The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1902-08-30
his office which was also the office nj

his office, which was also the office of
company store, I learned that this
rumor among the men was practically
unfounded. The independent operators,
I was told, would accept any terms
which the railroads accepted, but could
make no terms that the railroads did
not accept. The railroads owned, d.
rectly and Indirectly, ninety-five per
cent of all the collieries, and the in
dependent GOLFERS could not be profit
ably run if the railroad golfers secur-
ed better terms than they from the en-
ployes.fp The Independent operators. I
learned, shared the mems belief that
the strike would be- a long one. The
[rumors that the merchants had taken
or would take organized action to stop
the sale of goods on credit were entirely
unfounded; each store would continue
to give credit to trustworthy customers
The company stores in this section were
not regarded as oppressors. They were
few in numebr, they were in COMPETE
ton with private stores, and the en-
p1oyes were not required to trade at
them. The last strike had led to the
payment Of the hands fortnightly in
stead Of, monthly. The companies re-
garded this change as a nuisance. and
insisted that it caused the men to have
two monthly sprees instead Of one. The
men, however, regarded the change
with satisfaction. It was making cash
sales more general, they assured me.
and they got more for their money and
bought fewer things they did not need
when they paid cash.
The statement Of the employers re-
gardfng the extent to which the men
drank was not in harmony with their
statements regarding the amount wnici,
the men saved from their present
wages. In talking with the men there
was similar contradiction in the testi-
mony received. If they were speaking
about their treatment, their wages were
to small, for them to liveupon; If they
were talking about their ability to hold
out for a six months strike, they were
all surprisingly aff1uent. When reach
ed Oliphant which, is the center of the
union in the northern district, I was
particularly struck with the mems
statements as to their ability to hold
out. The unmarried .Hungarians and
L O1Cos was LO1O Adu 'uCdIly oil ulOUcy
saved ahead, and many Of this element
had already set out for New York,
Philadelphia, to get work as unskilled
laborers while the strike LASTED. The
men who remained near the mines were
some, OF them able to get odd Jobs upon
neighboring farms, and sometimes upon
farms belonging to members Of their
own family. The amount of work which
the men could secure in the summer,
and the great red uction IN living ex-
penses which the season brought, made
the summer much the best time for. 4
strike. I had previously thought that
the union had made a strategic mistake
in permitting the, battle to be fought at
this season; became convinced that
the mistake was my own. ): =.
When the men wer talking about the
greater cost: Of living in ! the = winter,
they emphasized the cost: Of coal; and
was not entirely displeased>: to find that,
in common with: other consumers, they
felt the advance which followed the
last strike. The sprice Of. coal had been
advanced forty cents ton at the mine,
just as it had been at seaboard. and the
coal they had previously bought for
$1.75 a ton they could not buy today for
less than $2.15. The increase to them
was more than twenty per cent. It
furnished them, in fact, with one of
their favorite Illustrations when they
were claiming that the ten per cent
advance in wages secured in 1900 had
been entirely eaten up by the increased
cost Of living. Rents, they admitted,
had not advanced, and neither had
clothing; but food had advanced nearly
twenty per cent, and their days wages
they asserted, bought less than before
the strike, despite, the ten per cent in
! 5s Continued on Page seven 4 It. i.
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