The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-02-13


with Market Price of Coal ia New
YOrk-PIra for the Miners.
Philadelphia, Feb. 12.-Before an au-
dience that filled every inc of space in
the United States circuit court room
President George F. Baer, of the Read
ing company, made his closing argu-
ment for. the coal operators before the
strike commission to-day, and Clarence
S. Darrow, chief counsel for the miners,
began the summing up for the men.
The two sessions were extremely inter-
esting and the principal speakers held
the attention of the auditors through
out their remarks. The greatest inter-
est was manifested in Mr.. Baer's ap-
pearance before the commission to
plead the, case of the mine owners.
There were many prominent persons
present to hear him, among them being
President Truesdale, of the Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western railroad.
Archbishop Ryan, judges of the fed
eral and local courts, state senators and
many mining officials from the coal re-
gions.
Mr.. Baer concluded his address by
making proposition to pay the con-
tract miners on a sliding-wage scale,
their wages to fall or rise with the mar
ket price of coal at New York, but that
in no case shall the wages fall below
that basis. The spokesman for the coal
companies took up two hours and twen-
ty minutes in delivering his address,
and when he sat down he was congrat-
ulated by hundreds of persons.
Mr.. Darrow spoke at the afternoon
session for two hours and half and
will take up all of tomorrow in closing
the miners case. The crowd that heard
him was equally as large as that which
listened to Mr.. Baer, and he, too, was
surrounded by an admiring throng
when he temporarily suspended his
speech at adjournment time. His re-
marks to-day were directed principally
at the wage statements presented to the
commission, which, he said could not
be relied upon.
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:
II shall apologize for none of the mis-
takes of the men, but I do say that it
does not come with good grace from
their accusers to call them criminals"
He went on to tell of the operators
refusal to give the men more money,
and said:
"As a consequence of this act 147, 900
men lay down their tools of trade. and
we have seen 10000 men, women and
children reduced to want and starva-
ton 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 proceeding, the
man more responsible than any other
comes before this commission and says
we will do exactly that which these
men demanded nine months before and
which they in their blindness their ig-
norance and their stupidity refused
Why did not Mr.. Baer go to John
Mitchell nine months ago as he came to
this commission 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 some
more, that is ALL It Is here to stay and
the burden is on you, and not upon us.
There is neither the power nor the dis
position in this court, / take it, to de-
stroy the union. And If these agents
of the Almighty cannot see the union
they had better blunder along still a
few more years, and possibly after
while they will know it is here and rec
ognize it themselves"
Passing to the wage statements
handed to the commission, Mr.. Dar-
row said the operators have been de-
ceived by their own accountants, and
that when Mr.. Baer informed the SEN
ators of this state, the president of the
United States and the commission of
how much wages his men were getting
CONTINUED on Sixth Page.)