Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-16
UNION ENFORCES OLD RULE
Operators Say Restriction Of Individ al
Output Antedates Mins Workers
TOTAL PRODUCTION IS NOT Affected
Erie Company shows That Ten Per
Gent of It's Mes Are Assessed
rs Property owners and Brings
the Case Near n Close.

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 15.-Most OF the
testimony presented to the anthracite coal
strike commission today was OF a corrobor-
alive nature. the Erie company, which has
not yet concluded its case. producing wit
nesses to prove tho miners union respon-
sible for the alleged restriction OF output.
During the examination Of Eli Ward But
ton, a foreman it was mentioned that the
practice OF restricting the number of cars
loaded daily by one man had been In OPP
Grafton as far back as 1895. long before tho
United Mine Workers entered the anthra-
| cite region. The unions responsibility was
therefore turned to the enforcement of the
rule and not its inception.
Judge Gray. who has been Ill for several
days, was again present.
Accidents Due to Negligence.
Before calling witnesses counsel intro
duced extracts from reports Of state mine
inspectors to show that most accidents
were due to the negligence of. the work
men themselves.
Victor l.. Peterson OF Scranton. superin-
tendent Of the Hillside Coal company,
formerly president of the Forest City bank,
presented a statement showing the deposits
in that bank. The miners objected to It's
admission, because It did not specifically
show how many OF the depositors were
mine workers. The commission sustained
the objection and witness promised to pre-
sent a statement which would overcome
the objection.
He corroborated the statement that the
union miners did not load as many cars as
before the strike OF 1900.
On REORGANIZATION he admitted that
foremen and other bosses sometimes made
mistakes and cited instances of insubordi-
,.stn, ~, ,ho v,ynars Soma % thpaa IN
stances he said were due to the influence
OF the union. The witness thought the
union ought to change some OF It's ways.
On the question OF the union restricting
the number of cars each miner should load,
he admitted that he did not think the total
output Of the mines was restricted.
He did not know why the workmen
wanted to load only six cars a day. except
that some of the employees said that num-
Der was enough.
In reply to Mr.. Mitchell he did not know
whether the men at the present time were
getting out all the coal they could. He
did know, however, that since the strike
ended the men had been responsible for
some of the lost time.
H. c. Macmillan Of West Pittston. as
sistant superintendent of the Pennsylvania
Coal company, said the relations between
the company and the men prior to the
strike Of 1900 we're always pleasant. He
also said the men did not mine all the coal
they might.
Attacks Contract Labor.
Mr.. Mitchell explained that the union
regarded with disfavor the practice Of min
ers securing certain work by proposals. In
the first place, the lowest bidder always
secured the contract and employed as many
helpers as he deemed necessary, paying
them smaller wages than they would 9TH
erwise receive. In may cases one contract
miner employed from twelve to fifteen la
borers to do the work while he aided as
superintendent, taking no part OF the actual
mining. That the union considered unjust
to the other men, besides increasing the
liability of accidents, as the contract miner
could not pay proper attention to many
different Jobs.
He had been informed that saloon keep
ers sometimes secured those contracts and
never entered the mines, but left the work
entirely to the laborers.
F. M. Beyea, land agent for the company.
was called to testify concerning the pros
perity OF the employees. OF the Pennsyl-
vania men, he said, $50, or 10 per cent OF
the whole lumber, we're assessed as prop
erty holders. and 341, or 10 per cent OF the
Hillside company's men were similarly as
sessed. Thu company owned lots and sold
them to the men on hve-year agreements.
The Erie company will probably finish its
case tomorrow.
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