The Mena weekly star., 1907-01-17
MITCHELL ID THE MINERS
Annual Address of the President of the United Mine Workers
 of America.
LAST YEAR EvENTFUL TO ORGANIZATION
Large Decrease in Membership Shown on Records-PracticalIy Free From Strikes Now-Apathy in Anthra. cite Fieid-Well Satisfied With Last Years Struggle.

Last Years Struggle.
 Indianapolis, Ind, Jan. 16.-In hi,
 annual address to the United Mine
 Workers of America, President Johr
 Mitchell said the past year had beer
 most eventful with it's suspension ot
 work to enforce the restoration ot the wagc scale of 1903, and he believed the policy adopted had been for the best. While the membership showed q decrease of 3S,9l0 on the records on account of exoneration from dues oi many members who had been on strike there had i'll reality been an increase.
 Tie anthr etc fields showed a de- crease of 32.220 members and the president insisted upon increased ac- tigity in organization. Unless other wise instructed, he said, he would put number of organizers in that field. For the first time in years the organ .g ization was practically free from strikes Less money was being ex- pended by Union for idle men than at any previous life.
 The address urges the re-establish- ment of the interstate conference and recommended that the executive com mittee negotiate with the operators of the central competiye field during the present year for an interstate meet ing prior to April 1908. To show the importance of machine mining the address stated that last year 14 per cent of the bituminous production was machine mined Attention was call ed to an increasing number of casu- alties in mines Legislation was ask ed for providing for an examination of persons permitted to be employed in mines.
 Speaking of the apathy in the an- thracite field which has reduced the membership so materially, the address S said:
 This indifference upon the part of the miners cannot be attributed 10 failure on the part of the organization to secure Improvements for them: their wages have been advanced to a considerable extent; their hours have been reduced, the conditions of life and labor have been greatly amelior- ated, and in addition thereto. reia- ton has been established between them and their employers that was ineonceivable even to the most op- tismistic few years ago.
 The strike of last year with the preceding conference with the opera tors and the succeeding restoration of the advance in wages demanded was reviewed by Mir Mitchell, and speaking of the effect of the action taken by the miners in their last national con yention, which permitted signing a seale by districts and locally, the ad- dress said;
 "TaIi lg a retrospective view of the wh, le struggle in the anthracite and b tumi ous fel rom It's inception to is close, am cons rained to the belief that. all things considered, the wisest policy was pursued and the best results obtained that could be secured under the circumstances. Il am. of course. not unmindful of the fact that there were many disappoint- m nts at in me ections mem- bers " re forced to yield conditions which tpey ieg IT ed as essential to tho welfare, m Crder that the in- terests of inc whole nu Der might be pre- erved and p omised. When if is considered, however that more than 4o0000 employees were involved, rep resenting population of approXi- mately 2,000000 directly dependent up- on them, and that we entered the contest with only s4G0,000 in the treasury, I feel that we can well for get our vacations, join in renewed effort to regain our comparatively small losses, and struggle on with un- tiring zeal for larger and still larg- CT share of the wealth that we pro- duce"
 Nice-President T. l.. Lewis in his report, deplored the action of the last national convention of miners in adopting the policy of permitting the signing of wage scale by districts and locally He insisted that the or ganization must maintain national character and claimed that as re- suit of the action of last year the membership of the organization has decreased 50,000.