Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-02
TELEPHONES,
.nrs1nr.r AND srnrrzE.

PRESIDENT AND SIft1HD-
The heads of the great coal carrying
,.,,as of Pennsylvania. the largest mae
rondent anthracite operator, and Jonn
.x,,cbe,, president of the United Mime
Workers, have been requested os ries'-
dent Roosevelt to meet him to-morfo" ae
Washington, for a conference Iesaruiiis
the failure Of the coal supply, Which 'iie
President we'll says has become 1na.tei
,f vita, concern to the whole nation
This is the outcome of series OF CONFER
rnces lately held at the temporary "hl'e
House. between Mr.. Roosevelt, MS CAP
met. certain legal advisers and otileis'
which looked, according to Washington
ad,ices. to finding some way i'll which
,he President or the Federal government
could intervene, or the former couio use
his good offices to effect settlement OIL
the strike and relieve the public from the
l,ardships the situation has imposed
we take it that Fridays meeting is
designed to be just what the Presidents
telegram of invitation would seem to IN
dictate And that is a friendly conference
and heart to heart talk over the whole
ease. in which the President Will en-
deavor to bring the contending parties TO
an understanding. And we earnestly hope
that he will succeed. Shortly after the
strike commenced-certainly as soon as 1t
became apparent that it would be obstin-
ate and serious-we expressed ourselves in
favor of the Presidents using his good
offices personally, SO far as he could disas-
ISOLATE his personality from the Presi-
iency and the power of the administra-
ion. in trying to effect a settlement.
Nor do we now see that he could inter-
eene in any other way-could intervene
as representing the Federal power. Since
The series of conferences at the White
House began, there has been a good deal
written about justification for Federal
interference through the courts. and some
of our contemporaries have even gone so
far as to contend that the administra-
ton had a good precedent for military in
reference, in the action of Mr.. Cleveland
with respect to the Chicago riots. The
idea seems to have gotten abroad that
the Federal Government would have war
rant for judicial proceedings under the
interstate commerce law, and in the last
day or two several prominent newspapers
have advocated putting the question to the
test. But it should be remembered that
in the early days of the strike this pro-
position was canvassed, was looked into,
it appears. and was abandoned. And no
longer ago than Tuesday it was tele-=
graphed from Washington that. while it
was still held by some that the transpor-
tation companies involved We're liable to
Federal prosecution for conspiracy, that
feature of the case was still in the specu
latiye state" AS for the alleged Cleve
land precedent. there is no analogy be-
tween the Chicago case and the Pennsyl-
vania coal region case. When Mr. Cleve-
tand exercised Federal authority in the
Chicago trouble, he issued a proclama-
ton, in the preamble to which he made
this declaration:
by reason of unlawful ohstructions,
combinations, and assemblases of per-
sons it has become impra cticable, in the
Judgment of the President, to enforce by
the ordinary course of judicial proceed
,ngs the laws of the United States within
the State of Illinois. and especially in the
city of Chicago within said State
And this:
For the purpose of enforcing the faith
full execution Of the laws Of the United
States and protecting its property and
removing distractions to the United States
mails in the State and city aforesaid the
- AL "a
military forces of the United States
And four months later, in his annual
message to Congress, he defended his ac-
ton in the following words:
1T is hardly necessary to recall the
fact that in obedience to the commands
Of the Constitution and the laws, and
Tor the purpose Of protecting the property
of the United States. aiding the process
of Federal courts. and removing lawless
Instructions TO the performance by the
government of its legitimate functions,
ST became necessary in various localities
during the year TO employ a considerable
portion OF the regular troops
In the coal regions OF Pennsylvania no
United States laws have been broken. no
United States courts have been defied, the
transportation OF the United States mails
has not been interfered with and no
United States property has been destroyed
Or menaced. All infraction of the law,
all menace TO life and property, and all
defiance OF the courts and their officers,
that have occurred In Pennsylvania, are
i matters OF that commonwealtfl's. And
tsis we are given to understand Is recor.