The Oskaloosa herald., 1918-01-10
AM[ RICAN MINE
WORKERS MEET
THIRD BIENNIAL CONVENTION
AT INDIANAPOLIS.
ORGANIZATION IS PROSPEROUS
Membership Almost Doubles Since
Last Biennial catherins-No vi
tai Legislation This Year-No
Strikes, No Wage Scale.
lpy <. c. Adams.l

lBy n. 4. AuamS.D
\ Indianapolis. Jan. S.-Fully 1,S0C
y delegates are expected to be in at
s. tendance when President Hayes taps
81 the gavel calling to order the twenty
b sixth consecutive and third biennial
8 convention OF the United Mine Work
81 ers Of America which convenes Jan
r uary Is at indianapolis.
The approaching convention is
Il looked forward to as the most import.
b ant in the history of the mine work
n ers' organization-mor vital ques-
81 tians affecting the immediate and fu-
n ture welfare of the organization will
claim the attention Of the worlds
4 largest labor assembly.
Organization Has Grown.
a The organization has grown from a
a membership of 235,156 in October,
= 1916, to a paid-up membership of 4O5,-
81 OBS in October, 1917. The exonerat-
q ed members in Alabama, Kentucky
81 and Tennessee will swell this figure
to approximately 425,0oo.
Il Since the last convention the inter
4 Irrational organization has paid back
a to the various district organizations
a the $S75,O00 borrowed to conduct the
4 Colorado and Ohio strikes, both of
3 which were terminated successfully.
n No Strikes in Progress.
4 The approaching convention will be
1.-THE first one held in the history of the
f organization that will not be called
upon to formulate a new wage scale.
q ALWAYS in the past the wage scale has
Kloomed as the feature work of the
tconvention. Since the signing of the
biennial wage agreement in March,
81916, the mine workers have succeed
Ned in securing two additional in
Increases in wages.
Wages Have Been Raised.
The two supplementary wage adj
syances secured have placed them on
Ian equal footing with the heretofore
4high-priced skilled American labor.
&Of course, the great bulk of the in
screases, if not the entire amount, is
practically absorbed by the excessive
thigh cost of living. but the funda-
mental achievement is the fact that
1.-The miners have established reas-
onably good scale that it will be i'm
possible to take away from them, if
8|they maintain a strong organization,
Following the termination of the war
land the tumbling of prices, especially
flood commodities.
Penalty Clause.
The penalty clause provided in the
washington agreement last Septem-
Der will be one of the chief subjects
convention debate, not because
s there is real opposition to the penalty
provision in the Central Competitive
kField or in most of the outlying coal
districts, but due entirely to the fact
that in trades union affairs, as in
+ state and national affairs, there al
s ways must be some sort of political
Hissue for those who entertain ambi-
Mtions to grasp as a building process
atowards achievement. The penalty
$cIause in operation simply enforces
g and fines for neglect to enforce those
: irresponsible. The penalty clause has
#been in existnce in the Central Com
&petitive Field, as well as in Iowa and
Hfhe Southwestern districts, or years
&The hope of the disgruntled lies in
81 their success in making it a new is
sue.
.fUnion Faces Greatest Of Legal Battles
The recent verdict rendered in the
81 Federal Court for the Western Dis
trict of Arkansas against the union
for 100000 for alleged violation OF
1.-The Sherman Antitrust Law, and the
S cases pending appeal to the higher
courts. is a matter to which the con
8vention is expected to give serious at
s. tention. II is likely that no move
& viii be made to secure new legisla
ton by congress exempting trades un
8 ions from the provisions of the Anti
8 Trust Law until the validity of thu
= CLAYTON Antitrust Law is determined
5by the Supreme Court of the United
81 States. which body has already an
nounced that no antitrust cases viii
b be reviewed until after the termina
81 tion of the war.
The decision of the Supreme Cour
"A in the case of the Hitchman Goa
81 Company VS.. the United Mine Work
81 ers and the Flint Glass Workers Un
ion. prohibiting the two organization
a perpetualIy from soliciting employees
Of the company, peacefully or other
wise, to affiliate themselves with
trade union will likely cause the mel
to seek remedial legislation. In al
probability a national legislative com
mittee will be created to carry thi'
X nghf 10 congress.