twenty per cent advance on all contract mining; No. 6, that all company or day men receive the same pay for eight hours as is paid now for ten hours. This caused a lengthy discussion, F. P. Mott, delegate from the Springs, taking the stand that the various unions in £1 Paso County had already presented their yearly agreement to the operators of that place for their ratification, and that they had until October ist to sign up, and that this scale would abrogate the El Paso miners' contract, and would place them in the position of repudiating their own contract, but he was finally convinced that the 15th District was larger than El Paso County, and that legislation at a district convention took priority over any local or sub district contracts or legislation. Then John Gehr took a stand in opposition to the scale, saying the operators would never agree to it, as it was asking entirely too much, and would surely cause a strike if we tried to enforce it. He was opposed by all the delegates, except Jim Ritchie, with the argument that it was not too much to ask, and they did not care if it did cause a strike, as they practically had the assurance that the National Board would endorse it and support them in case of a strike. Gehr then said he as National Board member, and the proper one to place said demand before the National Board, would not carry such a demand before said board, as he did not consider it a fair demand, or entitled to the consideration of the National Board, and did not think we stood one chance in 100 in enforcing such a demand, even by striking, and he did not favor a strike anyway until we were more thoroughly organised. The fact was pointed out to him by
The Pinkerton Labor Spy. 159
Kennedy and others that we could not continue the organization under the tyrannical methods employed by the operators at all the camps in the South, and that he was a servant of District No. 15, and would have to carry out the demands of District No. 15, or cease to work for District No. 15, but if he would not carry the demands of District No. 15 before the National, that Con Kelleher would. Kelleher had already signified his