The Advocate and news., 1898-10-26
Governor Tanner and Illinois Miners.

his course in regard to the miners. He
has taken q stand In defense OF labor
even in advance of the attitude OF Gov
ernOr Altgeld. OF course the orthodox
press has called him all sorts Of names,
but that has only substantiated his
words in the opinion Of wage-workers.
In defense Of his action Governor Tan
ner fully justifes himself in the follow
ing statement:
my position has been from the begin
ming, and am now more positive In
that position, emphatically against the
Importation Of labor into Illinois, not
from the Southern States alone, but
from all other States, because such a
pernIcious system, as ! have said be-
fore, necessarily brings to our State and
dumps upon society an undesirable class
of citizens, and / do not propose, II l
can help II, that the State OF Illinois shall
be used as dumping ground for the
criminal and idle classes OF other coun-
tries or States.
"If our State offers better inducements
to labor than can be found elsewhere we
will welcome all corners, II they come in
the ordinary way, and II these mine own
ers mentioned at Virden and Pana will
abandon the idea of importing labor and
desire to operate their mines, l will, as
Governor, give them all the protection
that is guaranteed to me by the Consti-
tuition and laws of Illinois If one, two
or three or even large numbers come to
our State in the proper order and In the
ordinary way, seeking honest employ
ment, and the mine owners see fit to
employ them, will give them all the
protection necessary to peacefully Oper-
ate their mines.
However, in the Virden case that
company has been an outlaw-that is,
an intentional outlaw-from the very
moment It conceived the idea Of i'm
porting labor as Is evidenced by the
fact that it employed an agent to go to
one or more of the Southern States, Ala
bama in particular, and by false repre-
sentations delude the negroes to come
I'D here by promising them enticing
wages and without advising them OF the
conditions that existed in the neighbor-
hood of the mines, leading them to be-
lieve that they could peacefully enter
the nelghborhood and work In the mines
without opposition.
I'm this way they induced some 150
men to come to Illinois, and loaded them
on a train as so many cattle, providing
them transportation in bulk, locking the
doors and making prisoners Of them and
feeding them as stock. To accompany
that train these mine owners and mana
gers had procured the services Of de-
tective agency in st, Louis, which fur
nlshed them with an armed guard made
up Of men from Missouri, Kansas, the
city of Chicago and other places experts
In the use Of firearms, and furnished
them with Winchesters.
"These were the armed outlaws who
invaded Illinois last Wednesday, COM
ing into our State as an army, an armed
mob which was a menace to the peace
and dignity Of the State and an absolute
violation of law--as, for instance, no
Governor attempts moving his troops
across another State without first OBJ
tanning the consent of the executive Of
such State to do so.
"Had been apprised of the coming
OF this train should have met Il at the
State line with the national guard and
disarmed and made prisoners Of every
one bearing arms, but this army using
the Chicago & Alton railroad as fort,
proceeded to Virden and there precip-
itated riot, which resulted in the loss
of twelve lives and the wounding Of
thirty or forty people.
"The company had also built around
its property a fort or stOckade, similar
to those used in the South, where they
operate their mines with convict labor
This consider itself a menace to peace
and good order and reflection upon the
community in which 1t is erected.
I'm that stockade or fort It provided
towers, high above the fort, where men
with guns were stationed and during the
riot shot down defenseless people.
I'm this fort, am now advised Il was
not aware of il bef0re), this company
HnC n~Okhn,. orvVNvy OF Aftu iNykv rf