The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-28
COAL OPERATORS STAND PAT.
REPLY TO MITCHELL'S OFFER
rs 4 FIAT REFUSAL.
The, viii Copslder Nothing Except the
Propositions They Have Already Made.
They Declare Increased Wages Asked
Would He q Burden on the Public.

They Declare Increased Wages Asked
Would he q Burden on the Public.
The anthracite operators acceded vester-
day to the request OF President Mitchell OF
the United Mine Workers to reply promptly
to his last proposition so that the anthracite
miners could act on the answer at their con
vention az Scranton on Thursday. The
reply, which was drawn up in this city yes
terday. Is a fiat refusal Of Mitchells prop
osition and reafflrms the operations de-
cision to consider nothing but the two prop
ositions they have already made, ~
caves the miners no. course but to strike
or back down. The responsibility OF a
strike must rest on Mitchell and his com
mittee, the operators declared, IL they re-
fuse to accept one or other Of the PROPOSE
tions Of the operators.
The reply was mailed to Mitchell last
evening, after it had been formally in
dorsed al a meeting Of the operators COM
mittee in the Jersey Central Building Presl-
dent Baer Of the Jersey Central presided
and all the members Of the committee
we're present: E..E. LOOMS, vice-presi-
lent of the Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western Railroad, and T. NJ. Richards,
vice-president OF the Philadelphia Coal and
Iron Company. we're also at the meeting
az mining experts for the operators,
F, In their reply. the operators say hat
Mitchell and his committee have mtsrepre-
scented the operators proposition. This,
they say. was ito submit to the members oi
the strike commission the question whether
any changes in conditions have occurred
since the award Of the commission requir-
ing that the award should be modifiei as
to wages and adjustment of complaints
and if 80, how it could he changed"
This procedure, the operators say, would
tend to dignity and strengthen the process
of arbitration rather, than as Mitchell SAYS,
bring it into disrepute and ridicnle. The
award of the commission was regarded
by the operators as conclusive as to any
facts or issues within its scope and any
further arbitration should be supplement
airy to the award, rather than a retrial of
all such facts and issues.
The propositions of the miners, the OPP
orators reply says seem to be based on the
impression that the wages in the anthracite
industry are unduly low. The anthracite
strike commission found that this was
not supported by TEST imony. Figures are
given from the report of the Secretary OF
Internal Affairs ~ Pennsylvania for 1904
to show that the average yearly earnings
of all classes of employees in the anthracite
industry are higher than the wages PAID
to the bituminous miners.
As the two industries are largely com
petitive, the operators say, the disparity
of the wages cannot safely be further IN
creased. The first proposition o. me
miners for an increase in wages for all
classes Of employees running from IS TO 5
t,ar cant ur,IlH tho nTnTatnTS saw. IN
crease the cost Of mining much more than
10 cents q ton. The second proposition
for an advance OF 10 cents per ton on the
total production of anthracite. to he aP-,
portioned by the employers and miners
c committee, would with the application OF
the sliding scale increase the price SO cents
per ton to the public. The reply con-
inues:
But II we disregard the sliding scale and
assume that you simply mean to add 10 cents
per ton as the final increase in cost. this
would result in increasing the wages OF our
employees so, 100, 0GO pcr annum, that Ia.
10 cents per ton on 81 900. 900 of output. You
say 1T will not result in imposing additional
burdens upon the coal consuming public
How can this be done? Where is the So
100, 900 10 come from? We have shown you
that in the largest companies the profit
without interest and royalty has yielded
less than 3 per cent. on the capital invested.
The operators, therefore, cannot afford to
pay this large annual increase without
imposing additional burdens upon the coal
consuming public
Your propositions are wholly inconsistent
with our position in the premises, from which
we hav We not varied. The strike commission
decided what WI 9es were proper Oh the
basis Of the domestic sizes selling at $3.50
per ton. II is decided also that for each
advance of ) cents in price wag : would
FrL- .-,, -. 90
of compensation We're settled ms the proper
rates when coal sells for $3.50 per ton, and the
Sliding scale was arranged as the increase
in compensation which was proper as the
price adv need. We have offered to refer
TO arbitration by the strike commission
the question what change, il any. should
be made in these conditions. but this offer
yo'i nave rejected.
Won have stated no facts varying from
those passed upon by the commission. The
advances made by the strike commission
have practically absorbed the increase in
price. Therefore there has been no in
crease in the profits Of the business upon
which could be based any claim Tor increased
wa gee. These conSiderat ions are all the
more important because. as we have shown,
your proposition il it included the sliding
scale would add 81 cents per ton TO the cost
of the domestic sizes and would increase
the aggregate cost to the public of the entire
product in the amount of over Sl2. 600, 900.
We note what you say with reference to
the hazards incident to the employm ent
of the contract workers. No one can regret
more deeply than ourselves the accidents
70 which you refer. That matter was fully
presented to the strike commission and had
due weight in fixing the existing wages.
The language of the commission on the sub
jeCt was as follows:
We have also considered the contention,
and the testimony bearin upon II, that the
mining industry is periloas and extra haZ-
ardous, and find that it should be cl ssed as
one of the dangero is industries OF the country
ranking with several of the most dangerous.
The statistics so far available (which appear
in this report under 'Hazardo Is Nature Of
Anthracite Mining, do not show a greater
hazard than obtains in some other occI-
pations, notably in the fisheries and in those
of switchman and freight train crews on our
railroads. Still. the requirements are exact
ing and this fact has bee duly weighed by
the commission in coming to a decision upon
the demand for an increase II the rate Of
compensation Of contract miners"
The conditions which have prevailed under
the award OF the strike commission nave
been as satisfactory as could be anticipated,
In view Of the magnitude Of the industry.
In one Of his addresses last summer your
chr irnan Was said to have stated that AT