Items of Interest January 16, 1904 Issue

Items of Interest

In the decision rendered by Umpire Carroll D. Wright in the dispute of the anthracite miners' Board of Conciliation regarding the Saturday "short-day" grievance of the Schuylkill Valley miners, it is ruled that the contention of the miners cannot be sustained and that both operators and miners have misinterpreted the strike committee's award on the "nine-hour-day matter." After the award of the coal strike commission, the companies all through the region established a nine-hour day with ten hours' pay. This gave an increase of 11 1-9 per cent in wages to the men paid by the day. The Schuylkill Valley men demanded that their Saturday short day should be decreased proprotionately with the other days, that they should receive the same wages for 52.2 hours per week as they had been receiving for 58 hours. The case went to the Conciliation Board, the Board disagreed, and Umpire Wright decided the dispute. Dealing with the question, the umpire says that the committee did not reduce the hours of company men from sixty to fifty-four, nor did they fix any number of hours or change any custom existing prior to the strike. Hence the umpire says the parties are left just where they were at the time of the strike—at perfect liberty to fix the hours by voluntary action.

Governor Carter of Honolulu and the heads of departments have decided to run the territorial administration during 1904 on about one-half of what the Legislature appropriated for the salaries and current expenses, in order to get the treasury out of debt. The appropriations are for more than the estimated income, and it is calculated that with the fifty per cent cut the Territory will still be in debt about a quarter of a million dollars at the end of the year.

The Supreme Court of the United States has decided that citizens of Porto Rico are not aliens of the United States, and that they are entitled to enter this country without obstruction. The opinion was delivered by Chief Justice Fuller in the case of the Porto Rican woman Gonzales, who, in 1902, was refused admission to the port of New York on the ground that she was likely to become a public charge.

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