Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1894-07-07
PRESIDENT JOHN M'BRIDE.
Sketch OF the Mine Workers. Leader and ot

Sketch OF the Mine Workers. Leader and ot
the Organization.
CLEVELAND, o., June %. - More
thnn a dozen years ago, a mine weigh
man near Massillon conceived an idea
of organizing his craftsmen. Others
joined him and the idea broadened. 1t
became a movement. Today hat mine
wcighman, not vet turned so, possesses
more power than the governor OF Ohio.
He is as absolute in many OF his decis-
ions as the Russian car.
John Mcbride is a typical American
labor leader. A powerful physique,
fearless, diplomatic, rubicund of coun.
tenancc, the frequent hero of his own
tales. he knows the men he leads and
the business to which they contribute
their Drawn better perhaps than any
other man in the United States. Within
n twelvemonth one Of the larg-
est coal companies in Ohio Of
fered him $4,000 "a year on q
five year contract II he would assume
general management of their mines.
The offer was declined. Yet the salary
of the president of the United Mine
Workers of America is but 81, 500 a
year and expenses, the latter amount
ing usually TO possibly 5000 or $500.
The autocrat, whose word means divi-
dcnds or their absence on In Investments
that run far into the millions, Is, so
far as tho world knows, q poor man.
He owns q modest little home up In
Massillon. Whatever other property
he may have is not in evidence. When
in this city on official duties his wife
frequently accompanies him and they
occupy a suite of rooms above n West
Broad street store. A nan who has
worked by his side for years building
up the miners union said that he did
not believe John Mcbride aver received
81 for his influence. lie had known
him to refuse offers Of s10,0 0 for Ii.
Just now many angry words are heard
from his subordinates. They believe
they have been betrayed in the recent
compromise. They charge that their
leader has sold them out.
The temptations that attend such
power as belongs to the president of the
United Mine Workers are ~stupendous.
Times are when his word and his influ-
ence are easily worth tens of thousands
of dollars TO the coal operators of the
United States. II John Mcbride does
not yield TO such opportunities, IL self
is lost in the desire for the better con
dltion of the men whose leader he Is,
he is a moral giant. Every charge
made thus far is indefinite. 1t is not
susceptible of proof. Therefore the
prudent nan will withhold Judgment.
The court OF public opinion demands
the evidence. There Is one proof the
world will always deem indisputable.
Ii John Mcbride continues a poor man,
every charge like those now current
falls ignobly TO the ground.
The career Of the president of the
United Mine Workers of America has
been strilkingly interesting. When the
first organization OF bituminous coal
miners was gathered together In 1881
as the Ohio Miners association, John
Mcbride was its president. For seven
gears he retained that place. During
that time he served four years, from
Stark county in the general assembly.
md made an unsuccessful race on the
democratic ticket for secretary Of state
in 1886 against James 8. Robinson.
Celtic in type, q trace OF the Emerald
isle still on his tongue, Mcbride has
both the diplomacy and courage Of his
race. His speech before the conven-
ton Of Ohio miners has. perhaps,
never been surpassed in daring In the
history of American labor o~rganiza-
tons.
President Mcbride is witnessing an
other crisis in his order and in his own
career. 1t is n question of moment
whether he will not meet the fate of
Powderly and other labor leaders at
the election mex February. Or, if re-
elected. IL will be still more of a test Of
his generalship If he can keep the
mineworkers' ship away from financial
shoals. An influential member of last
weeks state convention. who is much
less friendly to Adams than hostile 10
Mcbride, told after the adjournment of
the body that the miners n the Mas
silion and Bridgeport districts
were determined nexer TO pay
another cent toward the ma
tional organization as long as
Mcbride was its president. They would
simply content themselves with sup
porting the state organization. Other
districts are scarcely less bitter. IL
Ohio deserts the national officers with
It's two thirds of the membership OF the
national organization, that structure
can hardly hope to stand.
come opposition from without. He has
dissipated faint hcartedness within the
order. 1t remains to be seer whether
no can turn distrust and enmity to
friendship.