i STEAM COAL - Clpdigital.org

we fear at the present basis of wages we have
is, that we will losea great deal more of this tonnage.
Last year the tonnage of this region was
kept up in a rather false, uncertain way by people
who shipped coal to tidewater and were compelled
to sell it at much less than cost. Some
of them didn't get much more than freight out of
it, because it was there on demurrage. That
would not occur again and could not. The men
who did it could not afford to do that kind of
business. Therefore, we fear we are going to
lose more tonnage in this field than we did last
year; that under the present scale of wages we
can't secure a return of the business we now have
lost, but that we would lose more tonnage than
we lost last year.
"Now these are facts, gentlemen, and we wanted
you simply to understand them as they appeal to
us. You cannot afford to look lightly at them,
neither can we. We don't want to come here and
make a mountain of them to force you to take
less than you ought to take for your labor. That
is not our purpose. We simply want to come
here and confer with you about it and have you
understand the situation as we do and let us do
the best we can under the circumstances to get
a full return for our work and
To GET THE WORK
for this region and keep up our volume of trade.
'Ihat is our proposition. There is much more
can be said about it. I do not want to occupy
all this time. I am only one of many who are
interested in it. I have the interest of the district
at heart, just as much as any of the rest
of you. I recognize that if business is not prosperous
in the Central Pennsylvania field it affects
all conditions and nearly all other business interests
to a large degree. Nearly everything in
the way of prosperity in this district, described
by you as representatives here, is dependent upon
the coal industry- If we can make that prosperous,
if we can keep that tonnage up, if we can
give you labor continuously during the year at
a fair wage, we think it would be better to do
that than to have the region idle for a large
period of the year and you earning nothing.
Now, that is the large part of our story. There
is much more of it that I probably don't think
of just now to appeal to you with or to have you
understand, but I want you to understand this
much of it at least as it appeals to me, and let us,
if we cannot agree here, when we go back to our
conference to take up this matter in the scale committee
room, we will go at least with the knowledge
of the fact that you know of some of the
conditions upon our side. I thank you one and
all for your kind attention. I know you are
interested in this matter. I know that you
know that I am here honestly stating a proposi­
THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. 37
tion that I think is right. Down in your hearts
you must appreciate that we are not here to be
bearers of false news or false testimony, we
are here
To Do WHAT IS BEST FOR ALL
concerned and we want you to join with us in
helping to accomplish it."
After a general discussion the conference adjourned
until March 22, upon which date the
scale committee meetings brought out some compromise
offers. At the afternoon session the
miners offered to waive their demand for a wage
increase if the operators would consider a proposition
for the equalization of turns, sub-district
conferences to name specific prices for deadwork,
and a broader check-off system as provided in
the miners' original proposition. In other words,
it was asked that the operators take into consideration
the proposition of the miners as given
in clauses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 in the miners' proposed
scale. This was voted down by the operators
who in turn offered a ten per cent, horizontal
reduction on the present scale prices, to rule
for six months from the first of April, after
which, if the state legislature does not pass the
tax bill or if it does not become a law, the present
scale to rule till the first of April, 1906. The
miners refused this and offered in its stead to
accept the existing scale in its entirety. The
miners subsequently submitted the operators'
proposition to their convention by which it was
rejected.
A considerable part of this day's sessions was
devoted to the discussion of the coal tax measure
introduced in the legislature. It was ultimately
agreed that it would be inadvisable to make a
scale until a disposition of the tax bill had been
made. A resolution protesting against the passage
of the bill was adopted and a committee composed
of Mr. Kerr, for the operators and W. B.
Wilson and District President Patrick Gilday for
the miners, was appointed to go to Harrisburg
and appear against the measure at the hearing
before the ways and means committee on March
27. On March 23 an adjournment was accordingly
taken until March 29.
After a final effort on March 29 to reach an
agreement, neither side having any new proposition
to offer, the conference was again adjourned.
The operators at the conference then called a meeting
of all the operators in the district to be held
in Philadelphia to-day, to discuss the situation.
Tne miners' re-opened their convention which instructed
its scale committee to concede nothing
beyond its final proposition in the conference, after
which it adjourned finally. The scale committee
afterward held a meeting at which the following
resolution was passed:
Whereas, we have learned that this district will