Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-11-12

10 Make Ed1neS1 IIys
The miners accepted. When Mr..
Wilson went home tonight he had
rsceived no foEmal reply frum the
operatprs but was unufhciaIly advised
that they would comply with the re-
asesk The secretary was assured by
the operators and miners that they
would endeavoF faithfully to frame
a pay scale that would send the
4c6. 600 strikers back TO work will
inGiy and at once.
hsmas T. brewster head Of the
Operators Association Of the central
competitive neid, who arrived here
during the day from st. Louis to
take an active hand in the situation
made public tonight a tsfegram to
john l. Lewis. acting president uf
the miners oygnn!zatiDn. urging
''prumpt resumption Of negotiations"
The message. sent, II was explained,
before Secretary Wilson had put his
invitation ON the wires, made no
reference to the labor secretary as a
medtatpF. brewster suggested nego-
tia1tnn Of "a CONTRACT 10 be in force
upon the termination Of the contract
now In e6ect-" without saying when
or how tins would be determined
Word came frum Lewis tonight
that TIN RtAers had decided to ac-
cent Mr.. WNsna.s offer and that they
had 30 notified Brewster.
The secrernry of labor, agnin step
ping to the front as mediator. will
take up his work exactly AS il was
laid aside two weeks ago except that
no strike threat will hang over the
conference. Instead OF there being
present in the conference representa-
sives a miners and operatsev ousT
from the central competitive Aeiaa,
embracing the states Of Indiana, flli-
nois. Ohio and western Pennsyiva-
nia, the cnnfarence viii include min
ess from. all fiehds invdnuadeAn the
strike, streaching over more rhan 20
states. Mr. Wilson's action In hFnad-
ening the scnne Of the wage nego-
tiations was q surprise. to operators.
but the larger plan Of representation
was adOpeG because of the do6ire OF
men frum ethsr fields to have a voice
In the deliberations.
rAe final hraaking up of the strike.
With announcement by tn miners Of
Acials that they would heed the hinnt
cnmmand Of the Fsdsral court hrnnght
q nigh Of RELIEF frnm ofaciRl Wasi-
,ngtnp, and expressiuas Of surprise from
labor leaders who frankly had nat ex-
peCted II.
Some labor ufIAcials were doubtful II
the miners a. q Whale would 90 hack
10 work hefsse adoption of q new vaSe
scale. IT vas hecauae of thts unees-
tainty that Secretary Wnson and NJ.
brewster entered immediately on their
task.
A~ery effort will he made to reach .
speedy aeseenRnt. especially n miners
shnv little diapDsitioa meanwhile to
return u work. Secretary wilsnn, ~
vayp hnQefni, and underssn0d to have
upprSod the injunction prnceedings.
yeaaisss. n 1 said. that many Of the
miners s1e nIled vt1h bitterness he
cause Of the court suit. and that II
viii require tact and persuasive powers
to hiring tAe facsteas 'to0stheY.
Some Of the uperSto1 we're inclined
to think that the Jnb mtUhf he . hts
moee dt5lRult hecause of the iarDer
number of fields involved Heretcfore
the competitive fieid scale has heen
the basis sraie az pay, and they said
if vas tDle AHst time IN thu htoonRy q
tive industry of nafion- vide attenspt
to flx wa0es for al the httu1tnuus
miniuU country. Secretary wIlsnn had
all slnis in mind. however,. vhsn he
invited tlse men most vitality cnncerned
In the sstsismeut To meet him in Wsnh-
tnGfun.
TAe meetinR win NOT be public. hut
Ny, wilasn win ~ down with t1o
sruups. ~ he did hsisre. and urge them
SsWei~assd sn psps -csi. =