i STEAM COAL - Clpdigital.org

26 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
sion of a Western delegate who charged Mitchell
with having "sold out" the Colorado strikers.
Many new demands on employers were formulated
in resolutions and a firm stand was taken on the
liquor question by closing the organization against
all persons identified in any way with the sale
of intoxicating liquor. President Mitchell, as a result
of his investigations while abroad last year,
strongly advised the establishment of co-operative
stores in mining communities. The following are
the substantial features of
PKESIDENT MITCHELL'S REPORT:
I do not believe that any observant person who
is familiar with the industrial conditions that
have prevailed during the past year, will undertake
to say that the settlement made last March
was not the very best obtainable under the circumstances,
and that our union is not in a far better
condition now than it would be had a strike been
inaugurated.
Except for the year of the anthracite strike, this
is the first time that I have been unable to report
any material growth in the membership of the
organization. As will be observed from the
tables herein submitted, our average membership
for the year ending December 31, 1904, shows an
increase of less than 4,000 over the preceding year,
while the membership for the month of December,
1904—based upon the tax received for that month
—shows a decrease of about 25.000 members.
For the year 1897 the average paid-up membership
was 9,731.
For 1898 it was 32,902, an increase of 23,171
For 1S99 it was 61,887. an increase of 28,985
For 1900 it was 115,521, an increase of 53,634
For 1901 it was 198,024. an increase of 82,503
For 1902 it was 175,367. a decrease of 22,657
For 1903 it was 247,240, an increase of 71,873
For 1904 it was 251,006, an increase of 3,766
Taking the capitation tax received in the month
of December each year as a basis of computation,
our records show that for December, 1898. the
membership was 54,700; for December, 1899. it
was 91.000. an increase of 36.300; for December,
1900, it was 189,329, an increase of 9S.329; for
December, 1901. it was 232,289, an increase of
42,960; for December, 1902. it was 198,090, a decrease
of 34,199; for December, 1903, it was 287,-
545, an increase of 89,455; for December, 1904, it
was 262,645. a decrease of 24,900.
The heavy falling off in membership for the
month of December, 1904. is accounted for by the
fact that from twenty to twenty-five thousand
members were on strike and exonerated from the
payment of dues. As indicated in the following
table showing the
FLUCTUATION IN MEMBERSHIP
by districts, the greatest loss sustained is in the
Eastern bituminous and anthracite fields:
District In- De-
No. 1903. 1904. crease, crease.
1 35,271 23,109 12.162
2 30,168 17.926 12,242
5 21,595 23,844 2,249
6 38,342 40.566 2,224
7 4,787 3,852 935
8 3,140 2,453 687
9 16.276 14,932 1,344
10 972 972
11 12.512 13.505 992
12 48,056 49.861 1,805
13 9,788 16,752 6,963
14 9,956 9,802 154
15 537 947 410
16 2,290 112 2,178
17 9,601 6,210 3,391
18 3,293 1,077 2.210
19 5,274 3,063 2,211
20 10,508 3,168 7,340
21 9,527 11,492 1,965
22 2,125 1,767 357
23 3,624 2,571 1,053
24 2.765 3,756 990
25 7,802 10,665 2,863
No district.... 245 100 145
Individual local
unions 57 140 S3
Totals 287,539 262,645 21,516 46.415
Total decrease, 24.900.
In considering this portion of my report, it
would be well to keep in mind the industrial conditions
which prevailed during the year 1904. At
no time since 1897 has work been so irregular and
the coal trade so demoralized. Many mines in
the Eastern States were closed down, throwing
thousands of our members out of employment,
and as a consequence of these conditions, the receipts
for capitation tax declined. I feel quite
confident that our organization has suffered
No PERMANENT Loss
in strength or influence and that with the revival
of business and industrial activity we shall, in
the near future, regain this apparent loss and
surpass our former strength.
It is a source of keen regret and disappointment
that I am compelled to report a loss of membership
in the anthracite region and an apparent
lack of interest on the part of the mine workers
in that field. What reasons there can be for this
seeming indifference. I am unable to conceive. It
certainly cannot be attributed to any failure on