The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-04-13
CANCELLATION BOARD
IN HARD COAL REG|0h
Beneficial Plan Providing for the
Referring of All Difficulties
to Arbitration.
Operators and Miners Alike, in
Hearty Accord With the
New Movement.
Special to the Labor World:

Special TO the Labor World:
''One Of the wisest acts of the An
thracite Commission appointed by
President Roosevelt was the provision
that made possible the Cancellation
Board. Again and again has this body
of men, made up jointly of operators
and representatives Of the miners,
demonstrated it's usefulness, both to
the miners themselves and to the men
operating the mines.
,"Admitting that there has been
cause for some fault finding, it must
be allowed that the Cancellation Board
has been a great blessing In the pre-
venting Of strikes. There would have
been many of them Of a serious char
acter but for this body. Some strikes
there have been, that is true, but they
have never lasted long and eventually
the men have gone to work, leaving
the matter in the hands of the con-
ciliators.
Preventive Of Strikes.
During the first few years Of the
existence of the board there were very
few strikes, and none of them Of a
general nature. Previously strikes
were of common occurrence. The plan
Is the most beneficial ever established
in the anthracite region. 1t should be
lived up to in every respect. From an
outside point of view there seems to
be no justification whatever for any
strikes while the board is in existence.
Generally, when they come to the at
tention Of the union officers, the latter
order the men back to work pending
consideration of their grievances. In
most instances the orders are obeyed.
But even a few days idleness means
the loss Of many thousands Of dollars
to both the men and the operators.
Nothing is gained by the men; but the
more strikes of this nature, the more
do the operators lose confidence in
the ability Of the unions to control
their men.
''The men themselves should hold
the principle Of the Cancellation Board
inviolate, realizing that it is the best
instrumentality that has yet come to
their assistance. Such hasty and i'll
advised acts as we have recently wit
messed only go to discredit them"
It is the desire Of the board, to bring
about a settlement of these disputes
as early as can possibly be done, and
/ want to urge on every man inter-
ested in the labor movement in this
country, and I think the employers
should be interested as much as the
other side, because it is also to their
interest in the matter, that strike
should be the last resort. I think they
ought to make it their duty and your
duty to discourage as much as posi-
BILE every strike that could be brought
before the board and give it chance
to decide it on It's merits
Two serious strikes and several pet
ty disputes in the anthracite coal re-
gions have been disposed of by refer
ence to the Board of Cancellation es-
tablished by the Anthracite Strike
Commission. The Kingston and Morea
troubles in the Hazleton region, in
volving suspension Of work by sew
eral thousand men, preceded an epi-
demic Of lesser strikes in the South
ern fields. The Kingston men, in de-
fiance of the commissions rules, struck
because the coal company refused to
reinstate an employee in position
from which he had been transferred
This and four other disputes are now
before the board for settlement.
Public opinion in the coal region, as
expressed by the newspapers, demands
that the Cancellation Board shall en-
force the award, which provided that
all grievances are to be submitted to
the board, and sets forth in effect
that strike would be looked upon
as violation Of the agreement ac-
cepted by the operators and miners.