Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-12-17
WELSH MINES AGAIN
ACENTER OF TROUBLE
Operators and Men Jealous as
to Distribution of the
Profits.

Correspondence ~ The Associated Press)
CADIFF, Wales Dee. l6.-After %
year Of comparative peace, labor and
capital are again a. loggorhcads In the
South wales coal fields For nearly
a generation the colliory owners and
the miners have maintained an atu-
tudc of mutual ill-tcmper and sus-
picion. and war has not l"en allowed
To dsplace their traditional quarrel
year ago fiVo-day stoppagc Of
the mines, on which the British navy
largely depends for fuel actually
took place, and a prolonged deadlock
was only avertcd 10y the Intervention
of Loyd-Goorge, who summarily
granted most of the miners demands
over the protests of the owners.
The demands now made 10y the
miners may be summarized as fol
lows:
Immediate concession of 10 per
cent advance IN wages to cover the
increased cost Of living, an inde-
pendent audit of the coal owners
books to show exactly what are the
profits on all classes of coal over a
long period Of years; that the tinan-
cial relation of wages To profits he
ultimately arranged 50 that the per
ccntage shall bc the same as before
the war: payment to be made for
Small coal' hencoforth ON q tonnage
rate to be established 10y later hcgo-
tiauons: that the selling price of coal
be hcnceforth established 10y a COM
petont independent authority ON
basis Of the standard wage paid.
IT is evident from this complicated
and elaborate series of demands that
settlement must necessarily involve
protracted negotiations. The miners
contend that the - per cont wage in
crease is urgent and should he granted
at once. the other demands may be
taken up more lcisurely before any
suitable tribunal
Screenings Not Counted.
one of the most puzZl.ng of the de
mands is that which seeks payment
for Ihe so-called small coal. This
is a new demand and meets with Il
determined opposition from the own
crs Hitherto the workmcn who re-
ccived payment on a tonnage basis -
So much for every ton of coal mined
! have been paid only for the large
! or first-quality coal Every ton OF
coal which "a miner sent to the sur
face was first passed over the screens
and only the residue, after the small
! coal had been screened out WAS
weighed and paid for. Ordinarily a
miner who sent twenty tons of coal
to the surface would receive payment
for mining only about seventeen tons,
/ thre etons having passed thru the
screens and been discarded as small
coal" The men now point to the
/ in IA
owners are obtaining FOR this small
coal today as compared with the
I price before the war This price
shows am increase from about nine
shillinps tS2.25) To nearly is shillings
/ lS4.5OJ per ton.
/ In reply To the mons demand for an
! immediate increase of 10 per cent in
wages the owners have made de-
mand for 10 per cent decrease. The
| last dispute was patched up 10y
: Lloyd George year ago with an
i award of a 10 per cent increase, while
| the owners in return were permitted
| to add half "a crown t61 Cents) per
/ ton to their wholesale price. The
| miners now declare that the owners
are making a handsome additional
profit out of this halt-croWn, and also
/ out of the sale of the small cual',
| and they claim their share on the
| ground that the basis of their wages
! has always been the selling price Of
coal. To this the owners reply that
an tho expenses Of mining. other
| than wages have gone up, ana that
some of their mines no longer pay To
( work The balance sheets of the
I largest coal companies in the district
l which show great increase of profit
during the war. figure prominently in
Il the evidence submitted 10y the miners
Country l. impatient.
While feeling In the coal regions 1,
at high pitch, the attitude of tn,
country at large is one of undisguiscd
impatience with any quarrel betwcer
capital and labor AT "A time when tn,
energies of the country are - largely
concentrated ON war Wide publicity
has been given in the coal districts tt
an editorial In the London Times
which says:
THE argument Of the owners re-
vcals total ncapacity to see the
situation as every one else sees IT
They are quarrelng with the man anC
hagglinE over the division Of the eN
cossiVe profits which both are cN'
tracing from the public.
1T is the business of the owners tt
carry on an industry vital To IN,
country without bringing it 10
standstil by internal strife. They ~,
trustees Of II to the nation. If they
cannot conduct II, then the sooner i
is transferred to someone who can thu