The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-12-14

I
are social features and benefits, such
as library and sick funds, that would
( help us. But we are not trying 90 make
I trouble for the company. The welfare
Of the company IS our welfare. An we
want is the same protection the organ
| ization Of the company affords the
company
These are not the miners exact
words, but they exactly portray his
/ ideas as expressed by him to The Her
AID. He spoke in the presence Of rep
resentatives from al the camps of
Carbon county, and his views were
unanimously endorsed.
The Company's Position.
Now, against this the company has
made definite announcement that all
negotiatiOns with the strikers are of.
Ihts statement was made without
qualification 10 The Herald by Vice
President Kramer. Since that time.
however, the attitude OF the strikers.
as expressed at the HELPER meeting
/ last Friday, has been made public.
whether this win have any effect on
| the policy OF the company is not known
Whether il should have any effect on
the company is q question 20 be dis
cUssed elsewhere than here. The COM
paDy has not, up TO this time, refused
20 negotiate with the strikers as indi-
to return to work Mr.. Kramer made
h. very clear that the company would
not negotiate with the union as a union,
but he said there would be no obfec-
ton 10 a striker returning to work i'm
the mine on the same basis as other
men in the mine But the strikers
fear that if they lose their organization
now they win lose whatever advantage
their position now gives them and gain
nothing, for the reason. they say. that
the company can get rid Of an or most
OF them by dropping a few al time.
This is what is doing more. proba bly,,
TO hold the strikers together today than
anything else.
Danger to Company.
In this connection there is a belief
among certain men on the comparv's
side Of the struggle that to admit all
the strikers without discrimination
might cost the company dear. The com
pany now is able to secure the services /
Of many men who understand coal min
ing, but who operate farms in the sum-
mer. These men can be kept I'm the
mines during the winter. but many OF
them viii return to their field in the
spring.
Then, say these company men. the
company will need miners almost as
much if not fully as much as now. To
be sure the market for the product Of
some Of the mines will be lessened dur
Ing the warm weather but the demand
for coke, for instance. remains pretty
much the same the year round. so that
the company viii need miners in the
spring Now suppose" they continue.
we take back all the strikers We viii
have in our mines many men deter
mined TO uniOnize these camps. They
VIII do their work quietly and perhaps. /
when we have no outside sources to /
draw upon, call out nearly every man
in the mines and shut us up" This
should not be understood as a direct
quotation, but il correctly conveys the 1
opinions of several company men who |
were interviewed By The Herald, and
indicates that there are some men now I
on strike whom the company cannot. /
with safety to itself re-employ. This /
last is merely an inference based on Z
statements made and should not be ia
Ken as an authoritative announcement I
by the Utah Fuel company, because it I
1t not.
Applications to Be Considered
The notices posted at Castle Gate I
Saturday state that all applications for |
work made not later than Dec. p viii 1
be considered The company. does not [
pledge itself to employ all applicants.
The logical inference from this, in view
OF conditions and statements made. is /
tnat the company reserves the right to /
reject men it believes will create trouble /
for il sooner or later. an inference /
which leads to a belief that the strikers
cannot hope to have all their number
reinstated and retained. The outcome
may prove the contrary. but this is sub /
mttted as a fair inference from the ex-
listing facts.
So much for the situation as II re-
lates 20 the duration Of the strike. The
attitude taken by the strikers during
the past Few days may properly be
called conciliatOry one, although al
the same time it must not be forgotten
tfat the strikers are still firm in their
lnslstence on recognition" as defined
by them above. Backed by John Nit
chell and the powerful United Mine
workers Of America their strength
should not be under rated They claim
vast resources and unyielding deter
and they possess both The /
strike may end i'm day if negotiations
start right; it may last indefinitely
The best that can be said from the
Facts now is that the outlook for a
speedy settlement is brighter than II
has been It may be darker tomorrow.
IL all depends A hasty word. an ul-
ADVISED move. change Of policy and
the termination of the trouble may be
postponed indefinitely. A little tact.
Slight concession from one or both sides
and the strike may be history.
Company's Position Stronger.
When the strike began the company
mad the better of 1t in prestige trans
portation, communication and re-
sources Existing conditions tend 10
show that the company's position with
respect 10 these points Is certainly lit
tie if any weaker. The strike has cost
the company some money, undoubted-
~ The 200 armed guards, for instance.
cost undoubtedly not less than 81 900 a
day. The loss Of revenue from diruin-
ished output has been great. Offset
ting this partially has been "a diminu-
ton IN the payroll, but nobody viii
7rgue that the strike up to date has
added TO the company's wealth II
has diminished the states wealth IN
ne extent OF the cost of maintaining
The militia in the field and 20 the ex-
tent to which business has been de-
pressed, but at the same time the strik-
Frs have been losing the money they
would otherwise have been paid They
lain strong backing from the nation
ID organization, and no doubt the claim
s q Just one Just how long the ma
l0nal organization would continue to 7
urnish support for them is not known. !
The United Mine Workers Of America I
S stubborn foe. and it fights to win I
IN the time. The circumstance that the I
T. NJ. w "A. organizers now in the car
ION county coal fields are party to the !
proposition Of the strikers to return to !
work provided union men are not dis
riminated against may be construed I
o mean that the national organization /