Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-08-24
Proposition to Arbitrete the Miners
(. Dispute Declined.
URGENT CALL TO ORGANIZED LABOR.
A Conference to Be Held In st. Louis
\ August 3O-Thc Success or Fall
ure of the Strike Hangs
on Its Outcome.

august ~. Inc DOarH rejected the
proposition Of the Pittsburgh Operators
FOR conference to arbitrate the wage
dispute in that district, claiming that
such action would be preiudicial to the
interests Of the miners at large. The
board is ready to consider overtures for
the arbitration Of the issues of the great
strike only when these overtures come
from all the operators in the COMPETE
tive district, which includes Ohio, In
ciana, Illinois, West Virginia and Penn
sylvania. The board has decided not
TO deviate from the established policy
until the result Of the st. Louis con-
ference is known. The aggressive work
In the field will be continued and the
efforts to spread the strike in West Vir-
ginia will be renewed.
Depends on the Conference.
The success or failure of the strike
hangs upon the st. Louis conference,
the call for which has been Endorsed
by Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation of Labor, and j.
r. Sovereign, general master workman
of the Knights of Labor. They main
tain that the fight now being waged by
the miners is one of common interest
to organized labor throughout the coun-
try. AT the St. Louis conference all
labor organizations will be asked to
join issues with the miners. The fail
ure to secure general suspension in
West Virginia has greatly interfered
with the prospects Of success, as the
coal supplied from that and the few
isolated districts is meeting the limited
demand. The only hope Of cutting off
this supply appears to lie in the refusal
of organized labor in the ordinary chan
nels Of traffic and business to refuse to
handle or use this coal. If the object
of the st. Louis conference is accom-
plished the strike will be extended to
nearly every branch of labor in the
country. Following is the call for the
conferences:
ITO 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:
1.-THE great miners strike has gone be-
yond struggle for living wages. A 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
peaceable public assemblage are to be pre-
served. The present struggle has assumed
a contest for the preservation OF civil lib
erty and constitutional rights.
1.-THE tyrannical and un-American in1unc.
lions of the federal and state courts are
revolutionary. against the first principles
of free government and derogatory to the
inherent rights Of the masses, end:ngering
the public peace and destroying the per-
sonal security and individual liberties of
the common people.
Temple of Justice Deserted.
''The courts have deserted the temple OF
Justice and now stand forth the defiant
bulwark of confederated capital Their
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 1t unlawful for starving
working people to appeal against, tyran-
meal treatment, present grievances or pro-
pose just and reasonable terms for the re-
dress of insufferable wrongs.
Born in Sorrow and Dcstitution.
1.-THE present great miners strike is an
expression of discomfort that originated
in poverty and starvation; 1t was born
in the sorrow and restitution Of hungry
women and children; 1t was the last pro-
test Of impoverished and enslaved labor
and 1t presents to the world a 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 miners
appeal for the right to receive a respecta-
BILE living for the most ardu0us and haz-
ardous labor in the world. Their appeal for
oh nf ha
and for the right to enjoy some Of the
fruits of advanced civilization finds q re-
sponsive chord everywhere in the COM
monality of mankind, and II it were q
struggle between miners and. mine OPP
orators only, liberty would triumph over
oppression. industry over greed, and right
over wrong without the necessity Of this
call.
Struggle for God-Given Rights.
But it is no longer a struggle between
employe and employer. The Judiciary has
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
to 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
despcable restraining orders. The judi
ciary is prostituted to the bidding of OPP
pressive capital. has placed the rights OF
property above the rights Of perDons and
has Disseminated against the many In the
interests of the few. That 100000 miners
should be condemned to lives of drudgery
and starvation by the arbitrary rulings Of
the courts Is an insult to bcneacent Gre
ator, an outrage upon free government and
q disgrace to the Christian civilization un-
der which we live.
Appeal for Support,
1.-THE recent injunctions and their ex-
trerne application against the lawful rights
OF the poor, the arrest and Incarceration
OF hundreds Of innocent, inoffensive PEG.
pie, the general employment OF armed
thugs to oyerawe, harass and coerce the
miners. have 80 exasperated the people
In localities where applied that we feel
that we can no longer be responsible for
the public peace TO the end that Just
and equitable settlement OF the difrer-
ences between employers and employees
may be effected. the public peace the lib
erty OF the masses. the sacred institutions
Of free government preserved, and the
courts estopped from these outrageous per-
versions Of constitutional rights, we ap-
peal to the higher. more humane and pa
triotio court-the great. plain people-who
In times OF trouble have always proven
the Just arbiters OF every difference be-
tween diversified interests and contend
ing elements In the government Of human
society.
1--WE appeal to the Iiberty-loving people Of
this great nation to send accredited dele
gates to st. Louis. Mo-. where q mass con-
vention will be held Monday. August 30. 1897.
The object of the convention will not b0
TO merely protest against the usurpation
and tyranny of the courts. but to formulate
plans to compel return to the principles
OF free government and put said plans Into
practical operation. Our people have suf-
Tered all the evils that are sufferable, and