The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-03-26

lly Tho Associated IrHH
INDIANAPOLIS. rd. March 25.
Back ot tho impending coal strike
lies the is8u, whether the present
form OF collective bargaining the
negotiations that iak, place between
employers and employees acting In
groups ON wage routruvt--Hhpll
survive the coal industry Tho pros
cut form has developed during tho
last four dcpudcH.
As 1t exists In tho soft coal u-
duslry collective bargaining began
In 1853, that year marking the first
Interstate Joint conference OF tho Or
ganiacd miners aud their employers.
In tho anthracite regions Of pcnnsyl-
vania, II grew out OF the great strike
OF 1909 which was settled by COM
mission, named by Theodore Roosc-
Welt then president
\ New situation.
But today, especially Ia the soft
coal fields, the Joint movement ot
operators ana miners, such being the
trade reference TO the collective
bargaining System, faces an un'
proccdentgd situation. No interstate
wage conference seems probable bu-
cause OF the refusal OF some OPP
orators To continue the present sya-
tom. both criminal Rud Civil proc
coedinRs In tho federal court here
attack the legality of the whole
bargaining movement alleging that
IL II "a conspiracy 10 boost the price
~ coal: for the first time. agree.
monta IN both the bltumlu2ua and
anthracite folds expire on the same
date March 81
Long before the present bargain
Ing system was adopted, local agree
menta had been made between on
orators and their employees, tho first
having been that negotiated In 1863
betwoon some anthracite miners and
operators by John Slnoy. known as
the father of the minCrss movement
/ In America, But these ngreomentH--
when they were made IN the early
| dnyH--Only affected small areas, ana
I did not touch the thousands OF min
| ers as do those of today.
The circular, issued Jointly by
1 miners ana operators for heir 1885
conference. gave this description ol
the proposal;
"This Ia the first movement .pr Z
national character IN America, takci
with the intention of the establish
mcnt OF labor Cancellation.
The First I,eai Agreement.
From the conference resulted All
! agreement executed al Columbus
| ohio, February 30. 1855, which
1 fixed n wago scale In the soft coal
fields OF western Pennsylvania, ohio,
Indiana. Illinois ana west Virginia.
ana created n board Of arbitration,
on which the miners, ana operators
had equal representation. similar
agreements were made annually un-
tll 1895 when the panic or 1893, hav-
Ing set in, dcmorallzcd the coal
fields, and broke Off negotiations
down 10 tho present
The Initiative In the Joint move
ment was taken by the miners. Their
convention, at indianapolis, decided
10 Issue call To all operators for a
joint meeting on October 10, 1855,
at Chicago, Daniel Mclaughlin OF
Illinois. chairman ~ the convention,
was tho father or the plan. lie first
proposed II In n letter TO tho Ma
tiOnal Labor Tribune In 1885, and
later brought II 10 the attention Of
the miners delegate convention. As
result the convention directed
Chris Evans OF New straitHyiilo.
Ohio. now historian of the United
Mine Workers OF America, 10 invite
all operators TO Chicago for a con-
ference for the purpose OF adjusting
market and mining prices In such
way na TO avoid strikes and lock-
outs and give to each party an IN
creased profit from tho sale OF
coal"
The proposal 80 made was, accord
Ing 10 the old miners, ike asking tho
lion and the tiger 10 lie down to-
Bether for the coal industry preW
ously had been rcplete with many
strikes or lockouts. In 1854, the
great Ohio Hooking Valley strike
had occurred, continuing untn the
early part Of 1885, when finally set
tied, leaving both sides suffering
from battle scars.
One Operator Accepted.
Only one operator, w. y. Rend oI
Chicago, owner of mines ln the
/ Hooking valley. answered the invita-
/ tion by appearing for tho Chicago
/ meeting, and but for his presence
| the entire plan probably would have
| been dropped. A. his suggestion. nU
| invitation was issued 20 chicago Opr
orators 10 attend meeting with tho
miners the next day EIEht operators
attended ana agreed with the miners
| 10 cali "a meeting az Pittsburgh.
/ There. ~ operators met with 10
miners representatives. but were not
ready 10 act ON any scale though
| they favored the joint movement.
[ Tho Pittsburgh conference deferred
consideration Of scale 10 a meeting
/ held at columbus, February 20,
| 1885. when the agreement wis cA-
ecuted.
since tho beginning of the inter