The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-21
tlves in Congress to vote in favor of its
DEBT TO FELLow-woRKERs.

We Owe TO Our Fellow-workers." He said:
You will observe by referring to the
| financial report of your national secretary
treasurer the enormous sums contributed
! by our friends and feIlow-workers in other
trades. professions and calngs to the sup
port of the anthracite strike. The amount
voluntarily donated for the assistance of
our struggling craftsmen is unprecedented
| in the history of the industrial movement.
The debt we owe TO our thousands OF
friends can never be adequately repaid,
but we can show our appreciation to them
and at the same time help them and our
| selves by exercising our right citizens
and performing our duty union men. If
each local union and each member of our
! local unions shall. under all circumstances
and upon all occasions, insist that the
goods they purchase shall be manufactured
by fair labor, and. wherever possible, bear
| the union label, I am confident that our
friends. both inside and outside the unions,
! will feel amply rewarded. and will them
| selves derive a greater measure of return
| than they could receive under any other
circumstances If this course is followed
faithfully we shall deserve and will receive
| the continued confidence of those who stood
| by us in the dark days of our trial. In adj
dition to repaying, in part, this debt we
| owe, there arc many reasons why working
| men and women should patronize the prod
| uct of union labor; goods bearing the union
| label are always manufactured in better
| and more heathful surroundings than prod
| ucts made by nonunion and low-paid labor;
| the danger Of transmission of disease is
| leSSened and the general standard of citi-
| zenship Is elevated inasmuch as the en-
| ployes of such manufactures are of
| much higher type of workmen than those
| found in the nonunion shops and mills in
| which is produced so much of the wearing
apparel and food products offered for sale
in mining communities In connection with
| this subject / should recommend that the
national secretary be instructed to prepare
special circular and transmit it TO our
local unions.
''The bituminous coal trade during the
year 1902 enjoyed year of unparalleled
prosperity. At no time in the history of
mining has the demand for fuel been so
pressing, and never within my recollection
have prices in the open market been
high. These conditions were due to several
causes, the principal one being the ex-
traordfnary activity prevailing in all
branches of commerce and industry, ac-
centuated by the shortage of % 100000 tons
strike In that region. 1t is predicted by
authorities upon the subject that there will
be little abatement in the demand for fuel
during the next two years, and il is safe to
say that coal used for steam purposes will
bring higher prices In the future than it
has in the past 1t seems to me not un-
increased profits which have been and will
be secured by the coal operators as result
of these abnormal conditions should be
paid to the mine workers. L have no rea-
son to doubt that the operators will readily
consent to an increase in wages and to
general improvement in the conditions
der which work is performed, bat they may
not be willing to consent to such a d-
vision of the profits we believe the state
of the trade warrants us in demanding.
While / have no desire to usurp the func-
tons of the scale committee 10 inter-
fere with the prerogatives of the conven-
tion L nevertheless deem it proper to say
that considerable increase in wages
should be obtained this year, and should
recommend that the scale committee be in
structed TO formulate scale which shall
provide for substantial advance in the
mining rate, with corresponding increase
for inside and outside day labor
RUN-OF-MINE BASIS
AS in previous reports Mr.. Mitchell makes
a strong appeal for the adoption of the
un-of-mine basis of paying miners, say
ing:
IL therefore repeat the recommendation
of some years ago that the scale committee
be instructed to formulate a scale based
upon a single run-of-mine standard, and
that our district organizations whose scale
| is not fixed by the interstate convention be
instructed to make every possible effort to
have their agreements with the operators
drawn upon the same basis
your attention is respectfully directed
to the rapidly increasing pro- uction of
machine mined coal, and to the necessity
of revision of the machine mining scale
Statistics show that in 1891 the machine
mines of the entire country produced 621l-
732 tons. or $50 per cent. of the total pro-
| duction. In 1896, 16, 424, 1872 tons, or 1417 per
cent. of total production. In 1897, p, 64s,2o0
tons, 619 per cent; in 1885, 80, Ala. IA tons,
or 2O39 per cent; in 1892 43,963933 tons, or
% per cent; in 1900, 81 523 tons, or %. Is
per cent; in 1901, 81, 443, 335 TONS or Is 6S per
cent, while the number of mining machines
in use increased from 545 in 1891 to 4,341 in
1901. You will thus observe that if the
| increase in the production of machine mined
coal continues at this rate it is only a ques-
ton of time when practically all bituminous
coal will be produced by mining machines.
In calling attention to the production OF
machine mined coal it is not with the de-
sire of antagonizing improved methods but
rather OF pointing out the inequalities in
the payment of labor engaged in hand pick
and in machince mines The interstate
movement was founded primarily for the
purpose of establishing competitive rates
| between the different districts, affording
each fair competitive opportunities and
reasonably fair division of work. In the
| State of Illinois the operators have mined
coal successfully at seven-cent differen-
| tial, and l can see no good reason why a
seven-cent differential is not sufficient in
the States of Indiana, Ohio and Pennsyl-
| vania. / should urge this convention to
make a strenuous efforts to eliminate the
inequalities that exist between the various
districts and TO establish fixed differential
of seven cents per ton a run-of-mine
basis throughout the entire competitive
| field.
Ever since the organization of the first
National Miners Union the question of
defense, or strike fund has been a subject
of consideration and debate. Three years
| ago our convention formulated plan for
raising a defense fund and submitted it to
referendum vote OF the miners So little
favor did the plan meet that only a small
percentage of our total membership voted
for its adoption. During and since the an
thracite strike the question has again been
| agitated in our local unions and many
suggestions looking to the establishment
of such a fund have been offered by cor
respondents Personally L believe that the
| time is suspicious for the collection of a
fund sufficiently large to properly care for
| those of our members who are forced to
| engage in strikes to obtain or maintain
reasonable wages and fair conditions of
employment.
I'm connection with the defense fund I
desire to say that have no specific recon-
mendations to make. You now have in
; your national treasury a sum larger than
was ever before accumulated in the treas
ury of a labor organization. That this
fund should be increased until ii reaches
cope with any emergency which may arise
and at least deserves your careful consid-
Grafton"
Mr.. Mitchell calls attention to an Unequal
ity in the representation on the national
executive board as far as the voting
strength of the members is concerned and
recommends change
In conclusion he said: 81 recommend
that upon the question of naugurating
strike in the anthracite field the anthra-
cite members of the national executive
board be given equal voting power with
: the members of the executive board from
the bituminous fields. Upon all other
questions the voting strength of the men,
t bers of the board may remain at
present"
An extension of the Women's Auxiliary
is recommended in the report.
ANIRTTTON