they be given con- sideration as would be miners as in other cases.
 F. L. Robbins argued that . s1neIs mine basis increased the cost of eosl mined also decreased the quality and that in the Pittsburg district the only reason the companies could keep their trade una der the system was that the coal mi11sd there was of a superior quality.
 He said: As to the differentiai. over one-third of the coal is pick mined It is harder now to get pick miners than itt is to get men to follow the machines Instead of legislating for the pick miners you are legislating against them
 President Mitchell answered Mr. Hoh- bins saying: T cannot see why coal can not be mined on 8 mine run baais as well in the Pittsburg districts as in the states west of the Mississippi or south of the Ohio. The other good peason there can be for wanting screen basis Is that the operators get some advantage not com templated in our contract.
 Mir. Robbins says that one-third of the coal is pick mined, thought that ft was more. But If that is so 1t means that he would only pay in, advance of two thirds"
 The conferences adjourned after having referred the entire matter hack to the Scale Committee. It win meet Monday morning.