The weekly examiner., 1901-06-29
BY CHARLES M. SHELDON

just demands as far as he was at liber- l ty to act independently. He told them
 he was going to Cleveland the next day to confer with the other mine owners and would use all his influence to get the others to agree to the rise in wages. He repeated his offer to treat with the thousand or more men employed in the Champion mines at any time they chose to return. As he closed he made an appeal to the men to use reason and spoke of the religious influence that so l far had prevailed for the good of the community.
 There ran through the whole of Stu arts speech this second time passion ate desire to be understood as a man before men. He had never before had such longing to be understood; neither had he ever felt thegap between himself and the men to be so wide and deep. As has been said, itis doubtful if parts of his speech were understood at all by the men.
 As soon as he finished there was a great uproar of applause and shouts. 1 Eric himself could not restore quiet. The committee politely asked Stuart to leave the park while the union went into a conference over his proposals. Stuart was glad to get away. He felt 1 exhausted with his unusual effort. ] It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon when Eric came to the house with the news of the decision reached by the miners union. Stuart at once saw by I his face that the situation was serious.
 "The men voted by a large majority not to go back to work till all could go l back on the same terms-that is, they demanded that all the mine owners rec | ognize the union and make terms with 1t for all the men," "Do you mean that the men who work in the Champion mines refuse to accept my offer of the wages they de- | mandW
 "Yes-that is, the Champion miners will not go back until the other owners | make the same terms you make and | make them to the union."
 (Which means simply that this strike is deadlock" replied Stuart decided 1 ly, "for I know the men at Cleveland, and they will never agree to any such 1 terms" . The miners will not agree to any oth- er." Erie spoke quietly, but sadly. "Eric," said Stuart suddenly after pause, 'steH me frankly, as brother to brother, is this a reasonable step for the men to take? Do you believe the union will make anything by such ac- ton? Is 1t just or fair?"
 Eric's face worked under 8 passion ate feeling. Then he said: ''The men have a right to combine for mutual support. In this instance they feel driven to 1t by their condition. Why should not labor seek to defend itself as capital does? You-that is, mean the mine owners generally-get togeth- CT in a combine and fix wages. Why should not the miners get together and have a say about 1t? We have been working for years at the price set by men at distance who never saw mine or a miner, far less went down into the ground to see what the labor is. These men sit in nice upholstered offices in elegant buildings and make it their business to get just as much out of the iron ore as they can. The wages of the men are cut every time ore falls in price. Instead of taking it out of their own large dividends in the y profits every time there is depression in the market they cut this end instead of theirss You know this is the case, Stuart.
 '"Three years ago a dozen men in the iron industry grew to be millionaires from the profits of this metal which God put in the ground for the common use of man. During that year the min CTS received only fair wages. Since then financial depression and drop in the price of ore have followed. What do those men do who have in prosper ous years made their fortunes? Do they say, We will draw on this re- serve, and in order that the miners may not suffer we will declare smaller dividends and lose something?' No; they say at once, Cut down wages, be- cause ore is cheaper, and we cannot af- ford to lose.' And who suffers? Not