The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-20
TO GRANT COAL CONFERENCE.
NATURE OF REPLY TO MITCHELL
MAY he SETTLED TO-DAY.
The Operators, However. won't Commit
Themselves to ANY Change OF Policy
The Letter TO Baer Is Taken as a
Yelled Appeal to Publie Sentiment.

Neheu appear 10 fuDiic seh'ih1eh''
Up to last evening no reply had been
written by President Baer Of the Phila
delphia and Reading Railroad to the letter
Of John Mitchell, president of the United
Mine Workers, in which another confer
enc with the operators is asked for.
Mr.. Baer will be in town to-day and will
as usual have a talk with the other coal
presidents, as he does every Tuesday when
he comes to town. 1t was said yesterday
unoficially that no regular meeting Of
the Temple Coal and Iron Company, the
selling corporation Of the anthracite coal
carrying roads, had been called but that
the letter Of Mitchell will probably be
considered to-day and a reply agreed on.
1t was also said unoficially that the
operators, IL Mitchell Is very anxous for
another conference, viii be willing to grant
1t without, however, committing them
selves in any way to a changeo of policy.
1t was admitted that Mitohell's letter
to Mr.. Baer was ingeniously worded, since
while he holds that the miners are entitled
to all they demand it is not written in an
aggressive tone and avoids a direct threat
Of a strike. One of the operators said that
the letter was calculated to make a favor
able impression and that it's publication
is a sort Of yelled appeal to public senti-
ment.
Henry Barber of S77 Water street, a MEM
Der Of the Coal Merchants Association,
said yesterday that while he believed that
it was impossible for any one to say at the
present time whether there would be an
anthracite strike or not, every one was
acting as if there would be a strike. Il
would not undertake to say" he added,
that there will be a strike or that there
will be no strike, but Ibelieve, and all the
operators agree with me, that there Is no
valid reason why there should be a strike.
The contracts made with the merchants
by the sales agents are based on the con-
tingency of a strike, but that does not mean
necessarily that a strike is looked for. 1
do not believe that either the operators or
the miners want a strike"
Mr.. Barber said that in all probability,
strike or no strike, the companies would
not issue any circulars as to summer prices
until May. No special meeting of the
Coal Merchants Association had been called
and he thought 1t hardly likely that any
meeting would be called until its regular
meeting at the end Of this month or the
beginning Of April,
An officer of the Coal Merchants' Assoc
citation said that there had been such a
demand for the small steam sizes Of anthra-
cite that the supply was exhausted. This
was the result of the strike talk, as every
available means had been taken by those
in charge of power houses, factories and
other places where these sizes are used to
lay in a large stock. The only, available
supply was practically in the hands of in
dividual operators, and that supply was
small.
For that reason" he said, Il believe,
strike or no strike, that there will be no
summer reduction in the prices Of the steam
sizes this year"