New-York tribune., 1919-11-14

tempt TO cntrap the miners into n tacit
acknowledgement that the WASHINGTON
wage agreement is still in force. nnd
That acceptance by the mine workers
officials of the invitation would be tan
tamount to an admission to thnt effect
inc operators arc not trying to trap
the miners into any admission. The
te-egram was sent, as stated in it's text.
because the public interest REQUIRES a
resumption of negotiations with the
east possible delay That is the rea-
son for sending the messarc. and tho
wording was almost identical with Tho
wording of the joint call for the
original conference of operators and
m'nc workers officials at Buffalo Sen
tembcr %. That call was signed Nv
Mr. brewster on behalf Of the oDcra,
tors and Mr.. Lewis on behalf Of tho
miners, and summoned the scale COM
nlttccs TO negotiate contract TO hn
ehective upon the expiration of the
present agreement
Conference to Fix Time
The question of the time Of form;
nation of the Washington ware arrcn-
men. is one which is to be determined
by the conference.
ne operators of the central COM
petitive held are desirous of nccotiat-
ing a lair wage agreement at the err
nest possible moment, but so far have
necn prevented from doing so because
the miners demands have been cow
plcaied with impossible collateral
questions. ~
"Operators Of the central connect
tive f'eld have no desire, to be uniust
or unfair to their employees. Thev
peileVe -that every man on their pay
rolls should receive d far wage. More
IMAM that, they believe that every en-
pioyce should receive a generous wage,
as generous as the public interest viii
allow. That has been their nolicv ;n-
dlvlduaily and collectively, in the past
II Will continue to be their policy in
the future, They will 30 to to-mor-
row meeting with that policy in
mind. -
1T has been charged and numerous
STATISTICAL statements have been pub
llshed III an effort to show that mine
empioyees are not at the present
time able to earn fair wages. The
bitumlnous coal mine operators deny
these charges and allegations spc-
clllcally and emphatically. The fact
mat the miners can and do earn fair
wages Will be substantiated hy the
details winch will be developed during
the negotiations.
Miners Blamed for idleness
The public should understand quite
cleary that irregular operation
broken working time and similar con-
dltlons are seriously y aggravated by the
MINER himself. AT every mine a con-
stant proportion Of its employees, av-
eraglng from 20 to % per cent. are
rcgu. arly absent from work on davs
when the mine is in operation and
when they might be working for good
wages # they elected. This condition
Is ciearly shown by the official figures
OF the Department of Labor. as nub-
hshed IN It's press release FOR publ
cation November ,, 1919. by the bureau
Of labor statistics in its survey of con-
ditons IN the bituminous coal mining
industry. For example, the survey
shows that pick miners in Alabama
worked but 677 per cent of the time
the mines were in operation and work
was offered to them; in Colorado they
worked but 7l.5 per cent; in Illinois,
So per cent; in Indiana, 5000 per
cent; in Kentucky and MARYLAND the
hgurcs are G2.8 and GA per cent. re-
spectively: in Ohio and PENNSYLVANIA
they are 197 and 76.2 per cent. re-
spect ivey. These figures are typical
of other states.
The mining machine runners who cut
the coal are OF necessity among the
steadlest'and best Of the mine workers.
They are small, selected group of
specially capable men. Nevertheless
machine miners of Colorado worked
but IS per cent of the time they could
nave worked; in Illinois. 1915 ner cent:
III Indiana, S2.7 per cent; in Missouri,