The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-03


In spite of the desperate efforts of
Hanna, Mr.. Mckinley, Rockefeller, Have
meyer, Carnegie. Stillman, Duke. and
others to stop the anthracite strike and
10 prevent others. the labor trouble out
look appears more ominous for the trust
party than ever. The alarm which Hanna
and his candidate felt On hearing that the
strike in Pennsylvania had been declared
was nothing as compared with the panic
now affecting the Republican National
Committee 1t is between the two stools
borrowed from the White House-in
connection with which the Presidential
understanding so frequently has come to
the ground.
At the beginning Of the labor struggle
in the Keystone state. Hanna figured that
he could turn the situation TO the ad
vantage of his ticket by forcing the Coal
Trust into concessions which would sat
isfy the demands of the miners without
involving recognition of organized labor;
but in such way that Marcus. the
manipulation. would acquire the unquali
fed gratitude CT every digger in the dig
gings. Il was in such a spirit that Han
IA, always serenely confident in his own
ability TO DO anything from procrastina-
tion to homicide. entered upon the work
of settling the strike He proceeded to
bully everybody in New York connected
with the Coal Trust interest, Including
]. Pierpcnt Morgan, who, ordinarily and
aside from Presidential campaign con-
siacrations, outclasses Hanna as Hanna
outciasses Rathbone and Nelly. In a
sense. the game succeeded. The Ccai
Trust has made an offer of a ten per cent
wage advance to the strikers. which they
have promptly laughed to scorn- And
that brings us to the crux of the situa-
tion.
The contemptuously offered "conces-
sion" has failed OF effect. Now the Coal
Trust is confronted with the proposition
Workers organization, with long labor
war and an anthracite coal famine as an
alternative. But this position Ct affairs
if anything, is worse for the party and
candidate of the trusts in general than
it is for the Coal Trust in particular
and for this reason: Surrender at tn S
time to the striking anthracite miners.
through their labor organization, would
simply involve the certainty that every
other labor organization in the country.
oppressed by any of the trusts. would at
| once accept the defeat of Morgan and his
Coal Trust coadiutors as a signal to de-
mand redress of it's own grievances, and
an increase of wages, and then there
would be labor war all over the lot.
| 1t is this phase of the situation. polit-
| ically considered which gives a feeling
OF pain and terror to Marcus A. Hanna, to
| the man en- the front porch, and to al
| the rest Of the combination engaged in
the current effort to keep trusts and
mtnopolies in control of the Government
for the next four years. Il general move
| nent of labor would array the working
/ men of America in a solid phalanx
against the trusts, or, what is ident.-
cally the same thing, against the Repab-
licar party and its candidates This is
what Hanna is in business this year to
avoid. II will be interesting to note his
movements in trying to accomplish the
| end in question. On the seventh day OF
| November probably we shall all know to
| what extent he has succeeded. In the
mean time, the strike in the anthracite
region has not been settled and the in
dications are that it is as far from set
| Element as it was two weeks ago.