The times., 1897-08-29
Local Labor Leaders Oppose a
Sympathetic Strike.
NOTHING TO BE GAINED
Reforms Cannot Be Accomplished
by the Means Suggested Educa-
tion the Only Salvation of the
Industrial SIave-Miners VIII yyin
if Given Financial Assistance.

| the leader or the SOCIAL democracy III Tei-
erence to the condition of the striking
coal miners, but more especially his eX-
pressiens In regard to what viii be the
outcorle of the conference OF the labor
leaders to be held at St. Louis tomorrow.
were the subject of general discussion
among the local leaders yesterday The
leaders of both factions. however, take
somewhat of q different view of the stu
alton and the surrounding circumstances
than does the great leader in the West.
Willie on the whole they are Of the opin
ion that tie conference win be a most inn
portant one, still none OF them looks for
ward to any startling results.
| Mr.. Milford Spohn, the president OF the
| Central Labor Union, made up wholly OF
Representatives from trades union organ
i7ations, differs somewhat with Mr. Debs
as TO the methods OF attaining the industrial
freedom of the working men and women
Of the country. Ee said:
Il do not anticipate that the st. Louis
| NEE ting viii do anything to shock the peo-
| pie into & realization OF their duty to the
starving miners. IL is TO be hoped that at
! tins meeting wise counsel viii prevail and
| that no measure will be advised which
would be impossible TO attain, or which
| woulG result In intensifying the bad feel
ing between the mine owners and the
miners. That conditions which libel our
| Christianity and shame our civilization
| have long existed in the mining regions has
| been know by all men who have given aay
/ thought 10 tie prevailing industrial condl-
fions SO long as these conditions remain
| Industrial slavery viii exist, and the master
and the slave will be at war. A condi-
tion OF peace is but an armed truce. for
the conflict seems irrepressible' and Will
only end when the cause is removed.
This cannot be done by any shocking
process, but 10y the means of education.
when all men will recognize practically the
unselfish and greed purged principle in
volved in mine and thine the labor prob
lem will be solved. In the meantime the
| helpless victims to diseased condition
should be relieved, and l presume some
feasible Gn-ans will be adopted al the meet
ing next Monday.
what the miners need first is sufficient
provisions and money to keep them clothed
! and fed. If this is supplied them, they
| cannot be driven into the mines under
! tlt ideH Ol stdA NddOn- Every StIlkC rs ii
contest between the stomach of the laborer
and the dollar of the employer, ana the
stomach generally gets empty before the
| dollars are exhausted. No striker ever re-
turned TO work, defeated. with Il fun
stomach; SO, in this strike, If the miners
were supplied from the abundance in the
! land, they would succeed.
Il don't know why a sympathetic strike
a
/ situatioaiu the mining regions. II 1t would
| result as Mr. Debs anticipated, In paralyz-
ing the country, would the miners be in
| a better condition or would the mine owners
| yield to their demands?
THE coal barons have fee simple title
/ TO the land, tie means by which quarter
of million of miners and their families
/ live, and they are in the position 10
| starve the miner and rob the consumer
both are dependent upon them-and they
can complacently tell the public to get
paralyzed and be ID.
| "A coraihnatiou OF these owners of the
coal lands OF the country with the trans
portation corporations absolutely controlling
a product which is necessary for the very
life of the people, can issue an injunction
more far reaching In its effects than ali
4 Tue dchslus III Itt COuHlIy-
The injunction business has been very
| much oyerdone, and / presume there Is
not self-respecting citizen In the country
who does not regard this prostitution or
the courts with supreme disgust We are
having too much of this injunction nostrun
and like an overdose of the poisonous
boluses of the quack 1t only aggravates
the disease that it is Intended to cure
/ ~ r4l la
instituted by the United Coal Workers
Union, body affiliated with the American
Federation of La Dor, and has sbeenconducted
along lines mapped out by that body, the
Knights OF Labor are lending aid to the
miners and contribute TO the ultimate sue
cess of :he miners. The leaders of both
these great organiza tioRs, Samuel GoInpers
and James K. Sovereign, and the lesser
lights, lave conferred together as to the
best road to success. The lion and the lamb
have lain down together, SO to speak, and
organized la Dor of the United States are
moving t0the supporter the starving miners.
At the last meeting of District Assembly
| No. &c, Knights OF Labor the situation was
discussed at length, and finding that 1t
| would be impossible to send delegate
10 the ST. Louis conference, it was decided
to express The sentiment of the assembly
in the following resolutions, which will
be forwarded to Mr.. Sovereign at the con-
ference.
The resolutions are:
Resolved, That District Assembly, No.
! 66, Knights of Labor, denounces the few
| and unscrupulous men who have secured
| by questionable methods a monopoly on
| land and its natural products, and thereby
robbing labor of its rights.
/ Resolved, That We demand a restora ton
of the rights bequeathed the citizens of
the United States, and of which they
have been robbed by the power vested il
| the plutocratic being who winks at justice
| and oppresses labor with a heavy hand.
| Resolved, That we extend TO the miners
of this country who are now battling for
the rights guaranteed by the Constitution
| of the United States, that support which
| is so essential to success In such con tests
as are now on in the coal mining States
OF the United States.
Mr.. a. NJ. Lawson, master workman Of
District Assembly No. sc, K. of l., in
! speaking of the situation in connection
with the prophecy OF Mr.. Debs said he was
| opposed to sympathetic strikes on general
principles, and at their best they Were the
worst for the working class of people.
However, when the courts refuse the
commcn people the right Of free speech
and peacable assembly the masses, he
said, snould rise up and demand the en-
force men6 OF that God given privilege
| which we have Inherited from our fore.
fathers.