The Washington herald., 1919-11-28
MINERS REJECT u. S.
OFFER, CONFERENCE
HERE ADJOURNED
CONTINUED FROM FACE ONE.

ment to make on the failure OF the
coal conference to reach settle
ment
John l. Lewis. president OF the
United Mine Workers, said after the
conference ended:
I'm my judgment DR.. Garfield and
the Cabinet have committed the most
colossal blunder in the Industrial his
tory of our nation. They are blindly
following an academic theory with
out regard to Justice No the mine
workers or the effects OF such theory
upon the people of the country"
Lewis Makes Statement
Mr.. Lewis said that the action of
the government precluded any pos
sibility OF negotiations between the
operators and the mine workers. He
would make no statement as to
whether the present strike would
continue to be effective.
Asked as to what would now hap
pen in the outlying districts, Mr.
Lewis said:
1T cannot be responsible for any fur
ther disturbances which this policy OF
the government may bring"
When DIR. Garfield was told Of this
he said: The government will keep
ORDER
Various representatives OF the min
ers expressed the opinion that the
turn to work until a settlement Is
reached
The operators were unable TO declare
what should be done to remedy the
situation. They said that the break
ing up OF the conference would result
in some of the miners returning to
work. but said that II also might re-
suit in others gsing out.
Operators Worried.
The operators admitted that there
had been fears that the strike"
would spread to the outlying districts
and that il also might involve the an
thracite mines.
Questioned as to whether the gov-
ernment. at this juncture. might de-
eide to operate the mines. the opera
tors pointed out that Or. Garfield's
remarks Wednesday night indicated
that the government is opposed to taxi
ing over the mines except as n last
resort The operators said that the
government might designate them as
its agents to operate the mines, but
pointed out that this would amount
to the same thing as government op-
Grafton.
Under any circumstances, the oper-
ators said. operation OF the mines
would require men. and the problem
would be to obtain enough men to
work them
Miners Position Defined.
Acting President John Lewis
OF the United Mine Workers. die
tated a statement in which he said !:
The miners and operators Joint
conference adjourned sine die. The
mine workers representatives de-
clined to recommend to the miners
any acceptance of the IA per cent
increase offered.
The operators pretended to be
willing to agree to grant this u
per cent increase but in the same
breath stated that they would be
unable to operate o larger number
of their mines unless they had an
increase in the selling price of coal.
1t would be foolish for us to at
tempt t0 make an agreement with
the operators unless their mines
were to be operated.
A"C pSSitiou VI tHc I1lHC "OFK
ers is unchanged. We hold that
the United States government can
not break its word. The pledge
given by Secretary of Labor Will
son to grant 31.6 per cent In
crease in wages must he redeemed.
In my Judgment. DR.. Garfield and
the Cabinet have committed the
most colossal blunder in the indus
trial history of our nation. They
are blindly following an academic
theory without regard to justice to
the mine workers or the effects OF
such theory upon the people Of the
country"
Operators Acceptance.
the operators of the Central Competl-
tive Goal Field accepting the govern
ments offer said:
Recognizing the seriousness of the
present crisis and the urgent need
OF the country for coal. We wish to
advise you that. subject to your ap-
proval and conditioned upon the mines
resuming operations Immediately, the
Operators Scale Committee Of the
Central Competitive Coal Field ac-
cept, as a basis for the settlement of
the present wage controversy and ter
mination of the strike. the figures SUBJ
mitted by you to the joint meeting of
operators and miners held yesterday
evening. namely an average increase
Of IA per cent to be granted to all
classes OF mine labor. such increase to
be apportioned in accordance with the
wage bases that are acceptable to the