Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-02-28
MIR. TILLMAN'S OPINIONS
REGARDING THE REGENT STRIKE f INVESTIGATION.

The Report will be Delayed Tar biOnth
 or More-Woes of the Mine Workers.
 How Their Wages Are Crowded to
 Starvation Limits.
 WASHINGTON, Feb 28. -Representative Tillman, of South Carolina, chairman Of the Reading strike investigating committee, haa returned with his colleagues to Washington. Their investigations are practically complete, though Eckley B. Coxe, one of the coal opera tors whose mines were first struck, has been summoned to come to Washington next Thursday.
 "Our report" said Mr. Tillman, twill prob. ably not be ready for congress under month or six weeks, as we had but single stenog- rapher, and the testimony taken is volum- inous. The committee is, of course, restricted to 8 narrow line in its report, as only the federal aspect can be presented to congress Wherever interstate commerce can be shown to be affected by the Reading railroad or the strike, congress will have ground for action. But it is impossible to forecast the report.
 The investigation was as thorough as we could make it, but it is impossible for con- gressional committee to compel attendance of witnesses and force answers. It may be recommended to congress that, instead of special committees of investigation like this
 
 such committees be erected into judicial com mittees of inquiry by act of congress, with full power to compel attendance and elicit in formation by fine and imprisonment for con- tempt Then we would not be confronted with corporate insolence.
 'Much of the information which we elicited is of startling nature. The thing that struck me most forcibly was the demoralized condition of the workers of the anthracite regions. I couldn't cram into my hat the anonymous communications which we re- ceived giving information concerning the Reading corporation, telling of certain faults, and urging us to ask certain questions to elicit information. These letters were nearly all written by men of considerable intelli- gence-intelligent, certainly, as to the situa- tion. In the whole anthracite region I didn't see garden spot. There is force enough in that country to mine twice the coal to supply the demand. It is for the interest of the operators to have it so, as by the pressure for work they are enabled to crowd wages to starvation limits, while they become million aires. Formerly miners and mine workers made good wages, but now they can work but about half the time, and some of them hardly see dollar from years end to years end.
 ssThe constitution of Pennsylvania forbids COulIuOu CdIIlcIS lo SuSdSo HI any oUueT DuSt ness, but every dollar of the stock of the Reading Coal and Iron company is owned by the Reading railroad. When they wish tS they pose as one company, and when they don't they pose as two. Moreover, under ths designation of a certain private firm tho Reading railroad buys, sells, stores and han dies huge quantities of wheat and four Two corporations, the Pennsylvania railroad and the Reading, own or control every ipi running into the anthracite coal region. MT Corbin denied that there was any pool formed to fix the output of coal, yet the allotment of such pool have been repeatedly put ished in The Mining and Engineering Jour nal He was very indignant when l asked him if there was any combination whicl would compensate the Reading for its losses during the strike
 ''The Reading railroad has an indebtedness of some s2OO, ,OOO, ,O0O, and its fixed charges are enormous. It has been twice in the hand of receiver, and one of its presidents testi l fled as his opinion that it couldn't keep ou of the receivers hands twelve months longer 'As I said before, the report to congres may be on narrow lines, but there may b certain suggestions to the state of Pennsyl vania. If so, one may be that she remov, 1 the infamous poll tax of over S4 per heat I which we found was imposed on the laborer while the valuable coal lands, worth thou 1 sands of dollars, were taxed as agricultura | lands at S4 or S5 an acre. In whatever re 1 marks may make on the report may sug gest even more radical grounds"