The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1902-08-07
PRESIDENT MITCHELL ar woRW.
issuss an Answer so an Open Letter
~ the CtuEens' Alliance.


By the citizens Alliance.
Wilkesbarfc, Pa. Aug. g. President
Mitchell started Ca work early Friday
upon q reply to the OPEN letter nd.
dressed 90 him by the Citizens An
ancc of Wilkesbarrc, an organization
made up of business and professional
men and others. in an address % the
convention Of miners of the FIRST dis.
trict pt the United Mine Workers,
held at Nanticoke some weeks ago.
Mr. Mitchell criticised the alliance be-
cause, he claimed, 1t was not consis-
lent II wanted 10 prosecute all mi.
ncrs who violated the law he claimed,
but overlooked the many violations Of
the law committed every day by the
coal combination. The alliance re.
piled In an open letter, in which they
enumerated many outragcH said
to have been committed by
strikers and others In the
coal region since the strike
began. Mr.. Mitchell was called upon
to define his position and 90 issue a
proclamation 10 his followers, warn.
irE them 10 keep on the side II law
and order he made no reply to the
letter. Thursday the alliance issued
another open letter to th- labor
chief, and after consulting with his
advisers Mr.. Mitchell decided to an.
swrr Il
President Mitchell, IN the COURSE Of
his reply 20 the Citizens Alliance,
says:
Permit me to say TIM, do not
recognize your right 20 make de.
mnnds upon me 10 specifically declare
myself opposed to any special glasses
of lHwlrssnesE. ks a citizen Of the
United States and the chief rxecutivs
of the miners organization, I have
declared, an innumcrahie occasions,
aud In language not susceptible Of
sniscunstruction, that I am opposed
to lawlcssness ~ every character,
and | do not propose to alter ms
views TO conform to The tenris of the
Citizens Alliance, namely. wink al
capital crimes while inveighinR
against minor nffcuscs. I have never
IN my life sought to condonc an nm.
lawful act have thrown the full
weight Of my personality and indu.
euce on the side Of law and order;
and can say without egutism that
the miners union md its officers have
done more for the conservation oi
peace than all The Citizens alliances
o. 4 -,
men like yourselves, whose sympathy
with the poor and oppressed Is like
unto the friendship Brutus enter
tanned for Caesar.
II do not assume Ga sAy that there
have not been some trnnsgrcssioHg Of
law 10y members of the Miners I'm.
ion, but ! de- say, aud defy yoH 10
successfully contradict the state.
ment, that there has been much less
lawless on the part uf the miners
and that which Inns occurred has been
less serious IN proportion 60 their
number than on the part of the dep
utirs and coal mud iron police who
are charged with authority and are
specifically commissioned TO preserve
the Law, and against whom you i%ye
made no protest, and your organlza.
tion taken no action whatever. And
further, the records In the police
courts will demonstrate that n small.
cr number of miners have been con.
victcd ~ crime Ia the anthracite min.
ing town during the progress Of the
strike than for a like period preceding
a..
"AFain, | have no hesitancy In say.
Ing that there never was = great a;p
heayal. either industrial. political or
social In which there was ms little
real laHlcssness Ms has existed in the
anthracite region since the strike was
inaugurated. A. e said In my speech
at Nanticoke--to which You took en-.
rcption--the miners are as law-abid.
ing, as patriotic, as lihcrty-loving ms
any other class nf citizens In our
country. and shall not permit you
to malign them or defam4 the rrsi.
dents Of this community. either hy
direct charge nr insinuation without
registering an emphatic protest"
Death Dss 60 Mosquito EBts.
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