The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1897-10-23
Real Cause of the Trouble at
HaZletOn.

The mine owners of Pennsylvania
have as a class never treated their miner
folk with tender indulgence; and rather
than concede much, if any, to the men
on the ground, they adopted in an evil
hour the plan of supplanting their old
miners with new material brought from
Poland, Hungary, Italy, Bohemia, and
IN general from Southern and Eastern
Europe. This new labor could be en-
pluyed for much lower wages than the
old. 1t could also be Xploited-through
company stores, company shanties, and
other methods we'll understood by coal
mine owners-in manner that the
old miners, who were self-respecting,
English speaking citizens, would not
have endured for moment. \ score
of strange languages and dialects were
soon beard i'll the mines, including Rus
sian, Polish, Magyar, Czech, CrotIan,
Ruthenan, Slovenian, and numerous
others besides, such as Roumanian and
ServIan, not to mention Italian. For a
while the supplanted men of the old
clinging to their little homesteads, and
hoping against hope for the work that
was not destined to be theirs again.
They have for the most part been dis
persed throughout the country. Their
houses are now occupied by the new
corners from the polyglot proletariat of
south eastern Europe; and under the
roof where one miners family formerly
dwelt in humble decency there will
now be found four or five families mud
died together after the manner of the
slums of Polish and Hungarian towns.
1t all means a startling social change.
1t is not to be supposed that these
newcomers would in any case have been
liked or welcomed by the non-mining
population of the Pennsylvania towns
and villages of the coal regions. But
the prejudice against them was aggra-
waited by the fact that many of the min
ers of the former period had drifted in
to other occupations in those towns,
while still more of their friends and
relatives lived Whereabouts. These have
been accustomed to look with extreme
aversion upon the unattractive pOpula-
ton that has mOnopoliZed the work of
mining. When it is remembered that
the deputy sheriiis are drawn very
largely from this class of village or town
jewellers who hate the Foreigners and
deride their filthy habits and queer
languages, it will be seen that the strong
prejudice might easily hcighten the
danger of misunderstanding under
circumstances of prOvoCatIon. The very
fact, furthermore, that the new miners
as rule cannot yet understand Eng
lish or make their English speakin.
neishbors understand them, also in
these people from southeastern Europe
are strange mannered and turbulent,
extremely excitable, and to outward APP
pearances an intractabe and ugly lot Of
people TO deal with, though. it is alleged,
they are easily managed by superiors
who understand them and are gratefully
responsive to kindnt IS. The mine-own-
ers have seemed with deliberate intent
to adopt the plan OF bringing more of
these people into the coal regions than
were actually needed. This has helped
to keen wages close TO the starvation
point, W lille obviously rendering it more
difficult for the miners to assert them
selves. The present anthracite strike
has come about as a postponed, but in
evitable reaction. Likely enough it
found some occasion in the great blum
inous coal strike of the West. 1t Is the
result of a bad policy adopted years ago
by the operators of the mines. We do
not mean to assert that all mine-Owners
are alike Gu, pable. Some of them have
unwlilingly adopted methods which
were forced upon them by the harsh
laws Of mpetition.-Fron The Pro-
gress Of the World" III American
Monthly Review Of Reviews .or October.