The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-19

President Mitchell Proposes Further
Conference With the Anthra-
cite Coal Operators.
LETTER TO GEORGE F. BAER
MINERS READY TO ARRANGE a
MEETING.
JAMES M. GRIGGs

Indianapolis. Ind. March 1S-Presi-
/ dent John Mitchell of the United Mine
Workers Of America has mailed to
George T. Baer, chairman of the an
thracite coal operators committee. his
reply to the committees communica-
ton rejecting the demands Of the mi
ners' orga nizatiOn.
The letter, dated March II, follows:
referring again to your commune
cation dated March 10. with accompany
ing documents, and to our reply there
to, / write to say that I have submit
ted to our committee the answer made
by your committee to the propositions
presented by us It is unnecessary to
state that we were keenly disappointed
to learn that our demands were re-
jeCted in toto, and that our arguments
| in favor of them had received so little
consideration at your hands that they
were practically ignored in your reply
to us.
Demands Not Excessive.
we have again reviewed the scale
presented for your consideration; have
compared it with the scale of wages
paid for similar classes of la Dor in other
cOal-prOducing states. and districts, and
We are satisfied beyond the Deradven-
ture of doubt that the wages proposed
are not so hfgh-as the wages paid I'm
the bituminOus mining districts of our
country.
Judging from the language employed
in your answer to US, it is perfectly evil
dent that we failed to make clear or
that you failed to understand the real
import of the propositions submitted by
US
Expected Better Treatment.
I'VE wish to assure you that We are
not unmindful of the great public in
terests involved in this controversy as
to our future relations, neither are we
unappreciative of the splendid efforts
made by the anthracite coal strike COM
mission 10 establish a relationship be-
tween us that would insure a Just and
permanent peace; but if you viii refer
TO the award of that commission you
will find that the commission itself was
in doubt as to the permanency of its
findings and expressed the hope that
at the expiration Of the award, the re-
lations Of operator and employee would
have 50 far improved as to make i'm
possible such a condition as existed
throughout the country in consequence
of the strike in the anthracite region.
We had entertained the hope that our
adherence to the letter and the spirit
of the award and the absence of local
or general strikes during the past three
years, would have appealed more
strongly to your confidence and that we
might reasonably expect serious con-
sidera ton of our claims at this time.
Ready to Confer Further.
But il would seem, from reading
your reply, that all our propositions
have been rejected and that your final
decision has been given. We trust that
this conception of your intention is in
correct. 1t is our opinion that neither
you nor we can afford to break off ne
gotiations in this abrupt manner. So
far as we and the interests we repre-
sent are concerned, we are not willing
to accept any share of the responsible
ity this action entails. We believe that
further meeting should be held and that
we should strive earnestly and con-
scientiously TO reconcile our differences.
while it may be true that on the
part of the operators there has been
no serious cause for complaint during
the past three years, we wish to assure
you that in expressing this opinion you
do not reflect our views. Not only has
there been criticism among the miners,
but, what is more important, there ex-
lists much ground for criticism and COM
plant. To such an extent is this true
that we feel IL incumbent upon US to
say that we cannot with any degree Of
contentment or satisfaction continue to
work under present conditions How
ever, we repeat that the interests in
volved are so vast. that we are not