New-York tribune., 1903-02-13
OFFERS SLIDING SCALE.
B-4ERS PROPOSITION.
Seuere on Ci5lc Federation an Closin O.
for The Oprrafors.


that filed every inch of space in the United
States Circuit Court room. President George f.
Baer Of the Reading Company made the closing
argument for the coal operators before the
strike commission to-day, and Clarence : Oar
row. chief counsel for the miners. began the
summing up for the men The greatest interest
Was manifested in Mr. Baers appearance before
the commission to plead the case Of the mine
owners There were many well known persons
present. smcng them being President Truesdale
Of the Delaware. Lackawanna and Western
Archbishop Ryan judges of the federal and
local courts State Senators and many mining
officials
Mr.. Baer concluded his address by making
proposition 10 pay the contract miners on
sliding scale. their wages to fall or rise with the
market price Of coal at New-York. but the
wages in no case to fall bc low the present basis
during the next three years. Mr. Baer spoke for
TWO hours and twenty minutes. When he sat
down he was congratulated by hundreds Of per-
sons.
Mr.. Darrow spoke at the afternoon session for
two hours and half. and viii take UP all Of
tomorrow in closing for the miners. He. too.
when he suspended his speech at adjournment.
vas surrounded by an admiring throng- His
speech was directed principally to the wage
statements presented TO the commission. which,
he said. could not be relied on.
Before Mr.. Baer spoke, Simon p. Wolverton,
chief counsel for the Rea ding company. finished
his argument begun yesterday afternoon he
opposed the demand for an eight hour day be-
cause il would reduce the production Like Mr.
Paer. he advocated sliding scale II an increase
in wages were decided on
CLOSE ATTENTION FOR BAER.
0,rinr In the crowd I'm the courtroom there
vas considerable noise and confusion while Mr.
volverton was speaking but the instant Presi-
dent Raer rose z hush fell over the assemblage-
Several times he was interrupted by hand clap
ping which was promptly suppressed by Judge
Gray
When MI Baer reached that part Of his ad-
dress where he referred to the calling out OF the
steam men, Mr.. Darrow. for the miners, inter
r1Ipted To correct him After answering him Mr..
Raer laid down his address, and SAID that IN
disputes between capital and labor the general
,,,,1,1ic was largely in sympathy with labor. It
was human he said, and a good trait in the
-sce 10 svmpathize with the weak against the
strong. and, therefore, Il can find no fault win
the criticisms though they are harsh that nave
been made against us
he grew sarcastic as he told in detail of the
negotiations before the Civic Federation. the
operators pocketed their pride, he said. and met
IN a church, where were present some olstln-
finished men. Some were bishops and some
Of the federation sitting around putting good
CIGARS and not saying q word, while he and MT.
Mitchell tried 10 get together. Speaking slowly
and deliberately, he arraigned the federauon
for not giving the operators and the miners
representatives the small courtesy OF nearing
the report Of the committee appointed by these
TWO sides. nor did It have the manly courage
to further help the parties In contest
In the same way he paid his respects to
T-n-Eo, -N7D lelfx
cred an argument before the commission III ID
vor of trade agreements
In closing he said that the operators, for the
time being. surrendered not to the miners, but
10 the commission.
PRESIDENT BAER'S SPEECH.
Nj Baer read the first part Of his argument.
but after he had been speaking for about an
hour he laid aside his notes and only occasional
" referred 10 them. He said:
In the development Of the natural resources Of
the earth Il is necessary FOR men to comoine @ noIn
,e2v ,i kind can onlV be created by combination of
cs1i?ai We are apt tc overlook the part these
business corporations play in the Distribution OF
and wide, and The business is not owned, as many many
people su6P9Se 0g e 1e" businesses @ carried on by
p firm. consisting OF family or very few per-
essfui business carried on in corporate form dis
tributes its profits among The many ana tneretore
In general no one denies the right Of man to or
Ezanize and the power Of the organization when or
m Ee6 e qTi a s o S the and under Which our ind
vidual and property rights are protected We con-
cede 20 organized labor the same rights that
claim for organized capital Each must St keep Keep
within the law There cannot be one law for ctl-
zens and corporations and another for labor or
EanizatiOns
LEADERS RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIME
The laulessness in the coal regions was the direct
result OF mistaken theories TO the rights OF the
mine workers. It viii not do 20 say that the Lead
true, no doubt, that they did not advise It They
may at times have counselled against IT and eX-
essed regrets for it, nevertheless they legally
and morally responsible for the situation they ere
ared and from which this violence and crime nee
essarily resulted Resolution No. 3 Of the Shamo-
kin Convention approves the acton OF listrlct
Convention No. /, which decided to insist upon
forcing al who work in and around the mines 10
become members of the union aTd tnSt Iney may
he authorized 70 refuse 10 work with non-onloh
The leaders intended 10 enforce their demands by
the threatened destruction OF the mines. Iney We!
know that II the pumping ceased the mines wouid
Tiel6 rather than see the ruin OF the mines The
operators cid not yield. Every attempt TO supply
n3sKets and ali the devices that labor organza
lions commonly use TO pFTTent I'm men , rom g5obg aad
No 5esfr,ctio- for tie time being, Of number or
80 deo,;ate SIMPLY OF fuel Think what the result
ould have been had the efforts OF the NINE work
rs union 20 drown out al our colieries been sue
oessful!
UNIFORM WAGE SCALE UNJUST,
Many good men have found fault with US for not
making an agreement with the nlted Mine , Norh,
made mon us was for a uniform scale OF wages.
covering the whole anthracite helo Al OF the
operators asked 20 meet IN conrenton WIN WIN q
view 10 adopting uniform scale The conditions
Of employment are not alv:ays 1he saine aiu, o.
therefore uniform scale OF wages appncdole v,e 20
The whole United States would not be just, We we
nave MADE every etoTt 20 bjjitv of his
scheme Our chief objection 10 his organlzation