The Advocate and news., 1898-03-30
Miners Have Left the Republican
Party.
JOHN HALLIDAY.

During the campaign Of 1897 the Repub-
lican press OF the State, led by the Topeka
Capital and Kansas City Journal, put up
a great hue and cry about the way the
coal from the penltentiary mine was be-
ing sold by the present warden and his
policy being endorsed by the Governor.
But they seem TO forget there is a long
history to this question and that the Re
publican party is entitled TO large share
Of that history 1t was that party that
sunk those shafts and for number or
years the free miners have been asking
for legislation to stop cOnVict-mined coal
from going into the markets In competi"
tion With free labor, and what did they
ever do? We asked for bread and they
gave us q kick.
Let us please look over a few OF their
own reports again. In the Labor Commits
soner's report for 1885, on page III, we
find letter to f. II. Betton, Commissioners,
from Usage county, written by John Gray,
in which he says: 1.-THE competition OF coal
mined elsewhere has ben unusually strong
in the past season. There has been coal
shipped from the convict shaft at LeaVen-
worth which has been put into the market
at Lawrence at $2.271R-l21a cents lower than
the coal mined by the free miners OF the
LeaVenworth Coal Company can be sold
at. This coal has forced the prices Of the
Leavenworth Coal Company and with it
the price that can be got for any other
coal, down to nearly It's own standard,
|. e.. the standard of wages which con-
victs who have no families to support, no
rent to pay, no children to educate, can be
on the wholesale plan maintained at. Mind
you, that was In 1886 when John A. Martin,
and not John w. Leedy, was Governor OF
The Mine Inspectors report for 1895, on
page 153 says: IA committee OF Repre-
sentatives was appointed by the Legisla-
ture in 1893 to investigate and report on
the subject relative to coal being mined
nd N fhH AtnLG
unanimously condemned the practice and
i'm their report to that body urged the Leg
islature to pass q law cOnfinlng the product
OF the state mine to the requirements OF
not to be advisable, they further recon-
meTided that the superintendent or the
mine be instructed not to sell pound OK
coal TO outside parties at less than the
Now, that was a Republican Legislatures;
will some one please tell us what they did
on that recommendation 10 Denent lne
miners of Kansas? But let US read further
on down the same page. He says; That
the product OF this mine can be and has
been used to reduce the wages paid TO
outside miners has been demonstrated be-
yOnd all question. (5ee details OF Leaven-
worth county strlke.) Notwithstanding the
fact that the parties to whom the contract
had virtually been awarded did not finally
handle the coal the result was none the
less mischeviOus, because the party who
at 10 cents per ton less than his original
offer when bidding against the coal COM
pany, enabling him to sell coal at the
much less and thus reducing the market
value to all. The market price OF coal
having gone down. the miners had either
to submit to reduction or see the mines
stand idle. The consequence is that the
price for mining coal in Leayenworth,
Usage and Shawnee county ts lower to-
day than Il ever has been In the history OF
the trade" Where was and what was
the Topeka Capital doing then? Was 1t
not telling us that Kansas had business
administration and that the Republican
party was the friend Of the minersl Can
1t deny their own Official reDort2 Can II