The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-09-12
"A CASE OF STARVATION.
UNDER PROTECTION OF Law
WORklNGMEN'S HOMES ARE
STOLEN.
prod Sunday, June 8, 1899, In which
some Of Monopoly's Crimes ure Shown

An Address by Hugh o. pcntecost, Deliv-
cred Sunday, June 8, 1899, In which
some of Monopoly's Crimes ure shown
UP.
on no;nn
tion q c soau e " wh oiias ~ youl aUGen-
orc Of iahnr a n 1etta,.a silpio!-
wnriyman in+o th ~ s.al asu cnal
Inst waaas ,n and I'i - ~ Ryan VI M
men are now held in q state Of real
slavery. + refer fo tho acti"n Of Tho
Spring Valley Coal Comnanv wbnse
mines are in illinois. and tn Tho raIa.
tions at present. EXISTING hetwaan
that company and it's workmen>
Last winter. if will no romamh nr.
ed, for weeks there was n oreat deal
of matter in the newsnaners ahnmt
what was called a strike among the
Spring Valley miners. and confrihI1-
tfons of food. clothing, and monev
from various narts 81 the cnnntrv
were sent to provide actual necnssities
for the unfortunate working ]neonleof
that town. But within a few Weeks
a book has apnearcd. entitled IA
Strike of Millionaires Against Miners
or the story Of Spring Va1ley.D writ.
ten by Henry D. Lloyd. in which the
whole history of that, affair is told. nc
we'll as such a story of wrong and
suffering can be told in nrinf. II
is a mind.agitating and heart-rending
tale, and unless I am much mistaken
the publication of it will create an
epoch in economic thinking and social
regeneration, To this book I am in
depted for the facts that I shall now
present to you.
Where the town of sn,ino vo,1oy
now ;s loco thar two v sp r.. ago +dhl nro
was nnthing Init aaId DO on "5o fo ret
The pent of the Chicapoand North.
western Railroad and Snrinr Va11nr
Cnai rnmnanv and tho Spprin9 Vaiiey
Town SInta Comnanv cornor, t;nnS
comnocad nf s~nhctanfiaIlv ffha saw
nerspns hor,Uht' manv tho,,sand
acrns nf land from the forn1ers nf
HAT region at nricoS r,n@inu from
$40 to $50 and in Some cases = littIc
more per acre. from fifteen to forty
thousands acres being valuable coal
land, and began to build up a town
by the process known as "boominp."
That is, when everything was in
readiness they began to advertise the
advantages of Spring Valley as a
place Of residence arising from the
opening up of immense coal mines
and the consequent opportunities;
offered to miners to obtain steady
employment at big wages. In July.
1885, lots began to be sold and bv the
next November, about one thousand
lots had been disposed of at nrices
ranging from $50 to 5000 per lot.
During the first six months the total
sales amounted to about 5000, 900 for
land that cost the Companies about
500, DOC. The booming went on.
miners were furnished with steady
work, and everything was done to
draw inhabitants to the town, until
the population in about three years
reached the number of five thousand.
Lots and lumber were sold to the
miners on the installment plan. |
wish to call especial attention to the
conditions under which these sales
Tho minors had to buv their 1o+c
,nd nr m.,leas man - With bIS tt ferfoi iuuS
ali thew had naid and the lot TOO If
a. anv timo ffhrv discontin,ed tbair
month1v novments no mnttnr how
naar the md nf thoir indnhtnosS t I"
mirht have uot This forfoituro
oo,s5Id no dociarod NV Tho cnn,nnnH
tho notice 10 tho moor miner and
withont any Irp,i nrocondinos in
which he miGht dcfond his ri~hIs
He furthermore declares that no
| titles to these lois were givcn the
| miners Nv the 50 thnt thnv
had notIine TO show for their mr..
chase excenf, \ recent and IN entry
on the cOmpany's books.
w, onoru+hna 80. ..
not rhon - 49, orns rars "aI az ohe VI
iinnS hod hnan pSn1d ~" on,,id d" bo n III
an uG1 anor 49, e''me ~ $500 Tni
hau I na;d ~ 20 nu - o. " f EiohIy Iu a.
, 49, p ph;nh -, ~ ~ H,il5 h hn !, roi u W. ~
w. ~ "ti w.. ~ Du,.. asa nlieA az
f nnI int r., ei of a ma' tboussn lS Soo aIo
h "a ado thon, - r. rnHirn NaiIat Gopi :
n numu of fr resido NJ 'p tha nroc "lieS Of a. ia d
sptroTiur tha to,,, 'n bod puo faw
d dos ip heoeor no S Somu 1899 Sor Vow
huya aroS n'inori ,norn +,,d io1 ~ ;H,ttaIG,a,
n 1rn thoi m tneIs ~ ~ .o.n " 't az
ddo " M nnt rnt,,rn y a G ia M ~ af
t tas n ~iu - ~ iwTjbIitnhh' ,b "a ' W. pa r.oo1 u
t ae 1 u1no,I a. w WIZ nIt,o Ii1s HIiT VIZ
tng n y ~, W "a '9 ~ I III ,ul. me -
uiut onaitbird ofth. wagrkina So u
mlation " Tho toyn was thrnu.In p o,l
~ ono n1o Nv Wv f !" ;r y"
onS i, WY littio or nthin .nved NM
hoca"so in Snite Of Ia Er,va nro ~
;SoS 81 tha comn,nv that wan
n ooT Darn n in Snrinn ysIIav f r
90 sn r. Il IN q daTr tbov actn, ur w.
coiyed eniv ahont e. : I,w oft of
Svhich thov mad benn S~i,nncrtinr
tnhair 70 miIior amd navinu I tPhpo;r in5
sto 't on nro,,prtv r. thn cona-
nanv TbiS wo "a ano q
Rwnrd If warnino "Thorr was no q
str;Eo M whiSnnr of , strik" Tho
men had been working faithfully.
digging the coal according to orders,
and taking the pay as agreed"
This was the beginning. Aboutthe
first of Nav, 1880. all the miners i'm
J the town were discharged in a IRE.
cisely similar manner. There was no
strike. The men were simply told
to take their tools and 90. No @
PLANTATION whatever was given. They
were ruthlessly locked out of tho
mines for no reason except that the
company wanted to starve them into
the acceptance of still lower wages
and to Compel them to forfeit the