The Springfield herald., 1897-03-05
COMMITTEE REPORTS.
LEADvlLLE STRIKE DISCUSSED.
The Legislators Point Out the Mistakes of
the Miners and Owners and submit q
Plan for Arbitration

The Legislators Point Out the Mistakes of
the Miners and Owners and submit 3
Plan for Arbitration.
committee appointed to investigate in
to the Leadvillc strike reported in both
branches Of the Assembly yesterday.
The report is n voluminous document
and gives synopsis of the evidence ad-
duccd by the committee at Leadvillc
and this city, the principal points of
which Were published at the time. At
ter the details of the strike come the
| opinion and recommendations of the
| committee.
The first is as follows:
Your committee believe that order
has been restored, and that unless
something unforeseen should arise to
! excite the apprehension or fear or
hatred of the contcnding parties, the
city and county authorities at Lead
| vile will be able to preserve the peace.
At the time of the strike about 2,200
men We're employed in the mines, all of
whom were resident miners; only about
loo are now employed, and of these
| 4oO are newcomers, about 100 from 9TH
! er Colorado points and about 800 from
| Missouri. 1t is estimated that II the
| strike were settled from 500 to 1000
| more miners would receive employ
ment within comparatively short per-
| iod of time.
| Before the strike the output of Lead
vile was about 1,750 tons per day.
Ihe committee after expressing the
belief that better state of feeling now
exists, goes on to point out the mis-
| takes of both sides as follows:
Your committee believs that what
ever the grievances of the miners may
have been, the strike should not have
been declared without further effort on
the part of the union to bring about an
adjustment, either by agreement or by
arbitration, and that the strike should
not have been declared without reason
able notice; that the strike was de-
clared under state of excitement
which was calculated to bring forth
trouble. and that calmer council should
have prevailed; that the union did not
use the necessary precautions to have
the strike conducted with due order
and without lawlessness; that the COM
mittee of twenty did not perform its
| duties with the order and care the re-
| sponsibility of their positions required:
that without foreign aid, the strike
could have had no chance of success;
that there was no justification for the
purchase of 100 rifles and other arms,
at the time they We're purchased, and
ti'il tLt 1lOl eNeTclSe SUI
ficient care in distributing these arms
| among its members and keeping rec
| ord of who had them. and that the pur-
| chase and display of these arms natu-
| ally produced n state of terror in the
sDnlnunity, with Just fear that the
destruction of life and property We're
contemplated; that the union prior to
the Coronado affair was too inexorable
in Its demands, and the union did not
have the control of its members which
an organization of the kind should
have; that 1t Is true that the greatest
| danger to the success of the strike was
| the Importation of labor, and while
| your committee believes the impOrta-
tion of labor is an extreme and cruel
measure, they cannot deny that legally
| the mine managers had right to I'M
port labor, and that the importation Of
labor could not Justify the use of vio-
lence to resist it.
That the mine managers from the be-
| ginning and throughout the entire prog
ress of the strike, have shcwn an un-
| justifiable antagonism to organized Ia
Dor in general; that this committee is
forced to the conclusion that the pro-
| posed agreement prepared and dis
| cussed by the mine managers prior to
the strike, was aimed at the existence
| Of the union in much the same way rs
| the agreement of June %, above set
| forth, is; that with the existence of
that agreement, which was kept secret
| until it was produced in the course of
| the committees investigation, it is not
| likely that any agreement or arbitra
tion could have been arrived at before
| the Coronado affair, and up to the pres
| ent time, is directly traccable to the
| unwillinSneSS of the mine managers to
| treat with the union in any way that
| will recognize its existence; that con-
sdering the terrible outrages com
mitted in Lcadville. the injury and
financial disaster brought to number
| of the mine managers by reason of
| these outrages and the state of terror
and fear of personal violence which n
number of the mine managers have
suffered during the strike, there is JUS
tification on their part for their feeling
| of bitterness towards thGunion, but
even that does not justify refusal to
| deal with any labor organization; that
| in the opinion of your committee, a dis
| solution of the present union and the
! organization of new union, would be
/ an idle form. because the new union
| would no doubt be composed of the
| same members, and that, therefore, If
the mine managers will recede from
| their position not to deal with labor or
| ganizations, your committee can see no
further practical reason why they
| should not deal with the present I'M
| ion; and here it is proper to state that
| number of the leading mine mana
gers testified that they had no objec-
| tions to organized labor. but. on the
contrary, believed it was necessary for
| the welfare of the laborers and for the
| state, that laborers should organize to
| protect their interests.
The testimony of the mine managers
| who We're examined at the hearing
! clearly indicated that they hold n
| large body of the union men in high es-
TEEN. and that they would be only too
| glad to be able to give them employ
| ment. 1t is safe to say that recon-
! citation between the parties is rife.
| and that it needs but reasonable con-
| cessions on both sides to bring it about.
1 The committee makes the following
I recommendations:
l After the most careful consideration
| which your committee has been able to
| give to the situation, it submits the fol
/ lnu,iu,, form of nprppmpnt which in