The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-02-09

1T is a foregone conclusion that the
United Mine Workers of America will
resist any wage reduction either in the
anthracite or bituminous industry after
April 1.
IF existing contracts are not re-
newed thru joint negotiations. cessa-
ton of operations will of course ensue
after that date"
Government May Act.
Possibility of government interven-
ton was seen following the appeal of
district officers of the Pennsylvania
miners to President Harding. members
of congress and administration leaders,
asking: rs the Government helpless
to evolve any plan for meeting the
crucial emergency of the miners %
governmental investigation into labor
conditions in the coal fields of the
country.
Thus far there has not been the
slightest indication that the miners
will yield a single inch in their de-
mand for an American standard of
living Neither do the operators
show indications of yielding.
That the stage is all set for a strike
in the bituminous fields is the declara-
ton of Secretary of Commerce Herbert
Hoover and his frank prediction of a
walkout is echoed in other high quar-
/ tiers.
Cessation of operations in the an
| thracite fields also is forecast in other
! quarters. Miners in the convention
| just closed at Shamokin, Pa, formu-
! lated demands for a 20 per cent in
crease in wages for contract work and
! 81 a day increase for day laborers in
| the hard coal fields.
Comforting on these demands, an
| thracite producers have indicated that
they will not accede to the miners
program.
John L. Lewis, international presi-
| dent of the United Mine Workers, in
| his keynote speech before that con-
vention. declared there must be no
| backward step in the miners attitude
! toward reduced wages.
| when I say that we will take no
| backward step 1 say it with an appre-
| citation of what that policy means,
said Lewis. and if it requires an IN
dustrial conflict to avoid taking a
| backward step, then the Industrial
conflict may come"
The matter of anthracite workers
| paw is vet to be rehashed in joint wage
| conferences which at this stage, 1t IS
admitted lend little hope in advance
| for agreement.
question of pay for the soft coal min
ers is to come in for thoro airing at
a reconvened convention at Indianap-
| oils, February IA of delegates VINO
assembled here last fall.
Soft Coal Workers Want Boost.
1t is considered certain that the
union delegates will go on record at
the forthcoming convention as favor
ing an increase in wages and will set a
figure to be made the basis of nego-
tiations. This, as in the anthracite
field, still must run the gamut of
joint negotiations, and if the miners
and operators then fail to agree
walkout is considered inevitable.
Walkouts, if they come, will occur
simultaneously in the anthracite and
bituminous fields, 1t is pointed out,
and even tho there were no apparent
effort to bring co-ordinated pressure
upon the producers by the two armies
of idle workers, the effect would be
the same.
That the outlook is anything but
rosy is generally admitted. Only one
patch of Silver lining in the threaten
ing strike cloud was visible today
that is that the walkout, if it comes to
pass, will Cccur at a time when it will
cause little or no suffering to the
population of the country from want
of fuel.
Railroads end public utilities. it is
pointed out, will be hardest hit by a
cessation of mining operations. and in
dustries just now getting back to
semblance of normal operations will
suffer. Warning to railroads and util-
tiles to stock up with fuel has been is
niZance of the impending crisis.
lightning Strike" Recalled.
The situation now confronting the
country harks back to the lightning
swift strike of the winter of 1919,
when thru federal Intervention the
miners resumed work on the basis of
a 81 per cent increase in wages.
Following settlement of the 1919
strike by an award of the United
States coal commission, it was appar-
ent that the miners were not wholly
satisfied and a number of significant
utterances have been made by union
leaders since that time.
Only few weeks ago, in calling off
the scheduled preliminary interstate
wage conference at Pittsburgh be-
cause of refusal of a large section of
the operators to participate, Presi-
dent Lewis declared:
"In due time circumstances will
force such a meeting"
Wage Cuts VIII Be Resisted.
Lewis, in speeches, has frequently
declared that not only would the min
ers resist wage decreases but would
seek increases, and Philip Murray,
vice president of the international
union, at the convention in Indian
apolis last fall, declared:
with the traditional policies of our
great organization forever in mind,
am sure it is the purpose of the con-
vention to declare to the world that
we propose not only to hold what we
have got but to improve upon the
same upon the expiration of the pres
ent agreement"
And at that convention, too. some
local unions introduced resolutions
demanding wage increases amounting
in some instances to as much as go
per cent. Some of the more moderate
leaders, however deemed the time un-
propitious fer the formulation of new
wage demands and the whole question
was left for settlement at the forth
coming Indianapolis meeting.