Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-03-24
A KNoTTY QUESTION
Inside Day Wage Scale Battles
Efforts Of Committee.
NO SERIOUS TROUBLE EXPECTED
Although Agreement Cannot Be Reach.
=. ed Until Next Week, Both Employ
ers and Employees Hope to Solve Few
Remaining Problems in Usual Time.

Des Moines. March 90 SpeciaD-l
After thorough discussion of the in
side day wage scale the operators and
miners joint scale committee last
night decided to refer the scale back
to the joint conference and report
disagreement, and today the larger
body is wrestling with the three prob
lens which are knottiest, namely: the
inside day wage scale, the price to be
paid for mining mine run coal on the
G. B. & X. c. line in southern Iowa
and northern Missouri, and the price
for mining mine run coal at Frazer,
In Boone county OF these three the
first is the only one which can be
classed as really serious, and both
sides hope to come to settlement re-
garding it that will be satisfactory
and just to the operators and miners
alike.
Do Not Expect Strike.
A representative OF the Courier in
terviewed one of the prominent Iowa
operators at Des Moines this afternoon
regarding the likelihood of trouble be-
tween the operators and miners, in
view of the fact that outsiders, as is
the case each year, have scented such
a circumstance in this state for this
year. His views We're expressed some
thing like the following:
! cannot see any more indication
of strike this year than there was
last. We have, 1t is true, reported the
question back to the joint conference
from the scale committee, but this is
no more than we did last year. when
the committee could not agree on the
shot firing question. | do not think
there will be any trouble, although
1t is very probable that the matters
will not be settled until the latter part
of next week.
1t is thought that the conference
will adjourn this evening until Monday
afternoon, and that there will be no
session tomorrow, owing to the fact
that the day is pay day at the mines
throughout the state, and the opera
tors will have to be at their mines in
order to look after this important mat
ter. In the meantime both sides will
have time to take careful and thor
ough view of the questions which are
now serving as the bone of contention
and to effect a settlement upon return
Ing to Des Moines.
Third District Operators.
There is report in this city. start
ed by one of the local papers. to the
effect that the operators of the thi.E
or Des Moines district. are about to
withdraw from the State Operators
association. This is branded by the
principal operators of that district, who
are members of the scale committee,
as wholly without foundation. Just
where the story originated there is no
telling, but that it had no foundation
In fact is vouched for by every opera.
tor with whom the Courier representa-
tive has talked
Yesterdays Progress.
Yesterday the scale committee fin
ished the fourth snb.distrct scale, in.
Guiding the dead and deficient work
provision and the various mining scale
for the different fields in that nart of
The state. with the exception of the
mine run price for Frazer, which was
not quoted last year, but which is ask.
Cd for now. The way TO secure it is
the question that is being argued and
it is very probable that this matter
will be settled. Such is the condition
will be settled. Such is the condition
second, or Ottumwa sub.districl. The
subcommittee. appointed to draft a
mine-run scale for this district, which
includes the operators second and
third districts. has not yet reported
hut there are high hopes of its agree
ing upon price soon and settling this
question.
Back to Joint Conference.
Last night, when the scale commit
tee adjourned after agreeing to repor
disagreement to the joint conference
practically all of the questions in the
state were settled with the exception
of the day wage scale, and the mine
run prices at Fraser along the X
G. track, and in the second sub
district The general resolutions
have yet to be gone over and changed
in few places, but these will MOI
cause much trouble.
This morning the joint conference
took up the questions which have
baked the progress of the scale com
mittee and after an all morning dis
cnssicn was unable to arrive at a set
tlsnlenr The operators claims were
presented by Senator IA. l.. Waterman
and John p Reese. commissioner