The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1897-08-25
WON'T ARBITRATE.
Miners Decline Proposition o. the
Operators.
An Urgent Call to Organized Labor
Issued-Conference 10 Re Held in
st. Louis, August 3o-Text
of Call.

columbus, u, Aug. 2l.-1he national
executive board of the United Mine
Workers adjourned Friday, after hav-
ing issued the call for the conference of
organized labor to be held in st. Louis
August 80. The board rejected the
proposition of the Pittsburgh opera
tors for conference to arbitrate the
wage dispute in that district, claiming
that such action would be prejudicial
to the interests of the miners at large.
The, board is ready to consider over
lures for the arbitration of the issues of
the great strike only when these over
lures come from all the operators in the
competitive district, which, includes
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia
and Pennsylvania. The aggressive
work in the fields will be continued
and the efforts to spread the strike in
West Virginia will be renewed.
Following is the call for the confer
ence:
The Call.
To organized labor, its various divisions
and subdivisions, and to all reform, So
cial, educational and scientific bodies who
condemn government by Injunction and the
use of force to coerce the people and de-
prive them Of their rights as American citi-
zens, greeting:
The great miners strike has gone be-
yond struggle for living wages. crisis
In the affairs of the nation has arrived in
which all patriotic people must determine
whether they will accept and consent to
live under the rule of an oligarchy OF
wealth or whether the institutions of free
government. the rights of free speech and
ia hloc 10 ho
served The present struggle has assumed
contest for the preservation of civil lib
erty and constitutional rights.
The tyrannfcal and un-American in
functions of the federal and state courts
are revolutionary, against the first prin-
ciples Of free government and derogatory
to the inherent rights of the masses. en-
dangering the public peace and destroying
the personal security and individual Hber-
ties of the common people.
THE courts have deserted the temple Of
justice and now stand forth the defiant
arbitrary rulings have set up one stand
ard of rights for the rich and another
for the poor. They decree that capital is
always right and labor always wrong.
They have made il unlawful for starving
working people to appeal against tyran-
meal treatment, present grievances or pro-
pose Just and reasonable terms for the re-
THE present great miners strike is an
expression of discomfort that originated
In poverty and starvation: il was born
IN the sorrow and restitution of hungry
women and children: it was the last pro-
test of Impoverished and enslaved labor.
and il presents to the world cause as
righteous and humane as ever inspired
the souls of a Christian people The
philanthropic heart of this great nation
has responded in sympathy with the min
ers' appeal for the right to receive a re-
spectacle living for the most arduous and
hazardous labor in the world. Their appeal
for a small share of the wealth they create
and for the right to enjoy some of the
fruits of advanced civilization finds a re-
sponsive chord everywhere in the COM
monality of mankind, and if it were
struggle between miners and mine op-
oppression, industry over greed. and right
over wrong without the necessity of this
call
But it is no longer a struggle between
employe and employer. The judiciary las
assumed the indefensible claims of the
operators, and the struggle is between
tyrannical courts and the whole people.
The courts, although under oath to serve
the rich and poor alike, have volunteered
10 defend the sordid interests Of the rich
as against the God-given rights of the poor.
and now threaten to turn the Calling guns
and the Winchesters of criminals and thugs
against all who dare protest against their
despicable restraining orders. The judi
ciary is prostituted to the bidding of op-
pressive capital, has placed the rights OF
property above the rights of persons and
has Disseminated against the many in the
interests of the few. That $4,000 miners
should be condemned to lives of drudgery
and starvation by the arbitrary rulings of
the courts is an insult to a beneficent Gre
ator an outrage upon free government and
a disgrace to the Christian civilization I'M
der which we live.
THE recent injunctions and their ex-
IRENE application against the lawful rights
of the poor, the arrest and Incarceration
of hundreds of innocent, inoffensive peo-
pie, the general employment of armed
thugs to overawe, harass and coerce the
miners, have so exasperated the people
that we can no longer be responsible for
the public peace. To the end that just
and equitable settlement of the differ
ences between employers and employees
erty of the masses, the sacred institutions
of free government preserved, and the
courts estopped from these outrageous Ultra! per
peal to the higher, more humane and pa
triotic court-the great, plain people-who
in times of trouble have always proven
tween diversified interests and contend
ing elements in the government OF human
society.
1--WE appeal to the liberty-loving people of
this great nation TO send accredited dele
gates to St. Louis, No, where mass con-
vention will be held Monday. August ~.
1897. The object of the convention will not
be to merely protest against the usurpa-
ton and tyranny Of the courts, but TO
formulate plans to compel a return to the
principles of free government and put said
plans into practical operation. Our people
have suffered all the evils that are suffer-
able, and we are left TO the alternative OF
submitting to the intunctions OF the courts
and cowardly entreating our miners to re-
turn to the novels of misery or shame or
appealing to the patriotic hearts OF
America to consider our cause and render
verdict in accordance with the just claims
of suffering humanity. We have chosen
the latter and will accept the verdict with
that fortitude and resignation becoming
every liberty-loving patriot of this greaf
nation"
The call is signed by the following mem
bers of the national executive board OF the
United Mine Workers of America: NJ. ID.
Ratehford. president: W. c. Pearse. sec
H L. Davis. ]. 81. Ken