The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-02-13

told in detail of the negotiations before
the Civic Federation. The operators
pocketed their pride, he said, and met
in church building, where were pres
ent some distinguished men.
Some were bishops and some were
dressed like bishops"
He pictured the members of the fed
, Grafton sitting around putting good
cigars" and not saying a word, while
he and Mr.. Mitchell tried to get to-
gether. Speaking slowly and deliber-
ately, he arraigned the federation for
not giving the operators and the min
crs' representative the small courtesy"
of hearing the report of the committee
appointed by those two sides, nor did
it have the manly courage" to further
help the parties in contest.
In the same sarcastic vein he paid his
respects to Henry D. Lloyd of Chicago,
who delivered an argument before the
commission in favor of trade agree
ments.
Talking for Miners.
Mr.. Darrow, in opening, made a COM
plimentary reference to the patience of
the commission, reviewed the strike
and all the sufferings it entailed, and
said: Il shall apologize for none of
the mistakes of the men, but 1 do say
it does not come from their accusers
to call them criminals"
He went on to tell of the operators
refusal to give the men more money,
and said: LAS a consequence of this
act, 147, 900 men laid down their tools
of trade, and we have seen $50, 900 men,
women and children reduced to want
and starvation for six long months.
We have seen the President of the
United States appoint this commission
to settle this difficulty, and then, this
afternoon, in the last hour of this pro-
ceeding, the man more responsible than
any other, comes before this commits
sion and says he will do exactly that
which these men demanded nine
months before, and which they in their
blindness, their ignorance and their
stupidity, refused. Why did not Mr.
months ago as he came to this COM
mission to-day?
You can do just as you please
about recognizing the union. If you
do not recognize it, it is because you
are blind, and you want to bump up
against it some more; that is all. 1t is
here to stay, and the burden is on you,
and not upon us. There is neither the
power nor the disposition in this court,
I take it, to destroy the union. And if
these agents of the Almighty cannot
see the union, they had better blunder
along still a few more years, and pos
sibly after a while they will know it
is here, and recognize it themselves
Passing to the wage statements
handed to the commission, Mr.. OAR
row said the operators have been de-
ceived by their own accountants, and
that when Mr.. Baer informed the
President of the United States, and
the commission, how much wages his
IN
formation at least 80 or 40 or so per
cent beyond any facts that really ex-
listed.
"If, at the end of all this time and
labor he is willing to give us or 10
per cent. upon the figures that he says
correctly represent our earnings" Mr..
barrow said 1--WE Will be very glad in
deed to take it," Mr.. barrow then
spoke Of. the skill required by the an
thracite miner. and the dangerousness
of the occupation. He brought in re-
view the crippled, and blind miners
who took the witness stand, and called
the commissions attention to the fact
that six out of every thousand are kill
ed in the mines each year.
Give hundred dollars a year is a big
price for taking your life, and limbs
in your hand, and going down into the
earth to dig up coal to make somebody
else rich he said. 81 have had
computation made covering every COM
pany that has filed schedules with this
commission, and in Mr.. Baer's company
only about a third of them got over $500
in the year 1901" Only "a per cent.
of all the Readings skilled workmen,
he said got 5000 a year; 3 per cent. got
between $500 and 5000, and So per cent.
of all the men who appear on the pay
roll as contract miners, get less than
$500 year.
Mr.. barrow said the average earn
ings of the miners of the Reading Com
pany, who earned between $500 and $500
in 1901 was $526. He said the miners
expenses for supplies averaged $40 a
year. which would only leave the aver
age $4SS. These figures, he said, were
based on the 1901 average. which is 10
TO 70 per cent. above the average of
other years.
Baer's Wages Lowest.
Mr.. barrow then analysed the state
ments of the other companies, and said
that as near as he could make it out
the figures were at least 10 to is per
cent. too high, and the wages paid by
the Reading were the lowest in the
region.
Turing to the mine laborers he
said more than five out of every L.
900 are killed every year, to say
nothing of the manned, and the Grip
pied, and the blind. who are turned
out under the "benefcent law of the
state of Pennsylvania to the aims
houses and highways and byways.
These laborers got last year 1888.
Princely wages, and yet we We're told
that all was peace and joy and happi-
ness in the anthracite region until Mr..
Mitchell came"
In discussing the child labor ques-
ton Mr.. Darrow said IF the work
OF this commission does not result in
getting rid Of this abnominally dis
graceful evil Of child labor in Penn
sylvania, then | think the people may
wen say that IL has been a failure.
The evidence in this case shows that