The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-02
~ INOJ TRY or SECRETARY ROOT.
The Proceeding OF the President I'm Enter.
Ing Into the state of Pcnns,I, ania.

| To THE EDITOR OF THE SuS- Sir Secre-
tary Root Is reported as having said in his
| speech last Thursday evening of the coal
| plank in the Democratic platform:
II the National Government has power to enter
| N" state of Pennsylvania and take the anthracite
| coal rcdS into rs possession and ownership and
mine the coal TO supply the wants Of the people Of
the United states, IL can take the hltumiuouS ,oal
! n"ldS Of OA'o and Illinois II can take the grain
/ fields Of tho West 20 Furnish 'ohd and be cotton
ne'ds of the South % furnish clothing II can take
the railroad, and s.ias that transport the necessary
! supplies. and the mills and furnaces when M the
raw material for VS.. ever requirement. OF human
M" becomes public USc VI tEc nrcd States. and
10 the presence Of that ail.pruading aud dlre t
relation 'Hr distribution q; power, between M
! ti"nai and Stat" gpNeguu ems onG the sovereign
states themNeiye'. would dsa0Telr.
OF course, his proposition contemplated
an entry without tie consent of Pernsvl-
vania. \ half century ago Congress en-
tered the State of Maryland and took land
Tin order TO obtain water for The Washing
ton aqucductD, but the State had previously
given a statutory consent
That. however, is unconscquential so far
as concerns the inquiry | wish 10 make,
| which Is this.
Where did tie President got Constitutional
power TO enter the STATE, of Pennsylvania
and virtually take the management of the
anthracite mines into his possession? Could
the consent of the parties To the strike that
he appoint "A commission to fix a scale of
wages impar jurisdiction?
II may be said that he did not act Off
cially AZ President; but would the parties
| have obeyed his summons and appeared
before him had hc not been President?
Would Mitchell have proposed to leave the
dispute To plain, unofficial Mr. Roosevelt?
Was not the sending by the President into
Pennsylvania If a Judge of the Federal
bench, a General Of the army and the Com
missioner of the Department, of Labor an
official act? Did not the other commissions
ers look ON the appointment ~ made by the
! PRESIDENT l. il not understood that Con-
gre~~ is to foot the bill? How il tho affair
understood in Europe? Indeed, how is il
generally understood in our own country
by men in the street?
Has there not been an official recognition
by President Roosevelt of President Mitch
ell as the official head of body of striking
miners, with whom as the official head the
employers must come to terms? And finally,
has not the President of the United States,
uninvitcd, sent into Pennsylvania commits
sion 10 investigate matters purely local
and not at all nat iona?
The turning point of the affairs submitted
by the President To his commission il not
merely that the miners refused to work
unless wages were increased. that the en-
ployors refused the increase, but that the
refusing miners boycotted, pickcted and
murdered non-union men wishing to take
the places of those who had left. To in
vcstigate and report on that last feat urc will
he To act IN judgment on Pennsylvania
| appreciate the reply 10 be made Ivy
Secretary Root, that the President acted
throughout a. private citizen, rendering
his good Offices only 10 break deadlock
which threatened suffering throughout the
northeastern States, that he was success
full and that the entry into Pennsylvania
Is very unlike the entry proposed by the
Saratoga Democratic platform.
Yet what of State rights?
JEW YORK, Nov. l. INVESTOR