The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-06-27
FROM onIe.
oEryslAsD. o.. Juns Do. 1874

To the Editor u tAs woRxnaAAgs AgFpcAsa
The miners OF Cubs, IN. ars on 3 strike
for their pay for the last month, which ia
past due. They say " the eompany's repu-
tation financially is not very high, and they
do mt feel like haying more than one
months wages in their hands at u time.
They desire all men TO stay away from
that place till the trouble is over y
The men at the mines in Danville, ILL.,,
have gone to work at the reduction offered
them two months ago, viz: 30 cents of the
ton They used to be paid 81 a ton for
digging; now they get 10 cents only. A
misunderstanding among themselves, they
Allege, was the cause of their defeat.
In consequences Of the men at Danville
having gone to work, the miners at Snod-
dy's Mill, Ind, have been noticed for .
reduction of 10 per cent, and have rejected
it. They have scattered all over the coun-
try.
Lincoln, ILL.,, men are still in the field.
Some Of the families need assistance very
much. Places that are working could do
no better act than to send them something.
The men Of Braidwood are now on strike
against reduction Of % per cent. on their
wages rhe men are firm in the belief
that they can make their struggle a sue
cess. The companies sent batch of So
lat = -
miners committee got them all persuaded
to leave again. The men who were taken
there to biackLeg, claim that they had been
duped into going there under the statement
that there was no trouble existing between
the companies and their employees by the
agent who had picked them up. Is there
nothing in this kidnapping system which
capital employs to get men to take the
places of their fellows by lying and misrep-
resentation that merits the censure and
condemnation of an abused people IL a
man went to merchant and made certain
statements of fraudulent character, and
by this means obtained merchandise of
him, he rendered himself criminal before
the law and amenable to it; but it seems
if a company or corporation, desirous of
breaking up a union of their workmen or
enforcing a reduction, can with impunity
frsudulently obain men to go to their
works, and once there their poverty COM
pels them to work, although their feelings
or sense of manhood revolt At or be bur
den on the already Overburdened strikers.
To obtain goods on false pretences is a
crime which subjects the party resorting to
II to term IN the penitentiary and con-
signs him to eternal disgrace. But it is no
disgrace, nor was there tinge Of crime
about it, when the same artitice is used to
obtain men. The negroes who were
brought to " Youngstown and Massillon,"
Ohio, four weeks ago by the mine opera
tors, claimed they were brought by a mis-
representation of facts, and went off under
an escort Of the miners and their . band, 7"
while it played Il am an abolitionist, etc,
when the facts were made known to them.
At jacksonville, also, when the colOred peo-
pie were taken there, general revolt
seemed imminent, when rifle was placed
into the hands Of each man, and orders
gwen them :" to shoot every man who
came within certain lines, which were de-
fined to them. This kind Of service was
not in their contract, and thew had no love
for it. The consequence was desertion
to the ranks of the miners of about a hun
bred of the blacks This was no crime.
No word from the public press discounte-
nancing such acts as injurious to the coun-
try-no word Of the wrong done the col
ored people, nor of the injury sustained
by the miners by this species Of fraud
The perpetrators are honorable men
coal operators" intelligent memo
danger of their acts tending to corrupt the
public morals; and then the men whom
they wrong have no standing" in the
community-they are only negroes" and
&c coal miners.
The situation at jacksonville, New Straits
vile and jamestown remain unchanged
The men keep to their colors, and are fully
determined that no concession will be
made now by them. Victory and nothing
else will satisfy them.
The works along the rivers in Western
Pennsylvania are pretty much all closed
down for the season. In some few places
the bosses offer the delusive bait to few
Of the men Of "more work at reduced
prices" OF course this is lame way Of
putting it. They might employ about
half dozen men out of hundred; but
more work for all is a delusion. But this
they do not mean; it is only more work
for the few whom they may choose to EN-
ploy.
The men of Canal Fulton, Ohio, are also
on strlke-cause not given.
At Frostburgh, Md, some of the works
have been notified for reduction from 90
cents to 90 cents per ton for digging the
coal-that is, they have been getting 90
cents heretofore, and now they are otferee
90 cents only Tor each ton. What course
the miners will adopt in the matter !
have not yet learned.
Very truly yours,