The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-02-01
They Are willing to Reamrm the
Conference a Year Ago.
MINERS WILL NOT GIVE UP
f. l.. ROBBINS AND PRESIDENT
MITCHELL HAVE A TILT.
w. s. Boyle Talks of Conditions in
the Indiana Field-Results of
the Days Conference.

The conference of the miners and coal
mine operators of the central competitive
field continued throughout yesterday. The
joint scale committee selected at Friday
mornings meeting to consider the demands
of the miners and the replies of the oper-
ators reported back to the conference with
the statement that the operators denied all
of the demands and refused to concede
either the demand for increased wages, the
7-cent differential between pick and ma
chine-mined coal or to establish the run
of-the-mine basis of measurement The
willing to reafirm the wage scale agreed
and that the miners had unanimously vot-
ed to insist upon the demands decided upon
in the recent convention.
When the committees report was dis
cussed several interesting statements were
made by the operators and replied to by
the miners Representatives F. L. Rob-
bins, Of Pittsburg, one Of the ablest of the
debaters among the mine owners took the
floor Immediately after the report was sub
mitted and spoke of conditions in his field.
He said the run-of-mine basis was not in
effect in Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
In his argument against the dfferential
and also against the run-of-mine PROPOSE
ton he quoted from President Mitchelrs
testimony before the arbitration commits
sion to show that the bituminous miners
were already much better paid than the
workers in the anthracite field. He said
that Mitchell had testified that the soft
coal miners were paid fully 40 per cent
more in wages than the anthracite men,
THE SAME PRIVILEGES.
Robbins demanded for the bituminous
mine owners the same privileges as those
held by the anthracite men. He said that
in the anthracite field longer hours of en-
poymept were possible and that i'm West
Virginia the owners of mines were able to
operate without the consent of the unions
as the miners were not organized. He said
IL was unfair that the mine owners of In
diana, Ohio, Illinois and western Pennsyl-
vania should be compelled to raise wages
and submit to demands that will embarra IS
them when IL comes 10 marketing their coal
i'm competition with the products of other
fields.
Robbins also talked of the difficulties now
encountered by the operators because of
the recent strike. He said the anthracite
strike while IL had raised the price of coal
in the Central States had not benefited the
owners of soft coal mines. The coal had
been sold at about the same price on con-
tracts and oftentimes Mr.. Robbins said
the operators had been forced 10 deliver
coal on contracts at loss OF from IS cents
TO 81 ton. This assertion provoked much
laughter among the miners.
President Mitchell followed Robbins with
an answer relating to his testimony before
the commission at Philadelphia He said
IL was true that he had declared the BIZ
luminous miners to be better paid than the
anthracite workmen, but that the state
ment was qualified In subsequent state
ments He then quoted from his testimony
and introduced statistics and other infor-
nation TO show the difference in conditions
and the necessity for greater pay for the
work performed in the central con petftiye
field.
VICE PRESIDENT HEARD.
Vice President Lewis. OF the Mine Work.
ers. also talked earnestly for the increase.