Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1897-10-21
CONCLUDED FROM LAST WEEK. ]

imam IMAM prOuuceu ny AShlho' On0
goldbug may point with pride to the
brutal murder, under forms of law, OF
the laboring men of Pennsylvania who,
refusing to work at starvation wages
fo Mark Hanna's trusts, were shot
down like dogs.
But Mark pleads, by way Of avoid
ance, that those shot were foreigners.
That is true, but you brought them
here to reduce American labor to the
conditions of the pauper labor Of Eu-
rope, and they, as well as property, are
entitled to the protection Of govern
ment, and not to be murdered by it
Then again, it was they, and the col
ored voters of the South, that gave
Mckinley his popular and electoral
majority. The great body of native
born Americans of the white race
voted for Bryan, and are anxious to do
so again. Don't say they were for
eigners, for they elected your candi-
date, and he himself represents the
gold standard of England. Neither
they nor the present administration
are American, nd you should stand
by your allies.
You said to these men, ''Vote for
Mckinley, for an honest dollar and a
chance to earn it." They took your
advice, and today 900 of them are
unemployed in the mining regions of
the country, and not because there is
an overproduction of coal, but because
a shortage OF dollars makes an under
consumption of that article. In fact,
you not only promised them labor, but
at an increased wage. Let us look at
the conditions a moment. In the Sep
TENDER number of the Forum will be
found the following:
"The rates paid in the western Penn
sylvania mining district in 1893 were
70 cents per ton for thin vein, and 65
cents for thick vein.
1.-THE rates at the time of the strike
July 4, 1917 were AZ to 81 cents per
ton for thin vein, and 2s to 30 cents
per ton for thick vein.
SIN Ohio and Indiana, the prices in
1893 were rs and 70 cents per ton re-
spectively for thin and thick vein min
ing. The 1897 rates were 81 cents per
ton, with an offer of a reduction to As
cents per ton, occasioned by the low
prices in Western Pennsylvania. In
every mining district about the same
ratio in the reduction of wages was en-
forced.
According to written statement
Of mining company in the Hooking
Valley district of Ohio, 80 miners were
paid in wages an aggregate of S223.9s
Tor two weeks work, or ST. 81 a man per
week. From this is deducted the cost
Of powder, tool-sharpening and wear
and tear of pick, shovel, etc. The ar
ticles purchased by the families of the
80 men at the company's store in the
same two weeks amounted in the ag-
gregate to S17s.O5-an average Of a
fraction over So. 20 for each family, not
including rent. This statement it must
be borne in mind. is that of the EN-.
ployers, not the men, and, therefore,
is certainly not overdrawn to elicit
sympathy for the condition of the lat
ter. Nor was this condition excep-
tional; it was unfortunately general
one. In 1895, when the mining rates
were IS cents per ton, cents higher
han the present rates, the chief min
ng inspector of Ohio ascertained that,
IN the average, the wages of the min
srs were s1s4s per month, including
deduction and expenses,
at is not the intention of the writer
to picture here the woeful tale Of the
misery ang degradation to which the
miners have been gradually crowded.
1t will not be amiss, however, to quote
from the official statement of the min
ers' organization, concerning the causes
which impelled the present suspension:
"Our suspension is not choice, but
an alternative. 1t is the voice OF an |
enslaved class urged to action by cruel
and unbearable conditions; the protest
Of an overworked. underpaid people
against longer continuing a semi-starv-
ed existence. The limit of endurance
was reached when honest labor could |
no longer sustain itself. On one side
we were confronted by heartless ar.
ray of employers, whose combined wis
dom and wealth suggested no remedy |
other than continued submission to
avarice and greed; on the other side we
were met by the cries of nearly one
million men, women and children ap.
pealing for their rights, for the oppor-
tunities Of life and wages to sustain |
them compatible with economy, civili-
zation and present industrial condi-
tons"
But they are not the only sufferers.
Very recently 10000 tin-plate workers,