OCR Text |
Show mm push lljl! Ill ; Coal Company President j Sees Further Advance in Wilson's Wage Proposal. Last Vestiges of Restrictions ! on Fuel Resulting From ! the Coal Strike Removed. j j WASHINGTON. Dee. K.The senate ' coal investigation committee, resuming its inquiry into the administration t-trike self lenient agreement, was told by Tracy W. Guthrie, president of the Hlilmau Coal & Coke company, that one clause In the proposition advanc-d by President Wilson Wil-son and accepted by the miners, would "bring about an increase in the miners' wages at leaat doubling the 14 per cunt which Ir. H. A. Garfield, resigned fuel administrator, thought justified." Widle the senate committee was pursuing pur-suing its Inquiry, the railroad administration adminis-tration withdrew the last semblance of ' the restrictions on fuel resulting from the I strike, and began delKering e-ml to the original consignees instead of distributing it to points of greatest need. It rt-scinded the embargo on the movement of fuel oil out of the wfst, and the orders reducing the amount of coal permit ltd to go to coking ovens. At the Whit ; Housft today it ups said that Prtsideiit Wilson would not appoint ap-point the commission provided in the strike proposal until Attorney General Palmar returns from the west late this week. Inquiry Reopened. The senatorial inquiry was reopened with the calling of K. V. Norrio, engineer engi-neer for the fuel administration, who was conducted by Senr-ior Fre:tnghu sen. Republican, Re-publican, New Jersey, chairman of the commit tee, and S na tor Towns-md, Republican, Re-publican, Michigan, through a maze of statistics bearing on Id bur costs and prices o; necessities. "Secretary of Lab r "W iUon proposed that the miners he given an increase of 31. 7 per cent." Mr. Norris explained, "because he based his calculations ou j the pay paid pick tnbn rs. In P.'IT, when thecal mine Wages were read-! read-! ju.-te,!, the pick minr were getting the j greatest amount, and the scab s were bal-'aiu-ed up by g'.ving them a lessor increase than oth'T classes of labor around the 1 mine.--. This w;is i.ertss.iry In order to induce in-duce men to do the other work. "I.ir. Carfield derided thai a particular wage group ought not to serve now as a basis for calculations, and took the average aver-age wage of all workers. After arriving at thai, he found tnat an addition of 4 per cent to their earnings would compensate compen-sate them for the eo-d f living since the last ail just n lent s were made. " Chairman Frelinghuyson asked If the witness approved of the crea tiou of a commission composed of one mirer. one mine operator and one representative of the public, with pow cr to fix wages and , prices. "That would depend on the make-up of the commission," Norris returned, "but it think ai least a larger number ought ' to be named. It givei two interests a I chance to combine against the third." Mr. Gmherte was ct!led to present actual facts from pay rolls upon wages. One Fifth Miners Idle. "About -'J per cent of miners ar idle all the time, according to our experience (Continued on Page 2, Column 1.) SM15 POSH HE W 01 Last Vestiges of Restrictions Restric-tions Due to Strike Removed. (Continued From Pago Ono.) wuU t -.v-iM y-i lire; m:iP-.i," ho told the ' - ;nniii f L-i, we have to have i-') ii;tiiM-:j on (.;. payroll in order to K'.'t ru'-fi ijit Urn J.,h uh a cm.-t.ant factor. .M r.w.s ,;.;r. to c.-h.-at e it II A:nor'Y:an in.l.'l.'i ', H Si I-,t ,;' J'irf- fl OlhrM. Thf;!i '.-.v hav 'Mif'-n-!!' iJ !,' - n Af.ril I, in h"i..r oj- rl,.-. .!-; Xhui Mii.-h..:.!. ': v ha w: 'U.ihhil. rl.i ...' Nowmu-T In, v.'ho.i t-vM t.-.uy ;i .tjotir;!..; to :-). ,.,f :t r;i!i!.ir." I'lWil Uliln'' IhT'i'Jhls, jit- rr;n Hit- fu-'i ( ,n- in iii- r who. :ii J m 7 d.iys of tho ff.-icol y(-;ir, i-;irm:d 5-''70, or an of Slfj.fji) p.-r fl;iy. H.j paid JTli I'- o t f'ir a "company hoi.sc" duniit,' t ho pci-. oil, and his fuel MM was Other v-i,rii I'urnihhr-.l .showed earnings during dur-ing tin) firnt nine months of DID ranln from 1 -1ju to fur pick and machine lIlilM'CH, S.-nator W;ilro( t, democrat, of Maryland, Mary-land, drrw o it .Mr. Omhiie'H view of tho Hairm-d douhlo inrrfa.se in miners' waes I o vlvfd In t ho pot t lament by ohservlnff tliat lr. t iarr'irld'H proposal was tho same as fluit nit. I'fM'tii by the president. "An n-ad the memorandum Kiven out hy Attorney fhmerai Palmer," Mr. Guth-i'io Guth-i'io replied, "it is proposed to set up a romnii.s.-don with power to fix wage m-ah-s and r-ial prices. One of the thing's thin commission is to do x to o back to the mi no d ;st nets and pet tic what are Kn mi) ;m Internal differences and disputes dis-putes over differentials. All previous ;i (.'icenicut h lift ween I he m I tiers and t ho i. peril 1 1 1 i h havH provider! I hat these dif -1 'e reiir i s shall be compromised in a fashion that will not arid to the cost of mining fu lower the earnings of men. Tint piiverumerH's proposal, as I view it, may result In twice, the 1-1 per cent increase in-crease in miners' waes and mining costs tha t I r. lartield was willing to allow." : Senator Waloott inquired as to whether! nn actual set i lenient of the coal strike had yet been attained. "You, as an operator, don't you think I you ore bound by an agreement made ut It id in na polis?" the semi tor asked. "So, I don't," Guthrie replied. "That's right," Senator Walcott said. "There has been no acceptance of the agreement here. Nor is there any power in the government to set up a commission commis-sion whieh will fix wages and juices of coal. It can lie merely advisory." Chair m;i n l-Yehnghuysen, after adjournment. ad-journment. Paid there would bo more hearings, but did not fix a date for them. |