The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-22
POSITION Of TIE MINERS
OF THE UNITED MINE
WORKERS
NINE RAILROADS DOMINATE
Own Three-FOurths of the Mine
Property, and Absolutely
Control Carriage of
Coal.

HAzLEToN. Pa, Sept. 21.-President
Mitchell tonight issued the following:
OPEN LETTER TO THE PUBLIC:
Hazelton, Pa. Sept H.-Fully conscious
of the vast public interests involved by
the great contest now being waged be-
tween organized capital and underpaid
labor, and as much has been said and
written upon the subject of arbitration
in the present anthracite coal strike, as
president of the United Mine Workers of
America, | am impelled to define my
own attitude and the attitude of my off,
cial colleagues ana the striking mine
workers toward the coal operator, in g.
way so clear and definite as to leave no
further misunderstanding.
The striking miners recognize as their
real opponents in this struggle for a
slight amelioration of the hard grinding
conditions Of the miners life, nine rail-
Pennsylvania Railroad company, Alexan-
der j. Cassatel, president; tehigh Valley
railroad system. Fred Waller, president;
Delaware &. Hudson railroad, r; NJ. Oil
plant, president; Delaware, Lackawanna,
& Western Railroad company, W. H.
Truesdale, president; Central Railroad
Company Of New Jersey j. r. Maxwell.
way, Joseph H. Harris. president; Erie
railroad and New. York, Susquehanna &
Western railroad. F. B. Thomas. presi-
dent; Delaware. susquehanna & schuyl-
kill company Irving A Stearns, presf-
dent and New York, Ontario & Western
railway, Thomas B. Fowler. president.
OWNED BY THE RAILROADS.
These nine railroad corporations, be-
cent of the hard coal, are the sole car
riers to tide water of all coal mined in
the anthracite field of Pennsylvania, and
for this service of carriage q charge
the size of the coal, is made. Incredible
as it may appear. they charge three
times as much to carry a ton of anthra-
cite coal one hundred miles as is charg
ed to carry a bituminous ton Of coal the
same distance. So exorbitant are the
rates that the legitimate profits which
should be credited to the mining depart
ments of these railroads are absorbed by
freight rates. and as a consequence their
coal properties are made to show very
small profit on their capitalization. If
road mining departments, what is the
condition of the independent operator?
Is 1t not a matter of reason that he can
do nothing which his railroad master
of public notoriety that he does nothing
which the railroads do not sanction?
Therefore, whether or not individual OPP
orators see In the railroad monopolies
their great enemies, whether or not the
Individual operators feel themselves free
to make common cause against these
600 mine workers, this day on strike, rec
ognize these railroads as our real enc
mics and name their presidents as the
men responsible for the refusal to arbi-
trate or even to confer upon the differ
ences which have grown up, not be-
tween them and the organization rep
resent, but between them and their own
employees, who, through delegates, Sc
in the city of Hazleton on Aug. 49, and
framed list of grievances
which were mailed to the general
superintendent of the mining depart
ments of these railroads, accompanied by
an invitation to meet in Joint convention
on Aug q for the purpose of discussing,
changes in the scale of mining and con-
ditions of employment as were warranted
by the conditions Of the coal industry.
But to our chagrin and disappointment
the cordial invitation extended was not
even acknowledged by those in charge
of the coal departments.
This is fight for ALL and to be sue
cessful there must be no break in our
line of action. It ought to go without
saying at this late date that I am a.
staunch advocate of the principle of ar
bitration and did not personally favor
these principles, the laws of the organi-
cation Of which l am president make
arbitration one of It's cardinal issues.
| will go further, and say that arbitra-
ton in a civilized land would be unnec-
essary If miners and mine owners were
to ADOPT the same system Of adjusting
wage disputes as is in force in the btu
ninous coal districts of Pennsylvania,
and also in all other coal producing states
in America where mine operators and
mine workers meet annually in joint con-
vention and reach an amicable settle
ment in all questions governing the
wages and conditions of employment.
BITUMINoUS MINERS ADVANCED.
In Indianapolis, last January, $50 OPP
orators and $50 miners delegates. repre-
senting an annual output of 100000 tons
of bituminous coal in Western Pennsyl-
vania. Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. met in
a conference and mutually agreed that
the miners earnings should advance
% 20-100 percent AS a result of this con-
ference and other similar ones In the
states west of the Mississippi river and
south of the Ohio river, 100000 mine;
workers received an advance in their
earnings agggregating $12,000,00c in one