The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1900-11-02
WORK|HGMEN SILENT.
Refrain From Saying How They
Are Going to Vote.

Are Going to Vote.
DON'T WANT TO INVITE COERCION.
Republicans Are OverconHdent and
Claiming Everything Lesson of
h Miners strike-Bryan's Elec-
ton VIII Insure a Cabinet Officer
For Labor-The outlook.
Especial Washington Letter.l
Overconfdence has taken the place
Of the cautious anxiety which the Re
publicans displayed during the early
portion of the campaign. They are
claiming everything.
Yet not a single incident has hap
pened to justify the change Of attitude.
On the contrary. the drift is entirely
Democratic. Never in the history of
the country has there been such an
outpouring of people as that which
greeted Bryan OF the occasion of his
recent visit to New York. lie was but
duplicating on a larger scale the expe-
rience which has been his during the
entire campaign. Bryan is talking
common II and justice. The plain
people appreciate that. His audiences
do not have to be attracted by reduced
railroad rates and red fire and brass
bands.
1t has been admitted all along that
the election hinges on the vote of the
great Industrial centers. The Repub-
licans are pretending that they foresee
an easy victory for themselves, yet
they are using every variety Of coer-
cion on skilled wageworkers and clerks
In all lines of business.
There has been no recent develop
ment which would indicate that the in
dustrial vote is going to be Republic
an. On the contrary, it finds Bryan its
champion and the m~onthpiece Of its
protests against trust domination.
The w~orkingmen are not saying how
they are going to vote. To Go this
would be to invite more active meas
ures Of coercion from their bosses.
They have had too many severe les
sons, however, not to fear another four
years of trust control.
The settlement of the miners strike
has dragged in a fashion which rohs
1t Of any value to the Republicans.
After the miners held their conyen
ton and accepted in good faith the Of
fer of a 10 per cent advance in wages
it then appeared that the operators had
not actually meant to give even this
slight advance. They have been quib-
bling for ten days, saying that the adj
vance in wages must be computed as n
factor in any reduction in the price Of
blasting powder.
The price Of powder was n Of the
things which the miners offered to sub
nit to arbitration. They waived recog-
milton Of their union, but they stand
for a straight advance Of 10 per cent in
wages if they are to go back to work.
| Whatever inconvenience the public
feels in the future over the price or
amount of coal must be charged to the
operators. The miners have acted in
good faith, and their conditions have
been reasonable.
Perry Heath made himself ridiculous
by hurrying to grab credit for Hanna
for the alleged settlement of the strike.
There has been no development SO far
which has been at all creditable to
Hanna. The public is still paying the
advanced price on coal and will do so
indefinitely. The coal combine has
made at least $1O,O00.O00 in extra prof
its since the strike began. The miners
are no better satisfied than they We're
the day they went on strike. The Dem
ocratic press has called attention to the
conditions of employment forced upon
the miners by the coal combine, and as
a result ~wageworkers all owe the
country not only ridicule the Repub-
lican plea of prosperity" but they
fear that practically the same treat
ment will be melted out to them IL the
trusts continue to grow during the
next four years as they have grown
since 1896.
The miners strike has also been a
reminder to the general public that it
Is dangerous to allow trusts to so COM
pletely control an article Of general
consumption that they can defy both
producer and consumer.
No Improvement in this condition
can be expected unless Bryan is elect
ed and the Democratic programme of
trust restraint is put into operation.
The bureau of statistics, which is an
adjunct Of the treasury, has just Is
sued a campaign bulletin in which it
asserts that q long list of trust manu-
featured articles have fallen in price
since last January. 1t falsiies the
record about most Of them, and where
It gives the correct price it fails to
add, in explanation. that a consumers
boycott, which began last January, has
forced prices down on iron, wire fenc-
ing. nails, lumber and a few other
articles. The farmers concluded that
they would go without fencing and
lumber and machinery until the trusts
cut prices. When goods piled up in the
! warehouses, the trusts did reluctantly
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