Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-02-12

ADDRESSES THE COMMISSION
His Speech the Strongest Yet Made by
Any Of the Speakers on the Operators
side-court Crowded to Hear Him
Not Willing to Reconsize the Labor
Union. rsh

Union. sc1r4l
Philadelphia Feb. 1o.-With the ex-
pectation Of hearing George f. Boer.
president of the Reading company
make the closing argument against the
demands of the miners the largest
crowd that has yet jammed into the
United States circuit court room was
present when the coal strike commits
sion opened it's session today Former
Congressman Wolverton, principal
counsel for the Philadelphia & Reading
Coal and Iron Company, concluded his
argument. begun yesterday and was
followed by Baer.
Baer's Speech. e -
s'In the developments Of the
natural resources of the earth it is ne
cessary for men to combine both their
capital and their energy. Railroads,
steamship lines, great steel plants and
work shops Of every kind can only be
created by g. combination OF capital.
We are apt to overlook the part these
business corporations play in the dis
tribution OF wealth. The stockholders
are many, scattered far and wide, and
the business is not owned. as many
people suppose, by a few very rich
men. Profits made In any large business
carried on by firm, consisting of a
very few persons, are distributed
amcng the few, but successful busi-
ness carried on in corporate form dis
tributes Its profits among many and
therefore necessarily tends to greater
distribution of wealth. In general, no
one denies the right of man to organ
ize for any lawful purpose, but the
right to organize, and the power OF the
crganixation when organized must still
be governed and controlled by the gem
eral law of the land under which our
individual and property rights are pro-
tected. We concede to organized labor
1lle same rights that we claim for or
Eanized capital, each must keep within
the law. There can not be one law for
citizens and corporations and another
for labor organizations. The laWless-
ness in the coal regions was the direct
result OF mistaken theories as to the
rights Of the mine workers. 1t Will not
do to say the leaders have not erlcour-
aged violence and crime. 1t is true, no
doubt, that they did not advise. They
may at times have counselled against
IL and expressed regrets for it. Never
theless, they are legally and morally
responsible for the situation they Great
ed and thru which this evidence and
,.;1 1xy
men have found fault with us for not
4 making an agreement with the United
Mine Workers Of America. You viii re-
call that the demand made upon us was
!, for a uniform scale of wages, covering
the whole anthracite field. All opera
tors were asked to meet in convention
with a view to adopting uniform
scale. Conditions Of employment are
not always the same and therefore, a
uniform scale of wages applicable TO
the whole Of the United States wouia
not be Just We have made every ef-
fort to convince Mitchell and his friends
Of the utter impracticability OIL ms
scheme.
Our chief objection to his organiza-
tion was twas a foreign organization IN
terested in a rival and competitive bus
mess. We never could see the wisdom
Of permitting the bituminous coal min
ers to inject themselves into the an
thracite mining situation. 1t has
proved to be just as mischieyous rs we
believed it would be. In addition to
the fact that the miners union was con-
trolled by hostile in;erest,we objected
to ii because we can not delegate
To the miners union or any other labor
union the right to determine who shall
be our employees. We have the right
TO employ any honest men without
discrimination as to religion, national-
4ty or membership in labor organiza- :
tions. This right we will not surren-
der. We do not object TO our employees
doining labor organizations. Ihls Is
their privilege. But we will not agree
10 turn over the management OF our
business to labor organizations because
of our employees. TO limit the right OF
exertion Of work is to limit produc-
tfon. 1t is not only wrong done TO
the Individual, but is is a violation Oh
sound economic principles and there
fore an injury to society. The ulti-
mate effect of restricting production
80 as to divide employment and IN
crease wages, must be to keep on d.
gfding the wage fund as often as new
men seek employment. There must be
=. limit to the increase of wages, but
Ahere can be no limit to the Increase OF
Gorkmen The process must newt
ably lead to destruction of the industry
er the reduction of the wages of every
ynan to a sum barely sufficient to sus-
tain life. Wages can only increase
when each individual is left free to
exert himself to his fullest capacity,
thereby creating wealth, which in
turn. gives new employment and Gre
ates a demand for commodities and
q demand for workmen to produce
them. Only in this way can the wage
fund be increased. II we are over
anxious about the effect of the mere
possibilities of a monopoly, what must
be the measure of anxiety as to to
placing control of the fuel of the eoun-
try in one organization, and that too
an organization without capital OF re-
sponsibility
The United Mine Workers have cre-