Omaha daily bee., 1894-03-07
MINERS ARE AGGRESSIVE
DeadwOod May Lose the County Seat on
Account of Recent Trouble.
LEAD CITY WORKING FOR THE PRIZE
Late Developments I'm the Case Indicate
that the Afrair May Yet Seriously
Disturb the Black Hills
District.

DEADWOOD, S. d., March 6.-(Specal to
The Bee)-Individual mercantile establish
ments ard factories have many times been
boycotted, but Deadwood is probably the
first town that has ever been called upon to
defend itself as a whole from a boycott All
this is the outcome of the dispute with the
South Dakota Mining company regarding the
wages to be paid to laborers on its ditch on
Annie creek. The story of that trouble runs
in this way
A number of miners declared a strike
against the company in question. The strike
was endorsed by the labor organizations of
the county, six in number. New workers
were brought in to take the strikers places.
The miners unions assembled in force and
drove the newly hired employees from their
work. The Deadwood business men then
held an indignation meeting and pledged
their efforts to the company's support. The
miners, through their organizations, declared
a boycott on the merchants who attended
the meeting and started movement for the
removal of the county seat from Deadwood.
There have been no new scenes of violence
but the situation has been full of interest
all the time. meeting Of delegates from
the various labor unions was called to nom
mate a candidate for county seat honors
against Deadwood. 1t was u foregone con-
cusion that Lead City, a mining town four
miles from Deadwood, would be chosen but
when the meeting convened it was found
that Spearfsh, valley town fifteen miles
from Deadwood, had been doing some eff
fective work of the vote-getting sort The
meeting was long and stormy, but Lead City
finally nominated by the narrow ma
jority of two in total of thirty votes.
Deadwood property owners were more en-
tertained than alarmed by all this, as they
held firmly to the belief that a two-thirds
vote would be necessary to reverse the vote
taken in 1877, by which this city was given
a majority of 109 over all competitors. The
Lead City people were not discouraged by
this, however. They admitted that a two
thirds vote was practicable impossiblity
but they began an inquiry into the legal
phases of the situation. The Lead City at
torneys rendered opinions holding that the
the county seat had never been properly
located, and that majority would locate 1t
now. delegation of Lead City citizens
went to Rapid City and laid the case before
prominent attorneys of that CITY, Opinions
have Just been received from them in which
the conclusions of the Lead City attorneys
are endorsed and the advocates of the two
thirds vote theory are given very cold COM
fort.
This conclusion is based upon the fact
that the election at which Deadwood was
chosen was held in an odd numbered year,
while the statute in 1877 provided that
county seat elections might be held only at
regular elections in even numbered years
The position is also taken that the election
in question was never properly called.
The Lead City campaign committee has
begun the raising of fund, and the Lead
City real estate men are already adding
a little to their prices. Deadwood has taken
no action in the matter, but it has been dis
cussed, and the indications are that a fight
will finally be made at the polls and, still
later, in the courts, IL Deadwood should get
less than a majority.
In the meantime the Deadwood business
men are taking steps to have the boycott
against them raised. At a meeting held
Saturday evening of last week resolutions
endorsing high wages were passed These
resolutions have been forwarded to the labor
unions, and are now under consideration.
No official action has been taken, but from
the conversations held by The Bee corre>
spondent with individuals in the unions 1t
is safe to say that they will be rejected.
The resolutions do not mention the late
trouble, but are confined to the proposition
of high wages in the abstract The laborng
men are taking the position that the resolu-
tions do not touch the question at issue.
and are not therefore, to be considered.