The Topeka state journal., 1919-11-12
TO OBEY LEADERS
Nation Eagerly Watching Re-
spOnse of the Men.
Conference at Washington Fri
day Big Feature.
SAY OPERATORS TRIED RUSE
Invited Union To Meet With
Them Monday.
Miners Leaders Quickly Ac-
cepted Wilson's Offer.
SAY OPERATORS TRIED RUSE

Indianapolis, Nov 12.-The two out
standing points of interest in the coal
mining situation today were the recep-
ton by the members of the United
Mine Workers of America of the order
of their chiefs calling off the strike
and the probable outcome of the con-
ference of miners representatives and
operators with Secretary of Labor Will
son in Washington, Friday. Reports
of the number of men returning to
work were slow in reaching interna-
tional headquarters of the miners here,
chiefly because the order resembling
the strike call of October Is had not
yet been received in many districts
and because many local unions will
hold meetings before deciding whether
to return to the mines.
Dispatches received up to this time,
while not clearly defining the attitude
of the men as a whole were believed
to indicate the worker SwiH continue
on strike only in isolated cases. 1t
was pointed out by the miners Off
cials that several days would be re-
quired to determine to what extent
their order had been obeyed.
Officials of the unions, members of
the scale committee and executive
board and district presidents, who will
attend the conference Friday, were
resting after their arduous sessions
and probably will not start for Wash
ington before late tonight or early to-
morrow morning. One representative
from each bituminous district in the
United States. in addition to the in
ternational officers and the scale com
mittee, will attend the meeting.
Several district leaders were evil
IDENTIFY dissatisfied with the action of
the meeting in complying with -he de-
mands of United States District Judge
A 5. Anderson that the strike order
be rescinded.
Howat Says He's Sore.
I'm fine physically but sore men
tally" Alexander HoWat, of Pittsburg,
Kan, president of the Kansas district,
said. Howat and Frank Harrington, of
Illinois, are known to have taken the
lead in the fight to defy the courts
order.
At a meeting late yesterday, the
union heads agreed to give the scale
committee a free hand in negotiating
an agreement at the Washington con-
ference, it was reported.
The miners executives, who re-
quired more than seventeen hours of
almost continuous debate to reach
their decision to comply with the or
der of the federal court to call off the
strike, needed but a few minutes to
reach a decision to accept a telegraph
ic invitation by Secretary of Labor
Wilson to meet the operators in Wash
ington Friday and resume wage nego-
t1ations. The message reached the
miners during meeting late yester-
day simultaneously with a telegram
sent to Acting President John L. Lew
is by Thomas T. Brewster. chairman
of the operators scale committee, re-
questing that the scale committee of
the miners in the central competitive
field meet the operators in Washing
ton Monday to negotiate a contract to
be in force on the expiration of the
contract now in effect
The union leaders were equally
prompt in their decision to disregard
the offer of the operators and imme-
diateIy sent a reply to Mr.. Brewster
stating they had accepted the invita-
ton of the secretary of labor. Ac
cording to the miners chiefs Secretary
Wilson's message was timed an hour
earlier than that of Mr.. Brewster, and
did not put any limitations on the rep
resentativeS the miners should have
at the meeting. Under the impression
that Mr.. Brewster must have received
a duplicate of the message sent them
by Mr. Wilson, officials of the miners
declared they saw in the operators Of
fer a deliberate attempt to entrap the
miners into tacit acknowledgment OF
the existence of a wage agreement.
which the coal workers contend has
expired. They also read into the
Brewster message an effort to dictate
the terms under which negotiations
would be resumed, in the proposal that
the central competitive field scale
committee only meet the operators.
The developments in the situation
will put the controversy right back
where it was when the conference of
miners and operators was held with
Secretary Wilson just prior TO the
walkout of the miners. except that
there will be no threat of Il strike
hanging over the country as an argU-
nent for the miners.