Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-10
COAL CONFERENCE
WILL MEET TODAY
Sabbath Session Breaks
Long Precedent in Wage
Negotiations.

NEW YORK. January 9.-Unable
| to break the deadlock that has grip
! ped the anthracite miners and oper-
ators for six months In their attempt
| to draft a new wage contract, the
| joint conference win hold another
session Sunday afternoon.
This Unprecedented action of meet
! ing on the Sabbath was taken today
when each side found the other i'm
movable.
Never before in the long history Of
hard coal wage conferences has
, meeting been held on Sunday. Meth
I; or side Is willing to take the re
| spongibility of asking adjournment
! over day, partly because OF public
opinion and partly because OF the
great desire to end the strike, now In
| its fifth month, without undue delay.
There was no hesitancy to meet on.
Sunday when the matter OF adjourn
! ment came up. some one stating that
the better the day. the better the deed.
Short Session Held
! The conference was In session more
than three hours, the shortest since
| the two sides came together on DE-
| cember % through the initial instrl-
mentality Of Gov. Pinchot. Al the
| conclusion of the meeting the fol
! lowing statement was issued:
! The conference spent t.Ic AFTERNOON
/ in discussion AZ committee OF The
| whole and in separate caucuses of fhe
| operators and miners. Various mbdi-
| tications OF plans before the confer
ence We're discussed The deadlock
continued, the operators maintaining
! their stand for arbitration and the
miners opposing II in any form"
The statement that the conferees
| held separate caucuSes was hopeful
sign TO some observers, for there
would be no need to retire from the
conference room for private Discus
sion II one side or the other fatty re-
jected any notifications OF peace
plans Caucuses are held only when
there is proposition before the con
ferees which has the possibilities Of
acceptance.
Strict Secrecy Revealed.
The specific notifications discussed
were not revealed. the strictest Sc
crecy, which Is tightening up. sur
rounding the discussions
II Is known. however, that the mod
ifications revolve around some fea-
lures of the plan proposed by Alvan
Markle. chairman OF the joint confer
enCe, and the peace proposal sponsor
ed by Gov. Pinchot.
When the operators notifications
are submitted to the miners they re-
ject them because they contain arbi-
tration or some plan which the miners
look upon as the same thing. On the
other hand, when the miners propose
some scheme of mediation that might
appear to contain something hopeful.
the operators refuse to take II be-
cause it provides for contract with
definite terms over period of years.
Suggest Cancellation Board.
One proposed modification. said 10
have been suggested by the miners,
would create body along the lines Of
the anthracite Cancellation board es.
tablished by the Roosevelt commission
in 1908
This board would have an equal
number of operators and miners. In
the event an agreement could not be
reached the disputed subjects would
be left TO some person in whom both
sides have confidence.
This modification, ii was said. con
tanned the miners proposition that the
wage scale be fixed for a term of
years. without any right Of either
party to call a conference TO modify II.
The operators have opposed this all
along and point TO the Jacksonville
agreement as an instance in which
the bituminouS miners and operators
have tied themselves up In pact that
cannot be changed except by mutual
consent. The operators argue that
they do not wish to contract a fixed
wage scale that does not take into
consideration changing economic con
-ditions.
Z The ingenuity OF the best minds on
both sides is said to have been vir-
tually exhausted in the effort to find
a common ground. In addition to the
plans under consideration. the con
ferees have received many other
schemes from outside persons and or
CARNATIONS designed to end the strike.
one Of the plans was submitted by
an individual who turned up at the
Democratic national convention in
Madison Square Garden and made
public a scheme to break the deadlock
in the balloting. He is not associated
with the coal industry in any way
The largest walnut orchard in Cali.