The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-07-18
OPERATORS OFFER
 TO PUT PROPERTY
 IN FEDERAL HANDS
(Continued From Page one)

(Continued From Page one) | In the conference in subscribing to the general principles of arbitration and collective bargaining. Statement to Operators
 President Harding's statement to
 the operators was as follows: "Gentlemen:
 q have your decision. I would not be frank if 1 did not confess a dis appointment of your lack of unan- imity. To the large majority of you who have pledged readiness to re- sume activity under the govern ment's proposal, I must express my own and the public's gratitude We have now reached a point, owing to the refusal of mine work CTS and the minority of your op- orators to accept the proposed aro!- tration where the good offices of the government in seeking a voluntary adjustment of the dispute betweea I mine operators and mine workers arc without avail.
 T cannot permit you to depart without reminding you that coal Is national necessity. the ample
 supply of which is essential likewise to common welfare and interstate commerce.. The freedom of action on the part of workers and on the part of employers does not measure in importance with that of public wei fare and national security. l, there fore, invite you to return to your mine properties and resume opera tions."
 In the district actions referred to. | the delegates Of employers from the | e l~w. l west of the Mississippi and the l Plttsburg vein operated and other
 Associations of Ohio. voted for ac- cepttance of the President arbi- tration plan.
 Refuse Plan.
 Indiana state associations stood out against the plan, On the ground that no arbitration commission should have representation of partisans- on | 1t. either miners or mine operators. The Pittsburg Producers Associa- tion in Pennsylvania and the asso- ! ciation in central Pennsylvania operating unionized mines with same
 support from ohio districts, pre-
 sented memorials which were rejec-
 tions of the Presidents plans. l Payment of the wage scale exist
 ing April 1. last. and the contin4 uance of the check off" system of collecting union dues while arbitra-
 ton was in progress. were points raised by the minority. One or two operators in central Pennsylvania, Thomas H. Watkins, of the Penn sylvania Coke and Coal corporation, a large producer being among the number, withdrew from their asso- e.ation because of their insistence that arbitration should be accom- plished unQualifiedly.
 All minority spokesmen offered to accept arbitration on district basis. Harding Sees Ogle President Harding saw Chairman Ogis and William Fields. the latter representing the Pittsburg associa- ton, prior to the final decision and Secretary Hoover and Mellon attend ed tho conference. The operators mot again after tho final White House interview to discuss their fu- ture course.
 Secretary Weeks went to the Sem ate late in the day while the opera tors were still in session and dis cussed with senators from coal states the situation and the possible steps which might be taken by the gov
 ernment in the emergency. More than a score of operators association delegates and large number of individual employers sign ed the majority report which H. N. Taylor, president of the Southwest Operators association. presented to the President and asserted that they spoke for associations producing in 1911 somewhere near 90 per cent of the bituminous coal which was GOV cred by collective bargaining with nf rnariNa We accept your proposal of July 10, with reservation and qualifica- tion," the letter continued. While making this unreserved acceptance we think that we should point out some of our difficulties in accept ance."
 Break Down Machinery One difficulty, 1t was explained, was the breaking down of old ma chinery for making wage scales based on the central competitive field"
 Another mentioned was the pro- posaI that during arbitration the old union wage scale be continued. this scale being classed as far above the wage levels of the country and far above our competitors in the non- union fields"
 However, it was added, that I've and tho public at large could afford to make this sacrifice insyour effort to secure the return of the men to work, even though 1t did lean en- tirely to the side of the miners rath- CT than to that of equity and gen eral public interest"
 The operators would welcome an exhaustive inquiry into the function inr of tho industry the letter con cIuded, and likewise approved pro DC sals to separate the arbitration of bituminous wage scales from the ar bitration of scales and conditions in the anthracite region. Operators met again tonight to re- cAiyA q report on the White HouSA