, 1877-08-13

lau. 1. wns only broader n,,d moro notice
able In the raso Of sha railroad etriknra thnr,
usual, and tho rcsnlts will be pruportionate.
ly more acrion1,
THE coAL-MlNlN0 TROUBLES IN PENN
sYLVANlA.
4 correspondent of the Now York TINES
has been investigating thu condition Of tho
miners IN tho Scranton coal district, md re-
voata degree Of misery nnd wrosc,eslnehs
that can hardly And parallel In this co,n-
Try. no found them living In cheorlees huts,
AMI feeding upon potatoes, Hotln-eraokera,
and water. Ono minor IL taken as a fair
sample Of The majority. tfo told him:
Thai l,t had seldom made moro than s1a A
month. and thoaRht that Sl5 wound bu nearer h!s
assraEe. Ills rent wha 81. Int he paid It fF.egu.
'as,J. AZ h'a sunnfca wcse drawn from the sruck
| efoso nf the Company, whtcn IA private CORPORA.
son. ae!ilng 1t. coat At the breaker 10 the Dcls.
ware, Laekawanns / Western, lie MAS obliged To
get he supplies at this shop because ha never could
| Get eAsh for htN work. Sincn tho etrikc no -four
h1d heen safsed ont, 40 fio could have no bread.
a. with many other families, meat wAs luxury
seldom cnJovea. Clothes wero bought scarcely
otlencF t,an To keep The family deccntly covered.
child died lat winter. and charitable pcopls In
onc at the city churches hal furnished decent bneiai
for 1t. thr mother being Unable 10 get muncy or
credit Tor tho exutnre. Thcre afe men an,onC The
"effh miners win ltaye lived In fivdo Park Tor
many ycass, whose circnmstanccs have been goo,i,
but who nte now sharing wiki tho fncancst tnbnrcr
In thc ilardahins common 10 all tho population.
One msn. aobcr. frugal, Industrious, In twenty.
one yesFe had been ahle tn accumulate d little
property. which WAS now altppin9 from his hsn,le.
andhc was $500 IN debt. Yet he had practcc econ.
oTy 70 tcsc:e that no feicn In prtsnn ont would
hsve felt wrongcd II 10 weso compelled 10 lro on
| hia fare.
Evon the most frugal OF thcas miners sre
In debt. Women whose husbands aro sick
Subsist only upon charity, and some of them
| are on tho vergo Of starvation. Clergyman
who had abundant opportunities for know.
ing tho condition Of tho minors said he t,c-
loved II would 10 Hafc to any tho families in
tho valley averaged ai1 persona each, and
that thoy hal maintained life for tho raat
nino months OH MI average of ~ per
month. 1somnn Catholic priest who .vns
questioned by tho correspondent said TINT
thero hal undoubtedly boon much intcmror.
anco, and sad want Of economy In ll,,1ner-
ons cascs, but that tho Rystem OF payment as
tho store waa vicious md kept tho mon IN
debt 1fo tlenfed TINT all Of tho mining
population was made mp Of tho "Afolly Mn
g1liro" class. Tho majority OF thom aro
peacoable, honest, ana industrious, md llAvo
borne their troubles with remarkable pa
tIence.
Tho revelations Of this correspondent show
pisinble condition OF things, and will con,-
mend Tho minors to 1nrge degree Of public
sympathy. At tho aano tins. there must DO
II cat'se mud n renledy for 1t. It Is not .lifa-
c',lt to find tho ono. anwovnr difficult 1t may
be to apply the other. Tho tlnai, tin,os
previous to tho panic attracted great crowds
Of European laoorers to this country. Tho
Englisl, md Irish mining elomcnt naturally
gravitatcd 10 tho Pennsylvania coal districts
md settled down there. Their numbers lavo
constantly i1creaacd until they aro largely II,
excess Of tho lcmand OF tho market, yet still
thoy remasn there, with tho demand for coal
going down, down, down. Tho consequence
Is that for fonr yoars past they havo not
only liyod in suffering for want Of The nooos-
aarios of life, but in the midst Of a social con.
fusion which has moro than once throntonetl
to tako the form Of civil wnr. Undoubtedly.
the companies must bear their al,aro Of tho
responsibility. They have conducted b,,si.
ness heretofore OH toolsrge and loose a scnlo.
They hnvo sroculatcd In vast tracts of coal
lnnds. They have wRtcred stocks md sproad
out In suctl manner rs to persuade minors
TINT thero WAS plenty OF work for them all Mt
big wages. At Inst there wero tons Of thou.
sands too many msn for tho demaul for coal.
and. a. prices have gone down, the mon hayo
naturally bcen squeezed to tho verge Of
starvation. Admitting all this, however, 1t
does not help matters. The compane. can
not pay better wages than the conf market
authorizes. II they do, thon they must 60
quickly into bankruptcy, aud tho wiols bust.
moss goes to p'ecos. The result Of ali
this enormous ovor-aupply Of labor Is
low wages aud unstealy employment,
Molly Maguirism, strikes, plots, fights, mur.
ders, riots, wntersd mines, incenliari.m,
broken machinery, and chaotic confusion.
There oau bs no end 10 1t 80 long aa labor
remains 30 enormously III e1coss Of the dc.
mand for 1t. Tho only ronedy is for tho
surplus OF miners to leave aud no to the
Wastorn part Of the country. whore they
can work the land. The South Ia calling
loudly for tsborers by the thousand 10 HELM
harvest Its cotton and sugar, one-third Of
which must otherwise b lost tor want Of
help. Let those for whom ehero ia no work,
or not work enough to 1.-Two upon, go
South, North, East, West, anywhere whore
occupation may be had. So long ~ they re-
main In the coal districts, this demoraliza- /!
ton, dfunkeaasss, rioung, and destitution
must continue.
1u N Interview With TRIBUNE reporter in
regard to rebuilding the Ctty-Hati. Aid. Rosxa.
nEao aald: "As to the building Vt tho Court.
House, he had opposed that srhcme, sud would |
DO 30 until the city was In q position to pay for
the Nntk IL nfaEteaarl y Tha AL1az,u. haxl