New-York tribune., 1903-02-13

But We viii not agree 70 turn the manage-
cause some OF our employees belong to it
OBJECTIONS TO MITCHELL.
If Mr.. Mitchell simply represented our own EN- en-
ployes and WAS acting exclusively for tine them hut he
represents an organization having for its opJecI 5
conditions in the mining Of coal all the United
states and instead therefore of consderIns o,S amdS
ourselves he is eonsidering general prop9Sliio66 io6
s,a,as Shh relates to all the coal miners in the '"'e
TO limit the right of exertioh of work is TO limit
divdual but it is violation of sound economic
ultimate effect of restricting production, as to
divide employment and increase wages; must DC TO
men seek employment There must be limit TO
an m nSTs OF of but % there Tae Tn be must mo % ne
tably lead to the destruction of the industry or the
barely sufficient to Sustain Ife wages can only
hmsef t %f his egh fgef therebv Creating
wealth which; in turn. gives new employIInefnS: pI mt
creates demand for commodities and demand tor
workmen to produce them. Only in this way can
the wage fund be increased.
CONTROL OF PRODUCTION BY LABOR
II are overanxious about the effect Of the
measure OF anxiety to placing the control OF the
fuel of the country in one organization and that' t
too. organization without capital or responsibl-
~? We are not left to conjecture. The facrs are
a monster monopoly They did shut up the anthra-
cite mines for more than five months They taxed
organized labor had control support the strike.
The owners of bituminous mines some in in So seif, +
defence others in 1he hope of gain, contributed TO
the strike fund. With what result? The price OF
doubled The supply was inadequate. The public
was suffering. not only from high price but from
down and men were thrown out of employment
m h ove ee m ne except e IN 1s coal companies
the poor, the honest workman and the well to DO
The record shows that an honest effort was made
TO convince the United Mine Workers that theia tha
light of the testimony. that the demand for
anthracte regions wa ressonabe The difference
in conditions between the anthracite operations ana ana
the htuminous operations was clearly pointed out
to these labor leaders
FAILURE OF CIVIC FEDERATION
We met them. as they requested, before the Ma.
situation At the suggestion OF the CiIc Feaep1 e
was appointed further to consider the subject AND
by its chairman When parted it was with the
distinct understanding that We should report 70 te
our amsEement the Civic Federation, for reasons
Of its own was never convened TO near cur Of
the Civic Federation would deal honestly and Justly
5c e u p Inq TO Os svePf ePft the ea dsaser which
its ugliness is now before US lheE sei'e' ''o
cause they had espoused-
Mr. Baer then read the letter from President
Mitchell suggesting that the questions at issue
he submitted TO q committee Of five of the in
dustrial bureau of the National Civic Fedora
ton. With regard to this he said:
Human ingenuity could not devise proposition
more unfair 1t proposed arbitration board 70 oH
% selected by the T5e nnstra Branch Of that
federation is composed OF the leaoihg 8e TanTa
sentative Of the anthracite mine owners sd Gn II IN the
conferences already had with it,
THE RATE OF WAGES
Mr. Baer gave comprehensive account of
the difficulties and expense entailed in the pro-
pEyor +11a va
he expressed the belief that the evidence on
the wage question justihes the poslIlon Oh Tue
operators. Continuing, he said:
F4rst-The testimony clearly shows that the
wages paid are fair wages that 1neg cotFpa1e are
most 5 iat men Siiing TO work honestly and
exert themselves do earn annually Suhis Ii eAIe9'
second-The fact that there is excess of labor
in the anthracite regions confirms our theory 'nSe @
general wage scale Of the country. because every
wages are highest ., 49,, =,
Thrdf the wages are again adTanced' d tHeR RoI I
men. 1t win be increased by new workmen coming
something has been said about the operators I'M
porting foreigners. ] never heard OF II r DeIore:
made bg the men already here of the improved CON
ditons. and they will continue to fed come so long
The demand for an eight hour day IS only another other
m fer 0 to eSrv one that restricting breaker
operations to eight hours, day must necessarily
must must not only decrease the wage fund payable ito to
the miners but II will decrease the supply TO the
public and tend to increase the price Of coal
PROPOSES A SLIDING SCALE.
After reviewing the old sliding scale wage
system, MI Raer presented this proposition:
That the rate of wages paid shall be the
minimum basis for the next three years; that from
November / 1902 to April l. 1863 all employees other
than contract miners. shall be paid an addiuonal
per cent; that and after April /, 1873 Tor each
i've cents in excess of 81 80 ton on the average
mice realized for white ash coal in the harbor In
New-York on all sizes above pea wages shal De
sGvanced per cent, the wages to rise or fall l
ner cent for each five cents increase or decrease IN
T-ices hut they shall fall during the next
three years below the present basis, the average
price for each region to be ascertaned by d COM
petent accountant, to be appointed by Judge Gray,
Chairman of the commission. or In case Tor any
reason. Judge Gray cannot act then by one OF
the United States Circuit Judges holding court IN
the CITY of Philadelphia. the compensation or the
appointment and to be paid by the operators IN
proportion to the tonnage at each nine; eacn
onerator to submit full statement each nonth 20
said accountant of all sales OF white ash coal ana
the prices realized therefrom, L O. D., New N,
with the right of the accountant TO nave access
to the books verify the statement
DARROw BEGINS CLOSING ARGUMENT.
At the afternoon session Mr.. Darrow began his
closing argument for the miners In opening he
referred to the patience of the commission, re-
viewed the strike and all the sufferings it en-
tailed and said: "I shall apologize for none OF
the mistakes Of the men, but | do say 1t does