The Holbrook news., 1915-10-29

class or iaDor were the mining com panies enabled to undertak.- work in the district Ore bodies were small in comparison with those of other camps in the state and scattered over a wide area Today the Morenci miner can deliver only two and half tons of ore for his days work. In camps more recently developed and in which the introduction of more economic methods of extracting and handling ore is possible, six to ten tons of ore per day is the average per man. At the present time, the average grade of ore mined in the Clifton-Morenci district is continually falling. This results in higher costs per pound of copper.
 Secret agents for the Western Fed eration of Miners entered the district early this year when, on account of the European war, the companies were confronted with the necessity of striving to aid their employees in the face of decreased output. This was necessarily attended by reduc- ton in wages. The Shannon Com pany had been compelled to shut down entirely. The Detroit Com pany seeking to avoif the suffering bound to result from a shutdown, em- ployed as many men as possible, cut ting down the hours of work for in- dividual workmen in order to increase the number of employed. The Ar1- zona Copper Company = the largest operator in the district-was forced by tke prospect of certain loss. to the shut down of its entire Metcalf prop erty and the concentrating plant at Clifton. Wherever forces were re- duced married employees enjoyed pre- ference. Prior to he European war, the wage scale was based on IT to IS cent coppe No was reduction was made until the European crisis in suite of the fact that copper had meantime fallen ss low as IA to 15 cents.
 Following improvement in the mar ket early this year. the managers of the three operating companies adopted a sliding scale of wages on the average monthly selling price of opper. This scale gave the em- ployees even higher wages than they had received previously at core sronding copper prices. Content ment reigned ;smong the employees
  agitators and organizer of the West ern Federation of Miners. They cane absolutely uninvited, as far as a re quest from any representative booy of the men of the district was con cerned
 In June, July and August, secret agents of the Federation prepared the ground work of corruption in the
 n1i Miller. executive board member of the Federation. haE-breed Mexican named Tribolet: and an Italian who passed under the name of Goggen, ouened campaign headduarters. They were followed by George Powell, an organizer; Charles H Mover, prest- dent of the Western Federation; Tanko Terzieh. uitierez DeLa-a and others. This notorious band of mal- contents gained audience with the miners by promising to secure fer them large increases wages. The mine managers, being aware of i'm pending trouble, called committees of their old employees for conferences, the committees to be chosen from the various ming departments by the men themselves. These com lulll6eS, SGlGCtGu M4lnOul any SO4A- pany influence whatsoever, met the three mine managers in Clifton on August 18th. They were told that no would possibly come of affili- ation with sthe Western Federation of Miners; that the companies reaffirm- ed their policy of advancing wages when condit ons warranted such in- crease Advancec enjoyed by the men in the past would be amplitied in the future but such changes could not be arranged while the existing agitation of the Western Federation prevailed and while tre agt t,ators and o :ganizers remained n the distr' ct.
 The managers covenanted to deal directly with their employees as soon as the Western Federation influence was eliminated. It was clearly ex- plained to the men that the underlying