El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-22

The following story was written by
. special representative of the New
York Sun, who has been study ing
conditions in the coal region for several
months:
The real facts of the origin of the
trouble have never before been prop
erly and honestly laid before the
world, but the time is now ripe to put
the responsibility where It properly
belongs. Although there Is no ques
ton that the Miners have grievances,
they are Of long standing and not ad-
Unstable in a moment and can only be
arranged by joint agreement of
EN- plOyers and employed acting In
concert, not by any arbitrary interfer-
| eoce of outside persons.
1t Is understood pretty generally
that for some time the soft coal people
have been looking with envious eyes
upon the field covered by anthracite
different success TO extend their union
into this rich territory, but until re-
Gently with NO result. About six
months ago they scot mum Der of
soft spoken individuals here, and 70
she other Anthracite censrers,
to consult on the ground and
whisper large promises aud spacious
arguments into the ears OF the anthrs-
cite miners. A lot of ignorant, dis
satisfied aud metinous workers swsl-
lowed the bait and joined the uuion.
They In turn induced quite large
mum Der of their ilk to join the organt-
tion, until now about 1O per cent. of all
the miners in the region are members.
This 10 per cent. does not represent
the Intelligent element by suy means.
but IL composed almost entirely OF
huns, Poles and Slavs. People of the
anthracite region make no distinction
between them, designating them all as
Huns, who have no respect OF law or
order, having come here q few years
ago hearing Of this a. q "free" country
and tmsg ming that freedom meant IL
cense to commit all sorts OF crimes,
even murder, with IMMUNITY, and they
have carried out their ideas. These
people are the ones who have cast ap-
probrium on the mining population
OF the anthracite regions and who are
now uUde- the leadership of the soft
coal ssitators, proposing to make sill
the trouble they can. The LattImer
et-back should have been a Lesson to |
them and was, for q time. but their |
memory seems to be short and they |
want to try it again.
q It is also charged that the democratic |
have hand in attempting |
TO bring about trouble enough TO result |
in the calling out OF the national guard |
and thus give them An argument fl |
use in she coming campaign.
Tue idea of the strike certa My orig
mated In Indianapolis among the soft
coal people. Whether they are pushed |
ahead by democratic politicians or by
in hope of first destroying
and then appropriating the anthracite
1t Is impossible to determine
just yet, but the fact Is evident, as all
orders received by local leaders come
over the wires from that city and that
city is the Mecca Of all the sgitators
working here WHO journey there fire.
luently.
The priests of the Roman Catholic
church are sensible men and in close
touch and sy mpathy with the members
Of their oongreeat ions and have been
strenuous In and out OF the pulpit in
q strike. They have been
ably seconded by the Protestans minis
ters of every denomination. The local |
boards of trade took q hand and denoun.
ced the prOposition most alphabetically.
To cap the climax, the wholesale
dealers, having In mind former exper-
fences Of the sort where they were big
losers, because they bad given large
credits to small retailers, whose patrons
we're largely miners, notified these |
small dealers that should there be Q
strike they wonld feel compelled to sell |
them goods only on q cash basis.
This precludes the possibility of these
small dealers carrying" the miners
TO an extent, as their own capital is
limited aud their only hope lay in |
credits from the wholesalers. Then |
the support of the striker ana his |
family during q strike lay in his own |
savings, which only in few cases are |
large. The pitsance dolsd out by the |
union. which In numerous former in |
stances has failed to b, produced,
would 10 this Instance amount to so !
small a sum for each miner q week as
hardly to prevent starvation and not
even that, as the union IL said TO have
only something like 500, 600 In the
relief fund in the treasury with so. 1000
miners to support.
The most ridiculous and tnceudiary
feature Of the trouble Is the part some |
newspapers have taken In the matter. |
Their misleading illustrations and
prejudice the outside public against
the people and coal operators of this |
region than can be outlined In many |
years. They pictured the miner as q |
fOrlorn, hslf-naked, half-starved |
creature, his wife as worked to death |
aud ALI clad and his children as good |
seconds to the wholly starved children |
of iodia. 10 whom beans are a luxury |
aad meat entirely unknown. On the |
contrary the average Industrious
miner is pretty prosperous |
person with comforts BILE |
house, a wholesome, active wife and |
family of decently dressed, well fed |
aud going to school children. To be |
sure the "Hups," ss u rule, though |
there are many exceptions, live rather |
more like cattle than any thing else, |
they have plenty to eat. But
this living in close quarters and dirt |
Is not by any means necessity. They |