The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-06-20

mentioned III your last weeks issue that
the men of this place did not feel satisfied
with the conditions set forth in the new
contract presented to them by their EN-
ployers. They have now come to the con-
clusion that they will not accept the terms
offered them. Mr. Siney has beeI- amongst
us for week trying to effect compromise
between the men and the bosses, but with
out avail. They refuse to submit to arbi
tratlon-they refuse to compromise In any
manner whatever. Nothing but total sub
mission to their terms will be allowed OF
tolerated by the bosses. Consequently the
men have decided not to accept Of them,
and yesterday declared themselves on
strike The vote taken was by ballot, and
every man had the opportunity of using
his own free will without his fellow man
knowing in what direction he voted. The
result Of the vote showed the determine
ton Of the men, as the vote was almost
unanimous. The meeting was well attend
ed, and good order prevailed throughout
the entire day. After the voting was over
and the result made known to the men,
Mr.. Siney made an eloquent speech, last
ing for an hour, IN which he advocated
unity, harmony and determination among
the men He advised them to keep shout
der to shoulder together throughout the
struggle till they had fought the battle to
q successful issue. There is now an oppor-
tunity offered to the men Of Streator,
Oglesby, LaSalle, and all other places in
the State Of Illinois to suspend work, and
make the cause Of the men Of Braidwood
their cause, and stop the capitalist from
making any further inroads ON the mining
class of this State. The capitalists and,
bosses of the coal trade tell us that the
market is glutted, and in consequence Of
this they have to reduce the miner to he
able to lind place in the market If the
men Of Illinois would only look at this
question fairly and squarely, and suspend
work until our labor. and the product Of
our labor was sought after, they could soon
command fair days wages for fair day $
work. But on the other hand, If they keep
running their product into an ALREADY over
burdened market, they will be constantly
reduced in price till they will not be able
to make living. and then they will be in
worse position to resist the aggressions
Of their arch enemy, the bosses, than they
are at present.
Now is the time. The weather is good,
and our product is not in great demand at
present and il we would only rest until
the cold weather comes IN and our labor
and ourselves sought after, then our EN-
ployers would have no reasonable excuse
for giving us a fair price for our labor.
Their mode of oppression Is crushing Ill
detail, crushing one set Of men while the
others are working, and then crushing
those that helped them to crush the others.
We know there are men in every dis
trict in the State that can see the mode of
warfare that the bosses are now engaged
in, and Braidwood is willing to furnish
their quota of men to organize the State for
their own protection, and produce feel
ing of harmony and good understanding
that will forever wipe out the damnable
practice Of starving in detail.
Correspondence on this question is SO
licited Address box 14l, Brsidwood,
Will Co., Ill.
BRAIDwooD, Ills, June 10.
To the Editor of the woRKNGsAS's ADVOCATE.
On the 9th instant we held large and
enthusiastic meeting in the school grounds.
Between six and seven hundred miners,
large number Of our merchants and other
citizens were present. The meeting on
being called to order, Mr.. John Young
was chosen to preside. On taking the
stand, he stated the object of the meeting,
which was to decide by ballot whether we
should 90 to work on the company's terms,
or resist until they come 10 more reasona-
BILE terms.
The delegation that was sent to Streator
being present, stated that the men there
were in favor of remaining at work, and
that the men Of Braidwood must not look
to the men Of that place for any help what
ever but if they decided to come out
they must be prepared to fight the compa-
MES single handed. This was stated so
that the men here could see their true po-
sition.
After these remarks, the vote was taken
with the following result: for work, S3
against work and for strike, 553. After
the men had gathered together, and the
result was made known, Mr.. Siney adj
dressed them in few words, in which he
advocated peace and unity amongst the
miners he hoped they would persevere
till they had fought the battle 70 success
full issue. He said he would aid them all
that lay in his power in trying to maintain
their position.
Previous to this, the company had
brought to this place about nineteen or
twenty police to guard their property, and
they we're marched through the city with
muskets and rifles over their shoulders,
but our mayor put stop to it, as he
thought it might create disturbance.
On the 10th inst, ~ men of a commit
tee was chosen by the miners from amongst
themselves, and gave their names to the
mayor, to be at his service at any time to
act as special police to protect the citizens
from any molestation Of the scallawags
that the company might bring here. All
il quiet. On the 18th, reports were circu- |
lated that the company intended to bring |
in blacklegs. The mayor, for fear that !