The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-25

President Gompers sent the following:
Executive council American Fedora
ton of Labor before it's adjournment
Tuesday evening adopted declaration
calling for a conference to be held In
Washington at an early date to deal
with several OF the subjects contained In
your message"
With the life and death struggle, az
seen by the Illinois Federation. APP
parently coming, renewed efforts are to
be made by the Administration to bring
an Industrial conference that will get re-
suits and bring a labor truce IL not q
peace
A report from the public group of the
conference was taken to the White House
by Chairman Daruch tonight Mr..
Baruch and Thomas l.. Chadbourne were
Mt the White House with the Secretary
OF Labor to-day, and exchanged mes
sages with the President through Mr..
Tumulty. They took up both the mine
strike conference and the national in
| dustrial conference.
The EmpIoyers' Position.
Chairman Harry b. Wheeler OF the
employers group issued this statement
tonight:
Mr.. Gompers and the other repre-
sentatives Of organized labor who bolted
the national Industrial conference are
showing a poor spirit Of sportsmanship.
Neither Mr.. Gompers nor President Eliot
can becloud the issue by assuming that
! they correctly stated the vote of the em-
ployers group on the Gompers resolu-
tion-and neither told the truth. The
/ Gompers resolution was defeated under
the rule OF the conference on group vot-
Ing. Group voting was the unanimous
| recommendation of the rules committee
| at time when no opportunity had been
AFFORDED for each group to size up the
others mental processes and opinions.
President Eliot was not In favor of
group voting. but Mr.. Gompers and the
labor group voted for it unanimously.
The employers group did not defeat
| the Gompers resolution by a majority
OF one. The employers group consisted
Of seventeen members-three farmerstwo
bankers, two railroad executives and ten
| business men. When the vote on the
Gompers resolution was taken the two
members named by the Investment Bank
ers Association and one representative
| from the business men were absent from
! Washington. Fourteen votes were cast.
Ten votes were cast against the resolu-
ton. four In favor OF It.
What Mr.. Gompers had In r.nd to
, accomplish by a. misstatement of the
facts and without any effort to ascer-
tain the truth the public may Judge"
Thomas 7. Brewster. chairman of the
coal operators scale committee. late to-
| flight issued the following statement:
THE operators accepted President
Wilson'S proposal to resume negotiations
for wage scale and to submit to arbi-
tration any points which could not be
agreed to, the mines to be kept at work
during negotiations. This the miners re-
fused, thereby breaking Off the negotia-
lions and making the strike inevitable.
The refusal of the miners to accent
or consider any OF the propositions sub
mitted. including the final proposition
from President Wilson to submit ali
| matters TO arbitration, demonstrates
their determination that the coal suppl,
Of the United States will be cut of
| unless their demands arc granted In
T. full. Mr.. Lewis Is running true to his
| statement that the Government can't
| stop the strike"
The Mine workers. Position.
The United Mine Workers of Amer
| lea, In a statement tonight, asserted
| that the operators walked out of the
conference and did exactly what they
| set out deliberately to do in the hrst
| place-foreed the bituminous miners of
the United States to strike"
The operators, II was charged, did not
; want or intend to negotiate a new wage
| agreement, ana tnat tlef nlu ueCiineu
| TO do 20 In conference with Secretary
| Wilson.
1--WE charge that full responsibility for
| whatever may be the result OF the con-
| sequences must rest on the operators"
| the statement said, because Of their
stubborn determination that no new
agreement should be reached"
Discussing the Presidents offer the
statement said:
knowing that the operators were
dead set against the making Of a new
agreement. we knew that IL both sides
accepted the two propositions made by
President Wilson-one for negotiation
| and the other for arbitration--the op-
orators would prevent a contract by ne
| gotiation and then throw the entire mat
| ter into arbitration. Such arbitration
would be a long drawn out proceeding,
| deliberately made 30 by operators, and
| during ali Of the long weeks and months
| which would be consumed by the arbi-
| tration the miners would be compelled to
continue to work at the present wholly
Inadequate wages and under the present
Unbearable working conditions.
at was entirely possible for the
miners and the operators to negotiate a
new agreement before the first day of
November II the operators had been will
| ing to meet the miners IN a fair. honest
effort TO do so.
"But we find that the only remedy
| left to us Is a suspension OF work 10
obtain better conditions and wages, We
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