The Washington times., 1919-11-22
U. S. ATTITUDE N
COAL CRISIS SOUGHT
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ent contract before further nerotta-
tions are carried on.
Operators propSred to give notice ef
this step ~ Joint conferenoe With
the miners this afternoon n 0arneid
gives an answer satisfacfory to the
operators.
Many operators, however, believe
that Garfield will suggeat some other
solu ion than one carrying Win Il
>the formal breaking on OF aegotia-
lions
,Prepare Letter II PsssAAeua.
Operators who want q Anish AgAt
already have prepared . letter to
ffesident Wilson. reviewing their e.
forts At pesesful settlement and sue-
Eeeting that ~ . last resort they ars
willing to operate the mines and let
the President solve the whole coal
question These operators suggest In
the letter that any increase IN cost
OF operation which might result fro. n
increased wages shaAi pc borne net
oniy by the public but BY the opera
tors as well
These operators believe the CAbi-
net IL with them in their stand with
exception Of Secretary OF Labor VIII
son. against whom they are bitter.
THE they say. 10 because of the at
titude Of Wilson ~ set forth In his
address to the joint conference last
night
Members Of the committee which
will call on Garfield in addition to
Brewpter are w. X Fields, OF Pitts
burgh; Michael Gallagher and Horace
Robins, Of Cleveland, and p. H. Penna,
Il Terre Haute. Ind.
The operators are row arrAyed
openly against any further compro-
mise. although the scale committee.
in rejecting the miners' proposal of 4
10 per cent increase, did not entirely
''burn their bridges" behind them.
Secretary of Labor Wilson 10 deter
mined to force . settIement today by
presenting. hia own compromise pro-
gram based on the needs Of the
miners and the statement of the
profts Of the bituminous coal indus-
try as gathered By the Fuel Admin
tstration.
TrOuAle In Rannrn.
n he fails today. however. he VIII
retire from the breach and place the
situation entirely In the hands of At
torney General Palmer and Fuel "A.
ninistrator Garne'd
Both sides are having di1icuity in
maintaining peace within their own
ranks. Among the miners there were
some Of the more radical who wanted
to break OF negotiations and return
to their homes. and many Of the
operators declared that further neeo-
tiations were futile.
The opera ors are openly worried
over State action in taking over the
mines. and would much prefer FEDERAL
action to the same effect Neither
miners
In the meaptime the Fuel Adminis-
tration fs bulky gathering data reIs-
ting to the 1919 profits OF the opera
tors. on which the original claims OF
the miners were based 1t ID expected
that these ngures viii. show an en-
tirely different situation to that which
prevailed in 1918
O9eR Three Plans.
Secretary of Labor Wilson wa3
called in after operators voted 10 re-
ject the proposal Of the miners for q
10 per cent wage increase and
seven-hour day with . half holiday on
Saturday. This proposal was submit
ted counter to the proposal of the op-
orators for wage increases averaging
about 20 per cent After the operators
voted down the miners proposal. they
withdrew their own offer. Then they
proposed three arbitration plans. All
were rejected by the miners. accord
ing to Brewster. President Lewis re-
fused to discuss the proposals..
The 30 per cent wage increase Of
fered by the operators would add 35
or 40 cents q ton to the selling price
nj hA~
emphasize, would come out OF the
oo1Iots th> ,,,hli~