The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-17

rary agreements and advance the cause of cooperative labor: every year that such agreement was made gives perml- nent advance to the united miners. But we are also convinced that in the end strong measures would have to be taken to break up the cruel and tyrannical combination of the coal mining and transporting companies.
 The real condition of the miners and the true amount of their wages are not realized by those who have not been per sonally familiar with that region. The condition of those laborers is frightful- low morally, economically, educationally. And this must be inevitable under the burdens they carry. They are largely Slavs in their origin; they were ignor- ant of our language, customs. manners, and devoid of our traditional. obedience to law and our resistance to tyranny. They were illiterate and not high in ths moral scale of Europe. The operators imported these Slavs to get rid of the English speaking miners-to have labor accustomed to scant wages, poor-livins and hard task-masters. Under our par tial tariff laws labor was free-foreign labor could be imported without duty and these operators went to the foreign mines and selected the lower class of laborers. They also imported 40 per cent. more than were actually needed, so as to have an abundant supply and so as to pay such low wages that the miner would always be behind at the company store and be Tn reality slave. They then added intolerable conditions. They required about 3,600 pounds of mined coal to be counted as ton: they charged criminal prices for powder and larcenous profits at the company stores, and tn an so arranged the labor that each man worked only about 175 days in the yea, or from fifteen to seventeen days in month.
 Under the Constitution of Pennsylvania no transporting company can be inter- estcd directly or indirectly in the mining of coal: These companies attempt to evade this provision by the shallowest of legal fictions. They own and mine all the coal, but do so under the guise of various corporations; a mere device to evade the law. They have issued mil Ions of bonds and stock far above the cost and the value of their properties and of course pay ID dividends on the common stock. They charge freight on coal at about double the freight on other articles-though anthracite coal stands the most exposed mode of transporta- tion.
 Under such circumstances there Is con. stant danger of strikes. and the number of small strikes in this field has been very large, and an universal strike may occur at any time. The public have alized the danger and must confront the evils-this also requires that the reme- dies be carefully but fearlessly consi1- cred. And now is the time to undertake the necessary legislative measures and test the present laws and our judicial power.
 The charters of those railroad and min ing companies ought to be forfeited. This may be done Dy legal proceedings. It certainly can be done by legal proceed ings under proper statutes, and these statutes ought to be enacte1. Anthracite coal is a public necessity; its mining and transports tion can be regulated by law; and these laws ought to be adopted whether this strike ends or continues.
 Tribunals can be established for the set nf ttesG haf fh.A and miners; and any citizen ought to be authorized to institute proceedings to prevent strikes or to have receivers dp pointed when the comp lnies fail to ex.r- cute the purpose of their creation This mode Is sometimes called compulsory arbitration"-it Is only new application of the simple. everyday law and prac- tice that clotne our courts with power to compulsorily arbitrate between creditor and debtor; or claimants to the same property. If corporation becomes bankrupt the courts can appoint re- ceiver why not If it either will not or cannot perform the duty for which it was created?
 It would be well also to form a per manent commission. with power at any time to make inquisitorial examination into the books of any corporation ere ated to perform a public function. When charters are forfeited there Is no con- fiscation: the property is transmitted into money and the owners are paid their
 
 cenous water would be squeezed out of the present apparent stocks and bonis issued by those companies; and the real value of the properties being thus judi cially ascertained, wages could be paid and coal sold at fair prices and reason able dividends paid to the owners who buy at the decretal sales It is said in objection to these proposed measures that they will take much time and the country wants some speedier remedy. This is meant as an excuse for the vio- lation of law and the virtual confiscation of these properties. This is not justi- fed And while 1t Is true that these pro posed measures can not be adopted speedily, yet they can be adopted if the people really desired. And billions of invested capital are deeply. vitally in- terested in their speedy adoption. Every factory, every industry in America is awake to this impending ruin. These are ba sed on fuel; they must close without cheap and certain fuel. This strike has shown them how precarious their in- vestments are. The change in sentiment Is not yet realized. Every housewife is threatened as well as every industry. The mechanic, the wage earner in every pos sible form of labor as well as the owner of the factories and enterprises are in- yoIyed in this universal danger. And if the power of political organization does not prevent, there will be agitation and demand until further experiment is tried to prevent the recurrence of this dan