The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-29
SETTLEMENT NOT
 YET IN PROSPECT
Continued from First Paae.l

AOOUL.0uCQ ITOTH FiFSl Td4Ssl --~-~~~~~~~-~-~~~>~~-~-~~o and prevented from realizing his full earning power and is making from sl25 to s150 per month. The miners in my dis triet are permitted to work only five or six hours a day
 Mir. Moorehead referred to the steady decline in the price of coal and turning to both miners and operators, he said:
 Moorehead Presents Case.
 We in Illinois believe that the time has come to sever the Interstate agree ment. Our affairs had better be settled alone. We had better work singehand- ed than to be In an Interstate eonven- tion. We had better be employed in meeting with our own miners and put in our time in that state. 1 believe bet ter results could come. The gentlemen from Pennsylvania and Ohio have diff ferent market conditions. different coal, almost everything different from us in Illinois Their wants are rarely our wants. Their troubles are rarely our troubles And Illinois would not be here today If l had had my way about It. for l cannot, after two or three years ex perience find that it is of any use to us. In fact, 1t looks to me If we are only a troublesome class We are quite will ing, much as we regret it to go away from here without an agreement. But Illinois has been going back continually for eight years all for the sake of peace; all in the hope that sometime the day might come when you gentlemen would find some way to give us a measure of relief. But we have got to the end now. You have got us up against the wall.'
 Herman c. Perry. president of the Illi- nols miners, said in reply to Mr. Moore head that he was one of those operators who signed the scale and then paid his miners seven cents He insisted that the time of the conference should not be taken up with trivial matters.
 Vice President Lewis Replies.
 Vice President T. L. Lewis of the mine workers, replied to some of the state ments made by operators concerning Illi- nois conditions. He referred especially to the shot frers' law, defending the measure as one that had proved It's value by the lives it had saved.
 w. D. Ryan, secretary-treasurer of the Illinois miners, said
 'I want to say now that the shot firers' bill has got no business in this convention. If you people want to get an agreement here the thing for you to do what you will have to do later anyhow, is to vote for MT. Mitehel's motion that Is HOW DtHullE, anu We Will ldkt up liit shot firers bill at home with you as we did before and l believe we can settle it there among ourselves. The only other remark I desire to make this morning is that the cent differental Is in Illinois to stay until you take it from us the way we got 1t. The present inside and out side day wage scales are there to stay on the same terms. We might as well be plain"
 R. R. Hammond, of the Illinois opera tors, discussed market conditions. He said the ramifications of the coal situation were co complicated that the public would never be able to understand them until they had been examined by a commission and so far.as he was concerned he was willing to leave the differences to such a commission.
 ''I got into the coal business by acci- dent. I would not have gone into it at all if I had known as much about it as l do now. l know some of the in- fluences that have been brought to bear on this situation. I say frankly that if you cannot convince me by argument, you cannot convince me by force. l will close my mines forever rather than be forced to do anything against my judg- ment."