The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-09-29
The Great STRIKE
A Story of the Troubles at the
Mines
In the Anthracite Regions of
Pennsylvania.
A PULLING HISTORY.
Two Sides OF Deplorable State
OF Affairs.
What is Regarded as the Real
Issue i'm the Case.


puzzling or as deplorable as that OF
anthracite coal mining. For the pas
thirty-five years, from the Molly Ma
guires to the slaughter at Hazleton, this
history has shifted between tyranny an6
Instruction, even murder and massacre
And it is a poor satisfaction to realize
that the blame has rested at one time
on the operators, at another time on the
miners, and at all times on conditions
over which neither had control. The
present strike is but a repetition Of out
breaks whose causes are always smoul-
deIing like the hidden fires of a volcano
As long as these causes remain the out
breaks will recur, and no power can re-
! move The causes but the power of the
| whole people of these United States.
Thus writes Prof. John Rogers Com
mons in Golfers Weekly for September
%. He continues:
MINERS UNIONS
The present grievances of the miners
are of twenty-five years standing. They
date from the total destruction in 1875
| of the '.Workingmen's Benevolent Associ-
| ation,'' a contemporary of the MOLLY
Maguires.' That association had ac-
| compl1shed much good for the miners
but it went down under the stigma Of
that murderouS society, for which, how
ever, il was not responsible. The miners
have never known but one period of gem
eral prosperity; namely, the period of
the civil war, 1S61-65. 1t was then that
the unemployed miners were drawn off
to the army, and those who remained
were able to have steady work a fab
ulOuS wages Their troubles began with
the return of peace. The Workingmen's
Benevolent Association was formed
a weapon of defence. 1t succeeded in
many ways. 1t drove out the Company
stores" and truck payments. 1t dis
tributed large insurance funds. 1t help
ed to regulate production and super
vised the weighing of coal. 1t secured
legislation requiring safety appliances
in the mines, forbidding truck payments,
and requiring weekly cash payments
But since its downfall, in 1875, these evils
have returned and the laws have been
nulIified. The knights of Labor arose
in 1878, and attempted to recover the
lost ground. They were destroyed. In
1887 there was another revolt II ter
minated at HaZleton- Now we have a
new organization-the United Mine
Workers of America''-fresh from con-
tests and successes among the bitum-
nous mine workers of the west, and
ready to try its hand upon the anthra-
cite region.
1t is practically impossible for the gem
eral public to sift the evidence and to
understand fully the merits of the pres
ent strike. There is but one way to get
at the facts in all their bearings-legal
arbitration. In lieu of such guaranty
we can only examine the claims and
counterclaimS of the parties Interested
A convention of union miners was held
at Hazleton on August %, and submit
ted to the national executive board of
the union their application to engage in
a strike ten days later, provided an
amicable settlement was not effected in
the meantime The convention asserted
that the operators had s'entirely ignored
our cordial invitation for the purpose of
discussing and, if possible, adjusting the
many grievances complained of in the
circulars mailed to the operators.
Sixteen days later, September II, the
national board, from it's headquarters in
Indianapolis, ordered the strike to take
place the following Monday, September
II. On the same day, however, the pres
ident of the national union appealed
from the operators to the presidents of
the several coal roads, proposing that /
the whole question of wages and condi-
tions in the anthracite coal fields be sub
mitted to arbitration"
The railroad presidents did not reply
to the kilograms, but stated to the pub
lie that this offer to arbitrate was mere
ly a play for position" and that the
order to strike was issued an hour and
a half after the kilograms were sent.
THE TWO SIDES OF THE STORY. |
The miners demand increase of
wages, amounting to 10 per cent for the |
best paid labor and 20 per cent for the |
lowest paid labor, and claim that the |
cost of many of the neceSsarieS of life |
has been increased 80 per cent. Figures
have been published showing that in /
those regions flour has risen IN price q /
per cent, sugar 40 per cent, oil 25 per |
cent. tobacco IS per cent, stove coal 81 |
per cent, chestnut coal $50 per cent, and |
so on.
The operators answer, through the |
public press that the statement re-
garding rise of prices is not true; and /
that if the miners have not participated
in the general prosperity of the country,
neither have the operators. Prices of
material used around the cOllieries have
risen. The price of coal to the public
can not be Increased if the market for
ant Fra cite is 10 be held against bitumin-
Gus.
The miners demand the abolition of
company stores and the adoption of
semi monthly payments of wages in
stead of monthly payments. Pennsyl- /
vania had a law, enacted in 1881, requir-
ing mining corporations to pay their
employees weekly in cash, and not in
goods or otherwise. The supreme court
declared this unconstitutional, as AN
attempt to put the laborer UNI
der legislative tutelage-' The miners
claim that they are compelled to trade
at the company store or leave the en-
ploynent of the company.
The operators reply that the charge is
false as regards groceries and the like,
and that they pay in cash, which the
men can spend where they wish. None of
the large companies has any connection
payments, the operators say that the
Pennsylvania law is such that miners
can be paid twice a month if they de-
mand it, but they have never demanded
it," 1--WE do not conceal the fact that
We prefer to pay our men once month
IN account of the expense"
The miners claim that they are COM
PEELED to purchase powder used in min
ng from their employers, paying $2.75
for a key, which sells at 81 wholesale
and $3.50 retail.
The operators reply, 1--WE do sell them
powder in accordance with an agreement
made tWenty-Six years ago, in which the
price of powder was a part Of the scale
IF wages then established When a
great cry ~as raised some time ago
against this system we offered to reduce
he price of powder if the men would