Waterbury Democrat., 1901-02-16
he Champion mines, who would ad-

Stuart had never spoken in public, | except on 8 few occasions in college l rhetoricals. He was no orator, and he 1 knew it. And yet as he rose to speak
 to this outdoor gathering in a position | that might have tried many experi--
 enced speakers he felt sense of relief | and certain pleasure. He began at once with statement of 1 his willingness to grant the men their | scale of wages. '7et | of I understand the situa tion," he
 said, ''the demand made by the con | tract miners is for $2 day on account 1 of the danger of the work and because
 the companies have been paying only l $1.9O for more than year now. I be- | lieve the companies ought to pay that | price. I might as well say that I do
 not believe you have taken the right
 course to get what you want. l cannot l sympathize with this strike. I do sym
 pathize with your demand for $2 a
 day"
 1 "How about the rest of the compa- nies?' asked q voice.
 Aye, that's it. How about the lower
 range? What the mind on that point ?"
 said another.
 I
 here today to speak for myself. If the
 men who are employed in the Cham
 pion mines will come back at any time
 now, will give them what they ask | for.''
 l This statement was greeted with
 cheers, but at once there followed
 storm of cries from all over the park.
 "All or none"'
 | "Union rules first"
 ''The owners must treat with the
 union"'
 "Nell never go back on terms that | shut out part.'
 ''Stand together, men! That's what
 the owners does!'
 'Yes, they fixes wages. We fix they
 if''-
 Eric stood up and waved his hat.
 There was gradual settling down Of
 the confusion, and as he stood there,
 evidently waiting to be heard, the men
 soon became quiet again. Stuart ad-
 mired his control of the crowd. Eric
 had great influence with it.
 Brothers he said slowly, q be. l lieve we have reached a critical point
 in this movement. Here is one of the
 owners who has expressed his willing
 ness to grant our demands. The Ques-
 tion HOW is, Shall the Champion men go 1 back to their mines while the rest con-
 tinue to deal with the other owners? 1 This is a question for the union to set | tle.''
 Eric spoke Stuart in a low tone l as he stood close by him, ''let me say
 a word or two more, will you? l be- 1 lieve the decision of the men today
 will be a serious one, and I want to do all 1 can to make it right
 Erie at once raised his voice. "Men. 1 MT. Duncan wants to say a word i again. 1 am sure you will give him careful hearing"
 | Aye, that we will.' "He's no bad for a millionairev' "Give him a chance. He doesn't often | have it!' shouted voice with q touch , of irony in it.
 | Stuart took advantage of the Hull that | followed these and other shouts to | speak as he had never thought of doing
 when he came to the park. He believ- ed that the result of the mems action
 would be exceedingly important for | themselves and himself. He had never had such great desire to explain his
 own attitude toward the whole prob- lem of labor and capital as it affected 1 him.
 It is net possible to describe his
 speech. Eric thought at the time that i it was the best speech he had ever
 heard from a, moneyed man. At times
 it was impassioned, then quiet and con- yersational. It is doubtful if very many of the miners understood it as Stuart meant. He was in reality voic- ing a policy for the men of money | which he afterward followed out with some changes.
 This much he made clear to the men: He sympathiZed with their demands
 for larger wages, while he could not agree with their methods, and he would | do all in his power to give them their Just demands as far as he was at liber- ty tc 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 far had prevailed for the good of the community.
 There ran through the whole of Stu arts speech this second time a 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 the gap between himself and the men to be so wide and deep. As has been said, it is 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. 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 exhausted with his unusual effort. It was o'clock in the afternoon when Eric came to the house with the l news of the decision reached by the miners union. Stuart at once saw by his face that the situation was serious.