The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-04-03
THE REEF.
Tbs "Ex.Hsadless" Hauled Over
the Goals.
A Reply to Honest Miner. I"
Editors Herald:

A Reply to Honest Miner"
Editors Herald:
. Since the last effort of "HOnes
Miner" in the tribune, a silence ha
been observed in reference to tn
"Silver Reef Middle" which was
, natural sequence. Men who ha
before regarded mining as a decen
mode of obtaining livelihood fel
that their vocation was falling int
disgrace, and it is well for Homes
Miner" he embraced the side o
capital. for any such exhibition OIL
the side of labor would have beel
completely disastrous. His articl,
was one of merit, else it would no
have been published, and we are no
only willing but anxious to concedt
everything he says if he will only
keep still. From the silence OBJ
served, we judge the arguments
| which have not affected the issue
much either way, are all in and the
verdict is now in the hands of OLD
Time; but before the curtain drops
on all this violation of order, your
correspondent has something to add
which should have been said ear
lier:
When the strike was inaugurated
we were prepared to listen patiently
to propositions something like the
following: IF A employs B to- o k
for c for a specified time at a speci-
fed rate, A is to B as G
is to A, and when b per-
forms his work, and receives his
money the contract is at an end. -
This position is as impregnable as
the one taken by poor Honest
Miner" when he says it makes no
difference whether he is an en-
plOyer or an employee. Nobody has
ever thought of assailing it. Nobody
ever will. 1t is as old as history
and has been taken so often that
quotation marks are not deemed
requisite. 1t is one of those posi-
tions usually fortified by a code of
ethics that may serve very well in
Pennsylvania where hunger is the
best auxiliary of capital, but which
until very recently has been as for
eign to the mining territories of the
west as though it emanated from
Russia.
These propositions were given us
from a lofty standpoint, and with a
self-satisfied air of supernal wisdom
by men who may learn they are
twenty years behind the times and
who ought to know that deep down
in the hearts of the most illiterate
is a sense Of justice that all their
little logic fails to disturb.
To elucidate, the writer will go
back a few years. In the early set
Element of these mining territories
society was extremely democratic.
Men who shared each others hard
ships did not question each others
birth or attachments; there were
none above work; the producer was
fully the equal of the consumer.
1t was mere matter of manhood,
and the fluctuations of fortune were
so rapid that the mine-OWners felt
as deep an interest in maintaining
a fair standard of wages as the men |
who worked for them.
These men came to the country to
better their condition, and often had |
to fight their way into it, and what
ever may be said against the pion-
GERS, they were, in the aggregate,
above the average. In time, the
and privations of a noun
tain life became their element, AMI |
they began to regard the mountains
as their home and to feel a personal
interest IN the country of their adOp-
tim. \ sentiment of gOOd-fellOW-
ship was evolved, and when a en-
ployed B, instead of asking him to
work for four-bits less than the
ruling rate, he frequently gave him
a dollar more, knowing that large
portion of the money so invested
would be applied to future develop
ments.
This sentiment soon solidifed into
a principle, and there is not one old
timer in fifty who would not
shoulder his blankets and walk out
of camp for principles sake rather
than be a party to this contemplate
We have had an illustration
of this thing right here.
More than a year ago the
of eastern CAPT
-al approached Mr.. VanHagan Of
the Barbee & Walker with the same
that they are now max
ing, but their reception was such
that no further action was taken
until that company waS superseded
by the present administration. Mr..
told them he employed |
none but miners, and intended to
pay miners wages.
Now we do not expect any senti-
ment from the eastern capitalist
that would be too much. He comes
here to make money, and if he could |
lind miners to work for soc. per day |
his fOrtitude would not desert him
if they died of starvation in a month, |
so long as the supply equaled the
demand. He is a man of business |
whose body and soul are
both dwarfed by strict attention to |
them, and is the best illustration of |
in the country. There are
TO be made for him
though. His interests are not iden-
tilted with the country and when he
attempts to advance them by liter
ally taking the bread from the
of little children, as he in
yariably will, it is in the interest of
humanity to stop him.
1t has been said that the state of
the Reef to-day is an answer to all
that we may say on this subject. 1t
is no answer at all, but simply
proves that this thing should be
regulated by district laws.
We have been told that there is a
feeling of kindness and admiration
for miners in western communities.
As they compose a great portion of
those communities, it is not surpris-
ing they should be tolerated. Miners
are like others; there are good and
bad men among them, and being
like others, are liable to be FESTIVE
under patronage, and might be so if
they did not entertain a feeling of
good-natured contempt for their
would-be patrons. NJ.
Since writing the above the TTi-
hume of the 10Th is to hand, and
under the head of "a Note of
Warning" publishes as malicious a
libel on this camp as was ever per-
p trated on any community. This
thing. which goes to show the merits
of a cause that hrinpS falsehoOd tO|