The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-06-19
oUR MINING LAWS.
Tho Politicians aud the Coal aEiners-A
Correspondent Has Ills Say.

Tho Politicians aud the Coal AIinors-A
Correspondent Has Ills Say.
10 re IEit,sF 0fps Tsistic'Her
stR;-Ihere was a partisan mine law
made last winter by the Legislature to
win the vote Of tho coal miners oyerto
the Democratic party, and the Republis;
cans, or most of them, voted with tho
Democrats in order to defeat the trick,
The Republicans no doubt would have
made the movement had not the Demo
cratic politicians got ahead of them.
The law made last winter to pay Tor
coal by weight, with clause that 1t
should not apply where an operator
worked twenty or less miners, was q
mere trick, for this clause defeats the
law. This is apparent; This clause
was either enacted through knavery or
ignorance. The real author and pro-
moter OF this latter clause will perhaps
never be known. 1T would be we'll to
inquire into the matterand perhaps the
VIOLIN sleeps clothing will be found
out.
It is worse than idle to talk about
regulating the pay Of laborers by legts,
lution. 1t has been repeatedly at
tempted in revolutionQrystates otsociety
and always failed, sometimes with dis
astrous results.
do not say thatthe politicians who
get up these laws are knayes or fools,
or influenced with corruption money,
but they are, to be charitable, ignorant
OF the first principles OF political ecoryi
omy. For Il the wages OF labor or the
price Of things cannot be governed by
express laws, tho attempt con but dis
turb everything and produce disaster
II coal operator pays three cents q
bushel for what is called merchantable
coal, and aftor selling gets say Is bush.
els ont OF a hundred, it is the same
thing as II he paid q cents by weight,
provided the coal is as carefully mined !;
but if he paid q cents by weight, and
gets only 70 bushels Of nerchantable
coal he would do a losing business and
would have TO shut down. Hence the
opposition to this law OF the operators,
and hence the coal miners themselves
are beginning to to see the trick and
the folly OF such legislative inter
ference.
The coal Of West Virginia was rapidly
supplying the market and driving tho
PENNSYLVANIA and Ohio coal from the
market. Hence the miners in Pennsyl-
vanin are interested in creating dis.
turbances between the coal miners and
operators in West Virginia, for every
bushel OF West Virginia coal that goes
to market Is a bushel lost by the Penn
svlyania operator. It may be, as is
generally believed, that the Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio operators had no little
to do with the legislation Of last winter.
Flow they operated, what sort OF argt-
ments they used, and through whom
they operated, will never be known. .i'l
Probably the best thing TO do is, to
protect the coal miners from eviction
and the operators from violence and say
to both, Settle this matter among your
selves-no gatling guns, no muskets
and bayonets. The coal miners shaltbe
protected in their right to hold their
meetings when and where they please,
to strike when they please, and there
shall be no eviction during a strike" II
this is done reason would triumph and
things would be settled on firm and
lust basis, the laborer get lair reward
and the operator q living profit. ,ItEil
have to come to- this at last and the
sooner the better. KS