Omaha daily bee., 1883-01-17
WHITE SLAVES At THE NORTH,
The Horrors of Labor Under
Pennsylvania Protection"
A CHASTITY Picture Of Vice and
Psup, rism-L legislation for
the Rich and against
the Poor.
Southern Slavery Preferable to the
Frozen Charity Of Northern
Capital-The Bnd Of II
All, Revolution.

WARRINGTON, January Ii Nhen j
gaa on "a political tou III Penney
yapia last summer had occasion to
pass through the coal regions Ct the
north western part f tho state. lmet
a very Intelligent workman IN the
cars one day who pointed cut the OBJ
jects f interest along the valley with
wish ne was familiar. He had lived
among the coal miuers OF Pittston ard
Carbondale and among the IRON
workers of Pittsburg for twenty
years, The story he recounted of the
gradual degradation of American
labor during that time was some
thing
PITIABLg M ASTONISHING.
He pointed out the company stores"
that doomed up wherever We passed q
breaker, and described with the mi
uute distinctness born Of personal and
bitter experience the indiguities ard
hardships to which the lsborers we're
subjected. He showed how the rich
mine.owners with a quarter Of a mil
lion in a single nhaft screwed down the
miners year by year, lower aud lower,
and rsksd In their slender earnings by
their ''store. order" system. l asked
him something about the relative
prosperity of owners and workers. He
replied bitterly that capital was
always STRONG ENOUGH
TO take care Of Itself, and no one ever
dreamed of legislatinR for labor. i
went down among the mines with this
man and saw that he had not over.
rated tho hardships of the miner or
characterized too strongly their un-
fortunate condition. 1t is the popu.
lar idea that American slavery war
abolished with the proclamation OF
Abraham Lincoln. There mover wal
a worse system of slavery than thai
which prevails in Pennsylvania and il
the great manuf ,cturing centers.
THESE ARE WHITE SLAVES,
too, born to toll for m~illionaires, ant
to die In novels and Norkhouses. o.
every hand In Pennsylvania, from
Pittsburg to Scranton, the palaces o
the protected rise gcandly by tn
. myriad tenements of pauper,zed labor
There is no theory, however, demon
stratable on paper that can refute tn
cold logic of these facts. Labor ha
been going down hill all over tn
country, and
II MILLIONAIRE MASTER
Lords 1t over a race of white slaves
I thought of this when / beheld tn
magnificent residence of Henry Oliver
near P~ittsburg, and saw his iror
. workers gathered moodily about tn
streets, because their wages had bse
reduced below the cost If decent liy
ing. Oliver is the rasker Of the tsri
\ on metals, in which he speculatet
, Oliver grew rich, with hundreds {
\ other i~ron-inasters, on q proteotiv
tariff, and his laborers and theirs hav
become poorer and poorer, until tn
old are
CARRIED TO PAUPERs' GRAVES,
IN, And the young fik<the dcns " viceeo
q: aredyine by incI. !. like their sire.
:" There ilvN ling horrible in a
20 this, for what is in the future2
30 shall never shake off the vision of
o. Pennsylvania poor house In the mir
ing region where out under the orch
/. ard trees men were chained like will
- animals. They were pauper minel
%once--they were now raving maDiac
naked, covered with their own filtl
manacled and chained to the tree
A LITTLE further on were the viii,
slaves yet In possession of their rel
h son, chained to cars,
L RAGS, BLACK N GRIMY,
with the carbon sweat of the shaft an
the level. I asked my pilot how Ion
such men lived. mot many years,
said he, "These men for the most pa
. do not taste meat more than once
70 week. You see that immense moul
tain of refuse slate and coal from til
IT breakers7 1t used to be that eve,
miner going home was welcome to h
lump of coal, such as he could carr,
Men could be seen going to the
homes, each with his lump of co
on his shoulder. Now they must pa
n for their own fuel. They would
arrested by the oompauy's watchme
and tried and
CONVICTED o. II COMPANY
should they even pick up a little r
fuse from the foot of that mountain
e They used to save q little money, b,
now the life of a miner of coal or ire
in this state is hopeless slavery. c
"a the other hand, the men who ow
these properties are growing rich
every year"
WHAT WILL BE THE END
of all this2' / asked, curious to e
what wal in this mans mind.
"There can be but one end"
Is. "And what 10 that"
"Rsvolution!'
"rhere is then In your opinion I
" remedy short of thisl'
q "There is a remedy, but it will N
be applied" was the quick respons
"The men who make the laws, Il
IS. men who administer the laws, al
represent the men who own the
mines and work these slaves. II
masters drive their voters to the DO,
In droves. The servants of the
- masters are In congress-, are always
political power in the state and natio
No man, no newspaper In this sta
dare even proclaim the facts and no
TO continue in public life. RepJ
EaA. --1 ILL