The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-23
Striking Miner Receiued
 $3,631. 57WagesLast Year
Corona Coal Companys Output Averages About 5000 Tons Per Week-Company Insists Running Their Own Property and Are Strongly
 Fortified in Their Cause

, pick and machine, be increased by "A cents; that rates for all yardage. dead work, narrow work, and room turning be advanced 20 per cent; and that the compensation of day men also be ad- vanced 70 per cent All these advances to apply to the rates prevailing on Oc- 1 tober 31, 1919."
 Ike above rates will be in effect at the | companys mines on and after April l, l 1920.
 l One of the most unfortunate phases of 1 the situation here is the loss of income | by the striking miners. Some of them
 have been receiving for their labor most | liberal reward To illustrate: The books 1 ofsthe company show some of the net in comes by miners for the year 1919 as fol- l lows: Joseph Thomas. white $3.6Si .51; Jchn Jones, white. $2.o7S. 20; Lee Whitson, I colored. $4. .7o2. .95-salaries far in excess of many of the most skilled mechanics in other trades, of many professional men and of educated and trained clerical forces.
 Mine No. F of this company right here a. Corona is the center of discontent and attack At Coal Valley conditions are
 almost normal, and it is confidently ex- pected that there will soon be full re- sumption there.
 ] The committee of strikers told me that there was no discontent as to weights s | ana that the nllncNS were dltOWtu lhch own check weighman on the tipples to see that their coal is properly weighed and accredited to them; that explosives were 1 furnished the miners at cost and that living conditions at the camp were good. l These mines have been a source of sup | ply for much of the domestic coal de- mand for Birmingham and other cities.
 and they occupy most important position as steam coal producers for the railroads Afh industrial enfarnriSeG of this and other states. The temporary sus- pension here is regretable on this ac- count, as well as for the reason that so many men have thrown themselves out
 of profitable employment.
 PAID AGITATORS | The paid agitators in this partial dis
 ruption, at home and abroad, must know that they are receiving money from the miners in a hopeless warfare-a fight which they know they cannot win. ano | they know they are misleading the of ficials of the United Mine Workers at !, Indianapolis with the vain promise that retaining fees from tht exchequer is the one thing necessary to overcome the strong fortress occupied by the Alabama coal operators
 | An investigation by personal and close | observation by the national executive heads will soon convince them that these | walls are impenetrable, and that financial support of the disaffected here is money thrown away; that a 10 per cent disaffec- | tion is a slender string on which to tie. 1 The Corona Coal Company and 90 pei
 cent of all the coal companies in Alabama I have expressed determination never tc recognize the miners union, and this the public must know. The companies are strongly fortified by the righteousness oi their cause, and are strongly able tc | withstand the pressure of suspension, te fight for their property rights on high
 social, moral and legal grounds. anc will never yield to the dictates of the United Mine Workers of America ano heir paid agitators.
 NEVER TO YIELD
 The United States Steel Corporation CT IC. & I. R. R. Co), the Republic Iron ant Steel Company. the Gulf States Stee ICcmpany, the Sloss-Sheffield Steel anc Iron Company, the Empire, the Prat Consolidated and others of like strength and determination will never yield in thi: contest, preferring to close down than tt become subservient to the edict. of the
 union. The great United States Stee Corporation and the Republic Iron anc Steel Company in Pennsylvania, Wes' Virginia and Illinois, as we'll as in Ala | bama has never yielded to the demand l for closed shop in any state, and it is ] folly to suppose this company will change | it's policy here where the union spirit is | weak
 1 Alabama has been and intends to con l tinue to be immune from the effects ot that spirit of lawlessness engendered by l strikes which so seriously affect the i more populous states north of us, wher;
 disorder riots and murder too often re- | suit from labor strikes
 l It is estimated that the normal force ] of miners in Alabama is almost 25,OO0 men
 Of these only about 2,5OO, or 10 per cent
 are out on this strike, the remaining 9C