The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-07-23
THE MINERS ADDRESS TO pow
Derby.

OF the distress which the fall In silver
ha. produced in and near Aspen. Colo
RADIO. amongst the miners and their
families makes very strong appeal
10 the humanity OF the entire country.
A meeting OF the miners addressed
letter 20 Grand Master-Workman Pow
Derby, in which they told him:
eve were a happy and prosperous
| community n few short months ago.
| over 1000 men were at work in our mines.
! To-day the mines are closed down. Idle
| men mn our streets. who are almost
hopeless with despair. They have been
brought face 10 face with the problem
Of how 10 provide their dependent ones
with the common necessaries OF Ire.
"The immediate cause OF all this misery
IS attributed principally 10 the domina-
ting Influences OF merclless plutocracy
/ that has firmly established Itself In the
money centres OF the world You know
these causes You have wisely instructed
MS upon the labor problems OF the day,
| and safely guided us by your excellent
counsel"
| This is most pathetic; and most right
eously do these poor people remind this
labor leader that they have followed
the counsel and advice OF him and OF
those others like him IN their teachings
10 find themselves now stranded and con-
fronted with wholesale starvation.
II the occasion were not one that swal-
lows up all other sentiments in feelings
Of compassion and pity for these I'M
fortunate men. one might be pardoned
for letting off a little wrath at the for
bearance Of our laws in permitting the
teachers Of soclalisuc heresies TO lead
ignorant men. for their own advantage
into situations fraught with so much
misery and distress 10 them.
Pathetic as this letter to Powderly IS,
Il has. nevertheless. its humorous sides,
not the least entertaining of which is
the description these miners give Of them
selves as his 'knghtly followers" There
can be no doubt that when there were
Knights they were miners for silver as
well as for gold. But their mining ope-
rauons were generally given up to search
ing the secret recesses Of castles supposed
10 have silver in hiding. and partook
much more Of the methods by which
Burglar Shaw "Opens a bank. than Of
those by which Colorado miners pick ore
out Of a vein. But as the securing Of
silver was an object common TO both,
we suppose there is no such great in
congruity in the Colorado miner, laying
claim to being a Knight.
But these miners are at their best
when they discuss political economy.
They tell Powderly, and they "solemnly
aver the same to be true" that "siiyer
cannot be produced at eighty cents an
ounce" and that ut is pos
possible for such wonderful bo-
nanza mines as the Mollie Gibson. Aspen
and Smuggler, in this camp. to take out
ore found IN limited quantities at a re-
markably low cost per ounce Of silver,
but the great ore body Of their mineral
cannot be produced with the price Of sill
yer in the eighties and nineties," with
a good deal more TO the same effect.
Now. they do not tell Powderly what
use he is to make of this information,
but we must suppose they intended that
he should do something with It. and the
most natural conclusion is that as silver
cannot be produced for less than eighty
cents an ounce, and 1t is now only a
little over seventy cents an ounce, Pow
derby should see TO It that silver was at
once made TO bring more than eighty
cents an ounce.
Well, unless Powderly himself buys
all the silver at more than eighty cents
an ounce. which would be something,
we suspect. beyond the power Of even
this redoubtable Knight we can think Of
but one other way In which he can get
It done, and that is for him 10 make
the Government buy it all at that price.
Shall the rest OF US agree that Pow
Derby shall get the Colorado miners out
Of their trouble by making the Govern
ment buy all their silver at ten cents
an ounce more than other silver will
fetch? We are disposed TO doubt the
policy OF agreeing TO this But II Pow
derby and the Colorado miners are TO
have their way about silver, then we
do insist that they shall take notice Of
the situation Of our wheat. and we thus
state our case to them:
Wheat cannot be produced al eighty
cents a bushel. but it is now selling for
only seventy. When you pay the Colo
RADIO miner eighty cents an ounce for
his silver we think you should also pay
us eighty cents a bushel for our wheat,
and Of you don't do it, we are going to
have something TO say about it. And
We think the producers Of beets and
cabbage and wool and hickory nuts, and
all such. have as good a case as we have
with our wheat, and so we invite all Of
them to join us in making the same de-
mand on Powderly when he takes charge
Of the Government that the Colorado
miners make on him. Now, mind you,
Mr.. Powderly, we are in earnest.
CRAVING REALITIES.
No matter how silly we may be as chill
dren. fond of toys and chasing butter
flies; no matter how foolish we may be a