Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1877-08-31
Talk vita n Coal mIner.
correspondence Philadelphia TimeSI
gnuass-nw d Auw 81 1877


make half as mueh az during the var"
said be, GWe Wonld be satisfied. But
lhey have cut and cut until q great
many Of US oOuldnlt feed ourselves and
families Of iheawaaes, and va thought
Il would b aAaihr 10 starve idle than to
sfaPva at work
@What DO you think will be the re-
sultf"I asked.
"Well, there won't be much coal dug
yet awile," he replied.
"But It must end some timer
~ know that"
"Now who can hold out longest"
"Well, some of US can hold out as
long as the companies"
"Perhaps; but can allf"
He was silent. Tho miners don't like
TO confess their own weakness, espeei.
ally as the contest is largely one Of
bluf. Bluff and starvation are indeed
the main factors in the controversy.
This man told me that oil could have
saved money In The "dush times" but
that few did. The aush times not end
ing when the war did, appeared TO be
a permanent thing. The men 10 Q
garded 1t. They saw no clouds In the
rosy horizon. Here were inexhausti.
BILE beds of coal in veins from three TO
twenty feet thick; here were powerful
companies with railroads 10 move
1t making immense profits and paying
handsomely for labor. There was no
apparent lct-up in the demand. The
circle Of consumption increased. The
outlook was indeed cheerful. This
man told me that he had cleared as
Ligh as sos per month above what he
paid for tools, powder, "helper." Other
men did % well or even better. They
sent back word to the could country"
stating how "fush the times were In
this region" and often sending their
relatives money to come with, because
it was plenty. "Money that we'd have
better have kept" continued the miner,
land let our friends stayed on the other
side Of the water, where the times are
better now than here" This man had
saved a little money and upon ii be
was living while sitting around "enjoy-
ing" his misery, fer be declared II was
no fun 10 do nothing. Other things
being equal, he had rather work than
to be idle, "but Iii be blasted II l work
for nothing" said be. He regretted
not having saved more money In good
times" but he thought the good times
were a steady thug, "for people must
have COAL But they are getting along
with less than he ever thought they
could. To his somewhat sombre imag.
lnatiou the bottom had fallen out o.
everything aud the business world wac
on the down grade without brakes.
This man, said that but very few Of
the miners were in independent cir,
cumstauces,' that lie able to live for any
great length o. time without work
A few had lived as economically
through the "lush Zines as oil werl
compelled TO live now, aud by closely
outstanding their had enough
, to embark In other lines of business
, Some OF them had already left the "dig
gins," going elsewhere aud buying
small farms. On the whole, he though
that tho Welsh we're more thrifty thar
, any other class Of miners, at least more
OF them had saved money and "gradu.
aled" out Of the business.
l asked this miner Low wages com
pared with those received before tn
war. He replied that wages were
r little lower than before the war, an(
provisions very much higher, Will
work was scarcer. His comparison
we're altogether In favor Of the ante
war period. snow" said be, "wheI
d we work We cant get work more thai
Q half or two.tbirds Of the time. Iknov
men though, who If they are luck.
= enough 10 get work all the time, can
but barely support their families o.
their wages. We would be glad to g
is back to the old before-the-War basi
70 and get provisions at old prices. Blu
Z everything we eat is higher than befor
the war. / can't think Of q thing tbs
Isn't. Clothing is about as cheap, an
9 some Of it cheaper. But meat, brea
+ and potatoes, tea and coffee are highe
Of We can live on bread aud polatoG
when idle, but it's mighty hard I
at work on them" / asked him viii
l would DO the effect If half the men
the mining districts should leave an
seek other avenues Of employment
til "Good," he promptly replied, "tor Il
In rest OF US could get work at livin
at Wages.'
in "rhen there seems to be too man
laborers for the 6eldf'
eyes, that's It. The dlsh times DIRE
them 10 here, aud now they've got
It work at starvation wages or leave, al
'e- the most Of them can't leave. You b
'p- they'd get away If they could"
"If that is the trouble, what's the u
Tal of q strike" l asked.
'ut "ro keep from being tut over al
Of made 10 work for nothing and boa
ed ourselves. Labor has no protoctiC
against capital except in strikes"
That the labor market is overstOck,
we is plain enough. With the demand
ich cos. less than one.half what it was
nd few years ago, auu at prices less tht
Ialt one.half, how is it possible for all t
On hosts Of laborers in the anthracl
it'll region to get either constant work
I'M fair wages "strikes' arc no more
remedy for the disease, than Is scratC
the ing q remedy for humors In the blot
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