The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-02-10
IS ALREADY OVER
 F LABOR LEADERS
 WILL ADMIT FACT.
Declares Further ParIeys Use- less and State Without Law to Force Either
 Party to Yield

Montgomery, February 9.-- Special .)-In a statement is-
 sued today, Governor Thomas
 E. Kilby calls upon the people lof Alabama to speak "in plain positive and unmistakable terms" on the coal strike situa-
 ton, which he describes as "in- ltolerable" and costing the tax
 payers of Alabama S100,000 a month.
 | The governor says that he can see
 "only two possible immediate remedies for the existing situation and unfor-
 tunately there is no law on the statute
 books to force adoption of either plan.7 THE REMEDIES .Thc only force that cnn be
 used. continues the statement, 'is the force of public opinion,
 publicly and plainly. but lawfully
 exprcssed.r The two remedies
 suggested by the governor nre: l.. Recognition, direct or indirect. of the United sIine Workers of America by the coal operators. 2. Publication of statement , by the Alabama labor leaders nnd their attorneys ''that they will no longer counsel the violation of the
 laws of Alabama through picket ing ma otherwise and that aIl workers would he allowed to pur- sue their vocation without intimf- | dation or molcNtation, followed by ! the immediate withdrawal from | Alabama of the leaders of the | United Mine Workers of America 1 and other labor agitators from
 other stntes..
 | Elaborating on the first proposal. the 1 governor says that direct recognition would mean making of contracts by and tween the operators and the offi- i cers ASs't the mine workers, to control | the condition of mine labor. Indirect recognition would be the making of contracts between the operators and
 workmen in their mines, which would
 be accepted by the union as satisfac- | tory to the organization.
 FARLEY IS USELESS I If the second proposal is. compiled !! with the governor xayss .sttch action on the part of labor leaders and their lawyers would end the unhappy situa- l tion without an official declaration | from the United Mine Workers of America and permit the withdrawal of l the soldiers"
 l The governor says that he has been | in constant conference with union offi-
 cials and representatives of the coal 1 operators since the strike was called | September 2, last, and that all effort l looking toward a settlement of the controversy has been in vain. He says l that further effort to bring about
 agreement between the operators and the union would be time and effort | wasted and would prove utterly fu- 1 tile.
 l The governor says that he finds the ! only serious difference between tho
 operators and the miners is the ques- i ton of recognition of the union. This question caused the strike.
 | Governor Kilby'ss statement on the
 coal miners strike in the Alabama coal l fields, in full, Is as follows: THE STATEMENT ] T have recently been in communica- ton with representatives of the coal miners organization and the coal ops i orators in the state in an effort to bring about a settlement of their dif- ferences. No results were obtained. | The operators refused to consider any 1 proposals which would result in q rec l ognition of the United Mine Workers 1 of America, or any one representing or I speaking for that association. either directly or indirectly The operators claim that more coal Is now being pro- duced than was produced before the strike was called: that the production 1 is above normal that the supply of mine labor is in excess of the demand | for 1t, and that the places of the strik- ing miners have been taken by other
 miners whom the operators refuse to discharge to make room for the strike 1 CTS. & l Tt is fact that the state fuel ad- ministraton has been suspended, becauno 1 there is no demand for its services. l 1T believe any further effort to bring about an agreement between the operators and the United Mine Workers of America 1 would be time and effort wasted and would prove utterly futile In my cpin- ion, the strike is practically ats,sn end ard would be absolutely at an end Y !, the labor leaders would but recognize I the fact and declare it officially. WHY STATE TROOPS uraly arises, Why should the stAte troops be kept in the mining district at l an expense to the taxpayers of the stat4 1 of several thousand dollars per iay? II lis mainly for the purpose of answerin8 |that question that l am making thie statement. The answer is; The miners
 tcontinued on Page TwoD nIr AAYn- HAnI fnHH