Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1915-11-25

j
Europe Has Taken Back Much 1T the
unorsanized labor, Thereby
strengthening Unions.
James Gray, the Minneapolis jour
malls Washington correspondent. sees
the possibility of mammoth strike
next spring. His recent article COW
erlng this question Is herewith rel
produced In full:
Washington, D. C.--There are signs
| that members OF the two houses Of
congress- and federad investigators in
general are to give a good deal Of
tattention the coming winter to the
situation in the anthracite and bitum-
inous coal fields of the country The
situation is very serious, this nobody
Jattempts to deny; and 1t Is apparent
THAT, unless some means can be found
for settling the disputes that are rap
idly assuming definite form, there will
be on. beginning next April 1. the
mist gigantic coal strike in the his.
tory of the country,
Next April, for the first time In six
years, the working agreements be
tween the anthracite and the bitumin-
ous operators and the miners will
expire at the same time. The coal
trade will be without customary de-
torrents to strikes, and the miners
ilare preparing to make the mos. pf
/ the opportunity 10 compel new con
tracts based very largely upon the
agreements of the United Mine Work.
4 ers OF America, 5s n is
Unions Condition Good. \
/ AT present, it is pointed out, the
labor unions among the miners never
have been in better condition, both
| financially and numerically. Their
general and local treasures are full
/ to overfowing, their ranks are filed
iup and there is no danger Of compli.
cations arising through the attempted
use of foreign labor.
The drain on the supply OF miners
occasioned by the war in Europe, and
the closing of the source of labor
supply by the same cause, have oper
ated to make the percentage of union
/ members among miners now at work
surprisingly high.
4 This advantage, it is explained, has
not been overlooked by union labor
and 1t is freely admitted that If a
strike should come in April the ad
4 vantage would be with the miners
from the beginning, which might
mean the carrying on OF the disagree.
ment through the spring, summer and
autumn Of 1916, and the coming on
of winter with a coal famine through
out the land-unless there is some
thing the federal government can do
to restore peace.
Can Close Many Mines.
The union, it is said on authority,
lis in a position to close down mum
Der of mines in West Virginia, Ohio,
1 Illinois, Iowa and Michigan. Trouble
is likely to occur also in Kentucky,
as every effort is being made to OBJ
tain certain labor advantages before
the agreements lapse next April.
The attitude Of the United Mine
Workers Of America for number OF
years makes 1t mparatively easy to
| forecast what the demands & of the min
ers will be and what methods will be
adopted to enforce them. The tridis-
trfct convention OF the United Hine
Workers recently held in Wilkesbarre
limited that the demands Of the an
thracite workers would be recogni-
tion of the union. an eight-hour day, d
20 per cent Increase in wages, and q
more speedy, simpllfied and satisfac-
tory method Of settling disputes q
which latter is taken to mean the es-
tablishment OF Union tribunal en-
powered to make settlements.
viii Ask Shorter Agreements.
OF more significance. however, it
is explained here, fs fha dafnand WtiS,l,
II is understood Will be made for