New Britain herald., 1914-04-29
JOHN D., R., STANDS
 FIRM AGAINST UNIONS
fiDanCicr Issues Statement Cor
 CcrnuQ Co.Mado Coal Strike.

New York, April 2s.--John D. Rockefeller, Jr., last night issued statement defining the position he. as a director of the Colorado Fuel and Iron company, had taken in re- gard. to the mine strike, now in pro- gress in that state, which has cost the lives of many men, women and children and caused a large property loss.
 The statement, which was given out after MT. Rockefeller and his personal attorney, Starr J. Murphy, had worked over 1t all afternoon. follows, in part:
 Accounts Were Inaccurate.
 "In view of the inaccurate ac- counts which have appeared in the press regarding nay interview with Congressman Foster, chairman of the committee on mines and mining. think it proper to make the follow ing statement:
 Starr J. Murphy, one of the directors of the Colorado Fuel and Iron com pany, was present. we pointed out to Dr. Foster that, of the many coal companies in southern Colorado, we
 
 stockh elders in the Colorado Fuel and Iron company, which controls only about one-third of the output of that state. After long and full discus sion of the question in all its as- poets, pr. Foster was unable to make any suggestion which dio not involve the unionizing of the mines or the submission of that question to arbi- If> ~kA kAA $~, ,1S{~ hat hA employees of the Colorado Fuel and Iron company had any grievances we felt sure that the offices of the com pany would be willing now, as they have always been in the past, to make every effort to adjust them satisfac- torily.
 Points Granted Before Strike.
 We showed the doctor that all of the points which are claimed to be at issue. with the exception of unioniz- ing the camps, the Colorado Fuel and Iron company had voluntarily grant ed to its employees long before the strike was called or talked off,
 These points, MT. Rockefeller said, were:
 The demand of the men for an eight hour day; that the men be paid
 
 their own check weighmen; that the company stores, and that there be an increase in wages
 The statement said that fin spite of the fact that no dividends have been paid on the common stock of the company since our connection with it--a matter of at least ten or twelve years-and only $7o0.0O0 has been paid on the preferred stock * the company voluntarily in- creased the wages of its miners last year by total amounting to $30o,- 900 year and of it's steel employees by total of $250,oo0 a year."
 Refuses to Arbitrate.
 Tn addition to the above" the the statement continued, the only matter that has been raised by the union is the unionizing of the com pany's camps. On this question of the open shop, namely, the right of every American citizen to work on terms satisfactory to himself without secur- ing the consent of the union, I re- iterated to pr. Foster what had said in my examination before the commit tee on mines and mining in Washing
 
 ed this as matter of principle, which could not be arbitrated.
 ''In reply to his request for some suggestion as to how the strike could te terminated, we said to Dr. Foster that if the president would make public statement that federal troops were being sent to Colorado for the purpose of enforcing obedience to the law and securing to every citizen the right guaranteed to him by the consti- tuition to be protected in his life and liberty, whether he chooses to work as a member of union or not, it would go far to terminate the deplor- able conditions which now exist.
 Tt was source of profound regret to us that our conference with Dr. Foster did not result in any suggestion looking toward solution of the difff- culty.
 Position Regarding Unions.
 ''In order to correct an impression which seems to have gained currency, I desire to re-state what was fully stated in the congressional exanpina- tion, namely. our position with refer ence to organized labor. We do not question the right of any workmen to freely associate themselves in unions for the furtherance of their common and legitimate interests, but we do as- sert the equal right of an individual to work independently of a union if lie so elects. We are contending against the right of unions to impose themselves upon an industry by force, by assault and murder, and not against the right of men to organize for their mutual benefit. I
 ID Y,rn ho hnN that if we would agree to submit to the unfonizing of the camps of the Colorado Fuel & Iron company this entire trouble would be ended. The public generally does not seem to con- xanf &lai i<s