Arizona republican., 1899-08-23
UNION TYRANNY
The Far West in inc Grasp
 of inc Miners Union.
War Department Gives Out a Letter JuSfifytna Gen. MeTrlam'S AC- lion. and Tells Of LawiesSneSS and Grimes Committed.

Washington. Aug. 22- The war de- partment made public this afternoon a letter written to Secretary Long of the navy department, by J. A. Kebler Of Denver, Colo, regarding the criti- cisms of General Merriam's military operations at Wardner during the re- cent strike The writer severely criti- cises .5he actions of the labor unions and upholds General Merriam. He says:
 "rt is very difficult for one who is not acquainted with the west to real | ize the tyranny of the labor unions, especially in Montana and Idaho, and more especially of the Western Fed eration of Miners The wages Iaid to the men are higher than in any other pa1.s of the country, and dn many cases the cost of living is no greater. For instance, here in Colorado our com pany employs about 5000 men. Our coal miners are receiving about 30 per cent more wages than they are in Kansas or Iowa and the cost of living is no more The wages in Montana and Idaho are even larger than here.
 Some years ago the Western Fed eration of Miners was organized in Butte, Mont, and for the past few years their president has been Boyce. One can hardly realize the crimes that this order has committed in the west. The states are sparsery settled, and they practically control the state government In Montana flor a num- iber of years none but union men have been allowed to work in the mines and smelters, and if man of any kind is not satisfactory to the union, he is simply driven out of town.
 At Wapdner all sorts of crimes have been committed. For instance, about a year ago the foreman of one of the mills, who was a union man, discharged three union men, not being satisfied With their work He was notified by the members of the union to leave town, which he refused to do The next day a crowd of union men went to his house, seized him. escort ed him out of .sown, and as he walked down the road they shot him down, killing him instantly. No jury could be found in that country to punish the criminals, and, despite all the eff forts Of the governor, none eff these men has ever been brought to justice.
 '@The governor, while a strong union man, a member of the printers union, denounces these outrages, and the general feeling among all the busi- ness men here is that General Mar- riam did exactly the right thing, and that law and order wiu result from his work there. In Colorado we have hnd a sample of the working of this union. In 1894 the miners e,. Cripple Creek struck, most of them being union men. The union men commit ted a great many outrages, capturing mine superintendents and others, kill ing several msn, tortured their pris- oners so that one poor mine superin- tendent lOs,t his reason on account of the suffe;ings he had undergone: de stroyed property, in fact captured the entire district, and it was only after long and vigorous campaign of the state troops that the matter was set tied"
 After rehearsing various acts of lawlessness and crime. MT. K=bler says:
 Edward Boyce, the president of the union, has had indictments of murder against him. At present we are suf- fering from the smelter strike. caused by tEts union. As you know, Colo rado is full of an anarchistic element crazy on the silver question, and the is by no means what could be wished. We hope, however, in the next election to have the con servative element triumph"
 The navy department sent a copy of the letter to Secretary Root. Kebler | is an official of the Colorado Fuel and Iron company.
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 FRATERNLAL CONGRESS