Bisbee daily review., 1909-01-20
UNITED MINE WORKERS FACE
 DIFFICULTIES
Internal DiSSenSion Now Threatens Very Existence of Powerful Labor 0rganiza- tion-Trouble Brewing.

INDIANAPOLIS. IE0.,. Jan. 1S.-The United Mine Workers of America. the largest single lat.cr -Ascdy in the Unit. d States. win begin its annual con vention in Toralinson hall tomorrow, Practically all Of the 500 delegates who will conprisc the convention have arrived in the city. They rep. resent Che Iee.a0a organized miners scattcred over Chic. Pennsylvania. In diana. Illinois. Iowa. Kentucky, West Virgiuia. Aiahau1a. Ne3raska. Wiscon- sin. Arkansas. Kansas, Oklahoma. Nir- ginia. Texas aEC several other states.
 The general feeling among the dele. gates is that the convention this year will be the most important in the his tory oE the orgauization. In addition Co the usual arccunt of routine bust ness and the consideration Of the wage scale the convention faces serious in iernal dissepsicus which threaten the very existence cf the organization
 Que of the first matters to be taken up will be the rcl.ort of the tellcrs instruslea with the task of counting he bsilots in the recent election of in- ternationai cffice.s. Whether Pres1 dert Y'heIstas l.. IGEis will succeed himself Or bt succeeded by John h Walker of Illinois. who was the cp- posing candidaie. ;; iil then be official 7y anneunced
 The fielft betweea Lewis and Walk er rsds the Inest i,3tter in the history af tLe United Mine Workers. Lewis was aveusec of using his force of or zanirefs far caUpai'.a purposes. while other accusations " ere made that for mcr' President John Mitchell. Con gressman W L. Wilson. former sec retary. and W n. Ryan. present sec were all bending their ecoFts to accomplish the cleo ticn of Walker.
 potl. Lewis and Walker believe they have WOE the election and when the matter Is introduced in the con ycDticn it probably will be the signal for bitter strife. Lewis flys he feels confident that he has been reelected oy a very sweeping majority. nh nois, Iowa and Indiana are said to nave given their support to Walker and the latters friends are claiming his election by a rather small. but still substantial Ina5ority.
 Inasmueh as 8 majority of votes are necessary for election, the indications are that; the recent balloting did not result in the election of either na Jional vice president or nationai secretary-terasureT There were sev- en candidates for the vice presidency and five for the secretary ry-treasureship.
 The present agreement between the anthracite mine workers and the Oper- atOrs viii expire April 1. The con venticn will discuss the demands tO be presented by the miners. The con Vention prePer gili not ike the wags scaie This will hs left to the joint conference. when ti.e miners and op orators will meet yidi equal represen- ation to agree
 It is already evident that the reach ing Of an agreement this year will be a matter Of much difficulty Demands similar to those which led to the big strike of 1902 and lac six weeks "sus pension" of 1906 have already been ,lrafted by 6 committee of the miners union. II they are insisted upon there IS certain to be a rupture, representa- lives of the operators say, as they will not grant them
 The new set Of demands, which were submitted tO the confercnce oT. he miners union at Scranton last faIl. inciudes many which the anthra- cite strike commission of 1902 de clineG to grant, and which were re uewed in 1906 The trouble in 1906 ended by the extension for three years of the award Of the strike commission.
 What the miners desire most, and what the operators declare they never will agree te. is the "check of" sys. lem. by which the operators would undertake to collect dues for the uH- ion by holding out C certain propOr- ton of the empi0yes earnings.
 First in the Iist of new demands IS