The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-10-03
MASS MEETING
OF The MINERS

favor strikes. I went to New York to call on
the operators at the sacrifice OF personal dignity
to get hearing. But the men who employ
you turned me away and even refused to re-
ceive committee Of their own men for the
purpose Of talking over the differences.
The greatest strike in the history Of the world
Is drawing to close. Already the great coal
Carrying railroads have agreed to increase your
wages ten per cent. which rs a great victory In
itself. True 1t is not enough, II does not sat.
isfy us, but the time is not far distant when
the anthracite coal miners will receive as much
for their labor as any other class OF workmcn In
the world
In this struggle do not place absolute faith
In John Mitchell or any other one man. Put
your faith in the organization Work hard for
its prosperity, for the stronger II is, the better
you are armed for the struggle in which yeti
arc now engaged. This strike shall not be de.
clared off by me. It shall not be ended until
convention Of anthracite miners shall 80 decide
Every union and every colliery will be asked
to send one or more delegates to a convention
to determine the question for themselves. Your
interests arc greater than mine. I shall not de.
eide the question of your going back to work.
You must vote on that yourself. will not pre-.
tend to determine your fate or that OF the 5oo,.
Geo who are directly affected by this struggle.
Stand Together.
Mr.. Mitchell then briefly reviewed the
struggles of the miners during the
past forty years and said that the min
ers cannot expect to have all the evils
which have been heaped upon them
during the last half century Of unor-
ganized labor righted at once. Con-
tinuing Mr.. Mitchell said:
I firmly believe that victory will be achieved
by the men standing together. Do not let one
of you move until all move. II you stand to-
gether we will achieve a greater victory than
was ever attained by labor in the anthracite coal
region. II nothing else is achieved than the
taking of the young boys, who today yelled as
passed them in tie parade that "Mitchell is
all right" out of the breakers and placing them
in the schools the future will show that Mitch
ell was all right l am firmly of the belief that
the mothers of the breaker boys nightly pray
to the Ruler OF the universe to decide in favor
of the men, so that their boys can 60 to thr
schools.
A miner should receive for his labor as much
as any man on earth, that he, himself, can
build a home on the present tumbling ruins OF
his hovel built by the companies, and so that
he can afford to allow his children to have the
advantage of the college, too.
Through the efforts of the United Mine Work.
crs We can secure justice for all. We want TO
stand together and hope that not one man Will
desert the ranks of the union and that not one
man will go back to the mines until the vic.
tory is complete.
The national president was followed
by Fred Dilcher, of Ohio; Benjamin
James, of Pennsylvania, both members
of the executive board, and Mother"
Mary Jones. After the meeting, Fresi-
dent Mitchell was driven through
cheering crowds to his hotel. where he
will remain until S o'clock tomorrow
morning, when he will return to
HaZletOn.
President Mitchell's address, as far
as outlining any future move on the
part of the labor leaders is concerned,
was IA disappointment. He intimated
very strongly last night that he would
define the position of the union today
on the ten per cent. concession. His
failure to do so has caused the i'm
preston to go out that he is still un-
decided what should be done. and that
he is probably waiting for local unions
to take some kind of action first.
On the other hand, there are some
people who are in close touch with
the situation who believe that Mr..
Mitchell knows exactly what he is do
ing. They argue that his telling the
men that they can settle the ten per
cent. increase question by holding a
convention. was broad hint to the
local leaders to carry out the sug-
gestion. Mr.. Mitchell had no news
touching upon negotiations for settle
ment to give out today. He said there
was absolutely no change in the situa-
tion.
President Mitchell, IN answer to a
direct question tonight, said that not
one local union in the entire anthracite
coal field had requested the calling of
convention of the miners.
When the correspondents told Mr..
Mitchell that there had been some
disappointment expressed because he
failed to give out any information in
his speech. he replied with smile.
that he almost said something" but
caught himself before it was too late.
He said today's labor demonstration
was the greatest he had ever seen and
was of the opinion that it augured
well for the cause of the miner.