Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1919-11-20
DEMAND Of MINERS
TOO MUCH--W|LSON
Secretary Wilson Seeks a Com
promise in Coal Strike.
BOTH SIDES ARE ACCUSED
Says Colour Week and go Per Cent
Raise mpossible-Operators Are
Told They Must Desert Their
Standpat Position.

Washington, Nov. 15.-Demands of
union miners for 30-hour week and
60 per cent increase in wages "are
impossibilities and ought to be elm
mated at the very beginning" Secre-
/ tary Wilson declared in opening the
: conference between union officials and
operators called by him to settle the
differences existing in the coal indus
try.
''The standpat position taken by the
operators heretofore also is an impos-
sibility," said the secretary, rapping
the table to emphasize his utterances.
Admitting that the Washington wage
agreement was still in force, the sec
rotary declared the people were not
"Shylocks" and did not want to exact
''the technical provisions Of bond
when the conditions under which the
bond was made have changed"
Great World Wal a Reason.
Mr.. Wilson said he had called the
conference, mot simply because there
! is labor dispute in the mining fields,
but because the world is still passing
through a great crisis"
Reviewing previous negotiations at
Buffalo, Philadelphia and Washington,
the secretary said the failure to reach
an agreement had resulted in strikes
mot only in the central field, but also
| in other fields where no demands had
| been made upon the operators Min
ers in the outlying fields, he added,
were not at fault because Of their
/ failure to present demands, because it
was we'll known that the miners mad
been willing that all districts be rep
resented in negotiating a wage scale
and that call objections had come from
the operators"
"Above ALL" said the secretary, I'VE
| are confronted with the fact that the
great mass of people dependent on coal
| in their everyday life are interested In
| reaching a settlement not only in the
| central coal fields but in all coal fields.
| 1t is for that reason have asked your
| meeting here.
Prompt Action Is Urged.
81 desire to recommend that wage
scale committees representative of all
the fields proceed to negotiate an ad-
justment. I want to point out to you
that prompt action is necessary. AS
long as your troubles were local in
character, only affecting a small part
of communities, there was no DISPOSE
ton to hurry you, but when your dis
putes take on magnitude that affects
the entire country, then the people at
large as a matter of self-preservatiOn
are insistent that you come to set
| Element.
"The miners conference demanded
3O-hour week, 60 per cent increase in
wages and some other things. It is
fair to say to you now that 30-hour
week in the present industrial cOndi-
| ton of the world is impossible in coal
mining. I realize the fact that miners
seldom have an opportunity to work
| a 3O-hour week now when the maxi
mum is 48 hours. If you make maxi
mum of 80 hours under the conditions
surrounding the mining industry it
means an effective working week of
very much fewer hours than that"
The reason for this, the secretary ex-
planned, was the seasonal demand for
coal in many districts and mine acct
dents and breakdowns and the impos-
sibility Of furnishing transportation
equipment to keep all of the miners
working regularly.
| Calls so Per Cent Raise Impossible.
mo one knows" continued the Sec
rotary, Ito what extent production
| would be reduced by the Introduction
of a six-hour working day, and in
| these times when we have not yet re-
covered from the effects of the war we
cannot afford to undertake the expert
ment of reducing working hours to six
per day and five days per week."
Referring to demands of the miners
for 60 per cent increase in wages,
the secretary said such an increase
is an impossibility, as it would give
the miners wages out Of proportion to
| 4boeo in othor ipductr{oc