Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-03-10
THE MARTINSBURG HERALD, S


BETTER STRIKE THAN STARVE.
We are not in favor of strikes, ex-
cept as last resort, when there is
no remedy but to starye working or
starve striking. This seems to be the
sad case OF the miners in the Penn
sylyania coal regions, and the evil
extends through all mining regions,
in more or less aggravated form.
American legislation and American
Capital and Labor should not waste
their aid and sympathy upon the
poor OF other countries, until our own
abuses are corrected and our needy
and suffering people are helped. 1t
is not too strong to say that capital
and corporations, left to themselves,
grind the very life out of the indi-
vidual. The coal companies increase
the size of their cars and decrease
the wages paid for mining the coal
to fill them. A man must be inSenSi-
BILE to every suffering of humanity,
who would Cypress the laborer as the
miners are oppressed. TO say that
the grievances Of the miners are not
our grievances, is to deny our own
rights and fellowship. Don't go to
Europe to study poverty and degra-
dation. And don'tb be too sure that the
industrial sun will always shine as
brightly over our heads as it does
now. But read the following descrip-
ton of miners situation
sAnother injustice is the exorbit-
ant price the company charges Tor
powder, which the miners are com
PEELED to buy. They buy the powder
at wholesale at from S1.15 to S1.25
per keg, while the miners have to
pay 1915 for it, giving the company
at least a profit of $3.50 on every key
sold, or about seyenty-fiye cents a
day on each miner.
Miners are compelled to live in
cOmpany's houses, to buy groceries
at the company's store, at an advance
of twenty five per cent. over the reg
ular store prices; to patronize the
company's butcher and the compa.
ny's doctor, besides paying 50 a
month for coal, whether they use it
or not. The company's houses could
more appropriately be called novels
or huts. They consist OF from two
to three rooms, upholstered, and the
only coloring on the outside is the
black dust from the mines, which in
short time covers the wood, and
the exterior view is not pleasant.
Inside there is little or no furni-
ture. The miners or laborers never
get enough money to purchase even
the necessary utensils for cooking.
For these rookeries they pay from
$3.50 to S. u month, and in many
instances, family of six, eight or ten
live or sleep i'll two rooms. 1t can
hardly be said that they live, for it is
but mere existence that they exc
out with difficulty. The men and
boys work from seven O'Clock in the
morning till six o'clock at night, hun
dreds of feet below the surface Of the
earth, inhaling the foul and damp air
of the place, to say nothing OF the
coal dust that they breathe into their
lungs, so that at forty,five the ma
jority of miners are unable to do aay
hard work. All this brings the mi
ners about $50 a month, but they get
it in figure; that is, their account at
the grocery is turned in against
them, that OF the butcher likewise,
while from the wages OF each married
miner seventy-five cents is taken
for the company doctor, aud the un-
married man con tributes fifty cents
for the same purpose no matter
whether he has heel sick or not.
Then the married men have to pay
80 a month for coal, whether they
burn it or not, and if they do burn
coal, they are charged fifty cents
ton for the delivery of each load.
From this it will be seen that at the
end of the month few men with fami-
lies could have any money coming to
them.
Now, in the face Of all this, the
miners have struck for living wages.
On the 10th of September they went
out, and are still out battling for
right against might. But the oper-
ators say that as the miners have
formed themselves into an organiza-
ton to protect themselves, they will
starve them into submission, and
organization for twenty years. The
miners are determined to fight to
the bitter end"