The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1920-05-26
MINERS WARNED
ABOUT CONTRACT
Told U. S. Broke Faith With
Soft Coal Men.
ANOTHER FARLEY URGED
Advised Not to Accept Commission
Plan, But to Resume Negotiations
With Operators For Agreement.

Wilkes-Barre, Pa, May 26.-tharges
that the government has failed TO keep
faith with the Soft-coa1 miners by fall
ing to enforce on the operators the
award of The presidential bltumlnous
coal commission were made mere DF
David Fowler of Scranton, fnterna-
tiOnal organizer Of the United Nine
Workers. in an address before the tn
district convention of anthracite min
ers convened to dispose of their wage
controversy.
He warned the hard-cOal men not to
accept commission plan OF settle
ment. but attempt 20 again resume ne
gotiations with the operators in an eff
fort TO get further concessions.
THE government is powerful enough
to force the miners not to- strike, he
said. "but is not powerful enough to
force the coal opera tors to live up to
their proposals"
The Lever act was denounced as
law designed "to crush labor and
make them bow to the masters by
Neal Ferry, of HaZleton, member OF
the anthracite scale committee, in re-
ferring TO President Wilson'S threat
to ban a hard-eOal strike.
Mr.. Ferry, in an attack on the tenta-
tive contract proposed by Secretary Of
Labor Wilson, declared that it only
gave the United Mine Workers "recog-
milton with prohibition" as it did not
eliminate the "open shop" clause OF
the anthracite coal strike commission
awards of 1902.
Referring to the complicated offer
of the secretary of labor, Mr.. Ferry
asserted that every miner in the al.
thracite field would have to have
high school education in order to be
able to make out his pay check" He
declared the contract also was 0hJec'
tionahle because it reduced the wages
of day men who now make more than
Sc day.
The proposed contract was denOunc-
ed as "a camOudage agreement" by
Thomas Thornton, of Parsons, Pa,
scale committeeman, in urging its re-
lection and asking the adoption of the
scale committees commission recon-
mendation.
Strike is impossible at this time,
Christ Golden, president of District
9, told the delegates, adding sit would
be folly for me to say TO you to strike
when we know the policy of the Unit
ed Mine Workers and the United
States government
81 am opposed to strike" he said,
land I only wish that the decks were
clear and we could act as we should
az the present time. The international
organization has laid down policy
which we cannot get away from
Anthracite mine operators are reap
ing harvest of more than $16,OO0,00O
a year in profits" Mr.. Golden declared.
His deductions, he said, had been bas-
ed on figures presented by the Operat-
ors in the wage conferences In New
York.
Figures read to the delegates by Mr..
Golden showed that the payroll for
the anthracite field for 1919 totaled
1921 ,291, 079.41, the labor cost per Ton
being S331 The total increase in the
cost of production to cover proposed
wage increases of 20 and 17.S per cent
he added, would total $32, 1884, 1864
The operators, the speaker asserted,
had increased their revenue to $4S,-
991, 572 by boosting the price Of coal
81 per ton for domestic sizes, thus
reaping a profit of S16,656,575.6O in a
year on anthracite fuel The latter
figure was arrived at by deducting the
labor cost from the total revenue Of
the companies.