The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-19

President Lewis and ais associats of- ficials. have their | hands full. evsn should they be dispossd to 'extend help to the Alabama miners v s..i
 such Is the ordinary condition in the Birmingham district. If there was . continuation of ordinary conditions no mine owrer would expect . strike.
 T. But an extraordinary condition is expected. This is the threatened cut In wages. The miners have never &C., cepted cut without nght When ever . cut has been made . strike is followed. A cut Is regarded by the miners as a declaration of war. It is . blow to be answered by q blow. v And prepared or not prepared. . strike is looked for if another cut is made. If 1t does come. 1t will bs . serious trouble. for the miners will be without resources. There will be, no more appropriations. no more commits saries. no more apportionment of ra- tfons. The strikers will be face 10 face with want and their families will be face to face with want. That will be dangerous.
 The miners are now receiving forty seven and one half cents a ton for min ing coal, the standard being the Pratt Mines seam, the price differing accord ing to the richness or thinness of the seam. This Is . smaller scale of wages
 than the minors received ~s in other years. The miner. average miner.y mines from three to hye tons a day..
 The miners have not been satisned with this scale of wages. They mur- fnured against it., and accepted 1t only because they had to. A costly strike in which much bis3d was shed was the price that was paid for their decisive defeat in last summers strike.
 Another cut would mean trouble. There is probably not a mine owner in the district who does not believe that a. general reduction in wages would mean a general strike. If the. cut. comes it will como direct from tho steel and iron companies.f But the coal mine operators would be com peiled to meet this cut. Then, 1t .is expected that the union will eau out what miners 1t has in the district. And if the union miners walk out prao- tically every miner outside of the union will do the same thing.
 Steel and Iron Reductions.
 The cloud of trouble for the Bir- mingham district was originated in the steel and iron schedule of the new tariff bill. now before Congress. This bill proposes the following cut In the metal tariff:
 Iron ore and basic slag. from 70 cents per ton to the free list. -..
 Pip iron. iron kentiedse and spige- lein. from t per ton to s2.5o.
 Scrap iron and steel. from 3& per ton to 50 cents pS ton. ..t
 Charcoal iron, from $12 per ton to t6 per ton.
 Railroad bars and steel rails. from seven-twentieths of cent per pound to 7-40 of cent per pound. Steel bars or rods. from 1-S of 1 cent per pound to 1-8 of cent per pound, but must pay not less than 70 per cen tum ad valorem. f@
 Tarifr on boiler tubes reduced one-S third to one-half. gots. blooms and slabs. reduced about one fourth. . .i .,-
 Tarin on cast iron pipe reduced about 70 per cent.
 Now to meet this cut in the tarifr the steel and iron companies propose to cut wages. Such is the announce ment ofNPresident Charles N. Sohwab, and for the present he is the doctor. A cut in wages may be an economic necessity, or 1t may be . coercive measure to stop tariff Legislation. but whether it Is a, necessary economy or q bit of coercion. the effect in Ala barna will be the. same. It will spell trouble. 0,.,
 The mine opefators who are now interested in the steel and iron com- panies are hoping sincerely and earn estly that there will be no strike. They are willing to go to any trouble to avoid strike. A great nauy Of the miners are hoping earnestly. and sincerely that there will be no strike. for they understand the conditions that surround them. The business men of Birmingham are praying that tnsre will be no more strikes now. They are for peace at any price.
 No Plans for Strihse. 1s
 At the Capitol, a few days ago 1t was rumored that serious trouble was impending. It was said that the min. CTS had purchased a tract of 1s0 acres, which had been, laid out according to army. regulations with every sanitary precaution taken. The water pipes were already put down and the streets of the camp were already laid or ac- cording to this rumor. The miners. tt was said. were determined that there should be no room for the issuance of another executive order forbiddfng a camp, because Of alleged unsAnitayy conditions. ..i |. went to Birmingham to investigate the truth of this report. No such camp has been laid out. The miners nave made no such provisions Tor  An intelligent miner, said very sptly: We would not need 10 buy tract ,f land like that. It might hamper us. Dur camp might be situated In one part of the. county and the strike ,cens might be tn another. If we nave camp we must have 1t aa close to the scene of action as possible. We must have 1t where the strike breaker ,an see end talk to us. and whore we ,an meet and talk with the strike breakers. And if the time should come we, could rent all the land we needed for e camp. And we could lay t out in accordance with every saui- .ary requirement.. too"
 The situation. which have tried 70 make clear. Is briefly this: If Ala oana operators and Alabama miners ire let alone. there win be no strike Ordinary conditions are not ripe for . ,trike But ir the steel and iron com oanies order a cut In wages' stptke Ieen1s certAin. ' ...'..
 It can be avoided by only one thing ,y the miners doing what they have never done befoFe--@ceepting . cut n wages without e nght.