The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-08-24

CONDITIONS
in THE STATE
Are Declared by Labor Com
missioner Barton as
Very Fine.
EXCEPT THE STRIKE
In the Kanawha and Other
Coal Fields Which Prom
ises to Spread.

CHARLESTON, aug. 24-"Indus-
trial conditions were never better in
West Virginia than they are today, ;,
said Labor Commissioner a. ". Bar
ton, who has been here this week
comforting with Governor William s.
! G!asscock relative to the, strike sit
uatlon in the Paint and Cabin creek
sections.
And this is true despite the fact
that there is some trouble in your
Kanawha coal district, where sveral
thousand miners are now idle" con-
tinued the commissioner.
There is not glass plant, pot
tery or a steel mill idle in the state.
Potteries and glass plants that were
idle some OF them as long as Ave
years. are in operation this year, and
there Is no sign they will ever have
to close down as long as the demand
for their production is as great as it
lis today.
/ at is unfortunate" said Mr.. Bar
ton, that we should have trouble ii
1.-THE coal districts at this time, and
Hope it Will be possible for the two
sides to get together and bring
about an amicable adjustment of
their differences"
While the strike in the Kanawha
district, and which is now certain to
spread to other districts OF the state,
has not yet reduced the output be-
How corresponding periods in preyf-
Gus years, with the spread of the
strike, the output will eventually be
affected and the industry seriously
injured, affecting alike the operator
and the miner.
By those who have listened to the
contentions of both sides, there is
no longer any doubt but that the
present contest is insignificant to
that which is coming, and of which
the present contest is only prelimi-
nary from which is rapidly growing
a conflict that will have the state for
the boundary instead of a mining
district. FOR years the operators of
the union districts of the country
have said to the United Mine Work.
ers' officials, "Why don't you organ
ize West Virginia." Ten years ago
good start had been made along
that line. aided by the coal oper-
ators of other states. Instead OF
spreading its wings out over new
territory, the motives. or at least
some of them failed to find the re-
sponslve answer that spelled sue
cess, and instead Of the union gain
ing foothold it lost nearly every
thing IT had previously gained. The
fact that operators OF other states
had become party with some OF the
miners officials in calling a strike.
has never been forgotten oy the
West Virginia operators, although
ten years or more have elapsed.
And there is no trouble to find oper-
ators today who look upon the pres
ent conditions as being largely re-
sponsible to the efforts and supports
of operators of other states.
In no other state do the mining
conditions differ as widely as they
lido in West Virginia. There are par
alell districts-separated by but a
few miles-in which it is impossible
from financial viewpoint, to expect
+, the same conditions. These differ
ent conditions have always entered
into the question of wage scales be-
tween the union and the operators,
with the result that some of the dis
tricts or sections have been captured
by the union. and sections nearby.
!, with conditions entirely different,
however. operated by non-union la
Dor, or the open shop plan.
There are some hon-union sections
where the Niners are reported to be
making much more money than in
union sections, because of the condi-
ton of the coal and the demand
for that particular coal. Whenever
the union comes up with new
scale the operators point to a COM
petitive district where there is no
isca1e agreement with the union. and
demand the same condition from the
union seeking to make a new scale.
The extension of the strike
which now seems certain to be to
every mining district Of the state