Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1897-10-13
CHEAP FOREIGN LABOR.
The Real Cause of the Trouble at tbs
Hazleton Mines.

The Real Cause of the Trouble at the
HazIeton Mines.
The mine owners Of Pennsylvania have
as 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, Hun
gary, Italy, Bohemia, and IN general
from Southern and Eastern Europe. InlS
new labor could be employed for much
lower wages than the old. 1t could also
be XplOited-through company stores,
company ShantieS, and other. methods
well understood by coal-mine owners-in
a manner that the old miners, who were
self-respecting, English-speaking citizens,
would not have endured for a moment.
A score of strange languages and dla-
lects were soon heard in the mines, III
Guiding Russian, Polish, Magyar. Czech,
Croatian, Ruthenian, Slovenian, and nu-
merous others besides, such as Roumanl-
an and Servian, not to mention Italian.
For while the supplanted men Of the
old regime fingered sullenly on the scene,
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
Southeastern Europe; and under the root
where one miners family formerly dwelt
in humble decency there will now be
found four or five families huddled to-
gether after the manner of Polish and
Hungarian towns. 1t all means a start
ling social change.
1t is not to be supposed that these
newcomers would in any case have been
liked or welcomed by the nonmining pop
ulation of the Pennsylvania towns and
villages of the coal regions. But the
prejudice against them was aggravated
by the fact that many of the miners OF
the former period had drifted into other
occupations in those towns, while still
more of their friends and relatives lived
therea bouts. These have been accuS-
toned to look with extreme aversion
upon the unattractiye population that has
monopolized the work of mining. When
it is remembered that the deputy sheriffs
are drawn very largely from the class of
village or town jewellers who hate the
foreigners" and deride their filthy hab-
its and queer languages, it will be seen
that the strong prejudice might easily
heighten the danger of a miSunderstand
ing under circumstances OF prOvOcatlon.
The very fact, furthermore, that the new
miners as q rule cannot yet understand
English or make their Notwithstanding
neighb0rs understand them, also in
credseS the risks. UnqueStiOnably, these
people 1FOIu cOuluedSleEH EUROPE are
strange-mannered and turbulent, ex-
tremely excitable, and to outward ap-
pearances an intractable 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 kindness. 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 keep wages close to the starvation
point, while obviously rendering it more
difficult for the miners to assert them
selves. The present anthracite strike has
come about as postponed but inevitable
reaction. Likely enough it found some
occasion in the great bituminous coal
strike of the West 1t is the result of
bad policy adopted years ago by the
operators of the mines. We do not mean
to assert that all mine owners are alike
culpable Some of them have unwilling
ly adopted methods which were forced
upon them by the harsh laws of compe-
tition.-American Monthly Review of
RpvjpwS