The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-03-19
Miners Dissatisflc ID. But
Willing IN to Try to Re-,
ConCile Differences.
BIG STRU CGL E OVER
SOFT COAL FIELDS
Railroads and Trust to Grapplst
To-day in Indianap Penn
sylvania Wants Strike.
Steel Corporations
81 Peace lest Vir- Il
ginia Interested.
(By Associated Press. )

r. kAlld AIlteL eSlSO. fs 81 Ss
(By Associated Press.} Il
INDIANAPOLIS. IND March is.
President John Mitchell. OF the United
Mine Workers Of America, has mailed to-
George F. Baer, chairman OF the Anthra -
IcIte Coal Operators Committee, his re-
lply' to the committees communication Il
IIrejecting the demands OF the miners or Y
ganization. The letter follows:
Indianapolis. Ind, March "a, 1906. S
Mr. George r. Baer p Philadelphia, Pa:
Dear Sir Referring again to! u your
communication dated March 10th. with z
accompanying documents, and to our re ~
ply thercto. L write to say that Il .llaye
submitted to our committee the answer
made byByOur committee to the propost-sss
tons presented by us. It Is unnecessary B
to state that we were keenly disappointed
to learn that our demands were rejected
had received so little consideration at
your hands that they were practically
ignored in your reply to u.s. II
s'iWc have again reviewed the scale
presented for your Sconside derat ion : having
/ compared It with the scale of wages paid
for similar classes OF abor In other GOAL
producing States and districts and we 1;
are satisfied beyond the peradventure OF v
doubt that the wages proposed are not 3
in excess of-Indeed, that they are not
as high as-the wages paid In the, btu
minous mining districts OF our country. 4,
Judging from the language employed
In your answer to sus, 1t Is pc Iectly EVIL
dent that we failed to make clear or that
/ you failed to understand the real Inn
portancc OF The propositions snbnlittels
l by us. s We wish to assure you that We =
are not nnnlndful OF the great public
/ interests involved In this controversy as
i to our future relations; neither are We
lsunappreciatiye OF the splendid efforts
/ made by the anthracite coal strike CONF
| mission to establish n Relationship be-
tween us that would insure a just anil j
/ permanent peace; but. II you will refer
to the award OF: that conltnissio on. yptI- will
find that the commission itself sWas. lin
doubt as to tho permanency OF its fnd-s
lsings, and expressed the hope that at
the expiration Of the award the relations
OF operators and employees would have
| 80 far improved as to make impossible
such a condition as existed throughout
1.-The country in consequence of the strike
| lin the anthracite region.
Demand Not Excessive.
Eve had entertained the hope that our,
adherence to the letter and the spirit of
the award and the absence of local or
general strike during the past three
| years. would have appealed more strong
| ly to your confidence md THAT VIC might
reasonably expect: serious conside ton
OF olir claims Mt this time. II.
When we met In Joint conference at
l143 Ilberty Street. New York city, on
1.-THE 5tll day OF last February, 1t was
4 agreed that when the separate commit
4 tees of seven had termlnat led their worls
they should report to the Committee of
i the Whole. we understood this to mean
that after we had submitted our de-
mands and our reasons therefor and YOU
had prepared your reply thereto. the Joint
Ilcommittee would meet, confer and Il G. pos
siblc. reach an agreement. But 1t would
seem from reading your reply that all our
propositions have been rejected, and that
your final decision las been given. We
trust that this conception OF your inten-
ton Is incorrect. i. ss VI
Another Conference.
1T is our opinion that neither we nor
you can Afford to break of negotiations
lin this abrupt manner. So far as we and
the interests we represent are concerned.
we are not willing tosaccepts any share of &
the Responsibility this action entails
we believe that further NEE tingsa
i should be held and that we should strive
Earnestly and console tiolsly to reconcile
our differences. n I W. ss
While 1T may be true tina t on the part.
4 of the operators there has been@n no seri-
Gus cause for complaint during the pasts
three years, we wisl, to assure You stha q,
| In expressing this opinion YOU do not res,
/ fleet our views. Not only has there been
criticism among the miners, but what is
more important. there cxis is much cause
\ for criticism and complaint, To such IN
extent Is this true that we feel It i IN -s
lscumbent upon us to say that we cannot
with any degree OF con ntment or 50 t-S
isfac ction. continue to work under pres
ent conditions. However We repeat that q
4 the interests involved are so svnst that
VIC are not willing to break off negotla-
tons without first making further seff ortsg3
\ TO reconcile our ifrerence es. We, here ISL
i fore. propose that further. inference or Il
conferences be held bet ween5 nons and thessi
first OF April, s38s. s sF..s @
s3{sIf this suggestion meets With hFSyoir@g
1 |.npproval X We shall be plcased to ;lrranges
| with you ~ date upon. W hich our Joint
committee may reconvena. ses tsssSHz
~ AM. yours trllly " # a S# "a Ssf
(Signed) .JoHNaNlITCIIEl,I., ss
"a 2 lrn,an.,,'