The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1902-06-27

:
Walter y. Gilman, the special CORE
spo' dent of the Chicago Record
Herald, is doing excellent work in
connection wiihstiie strike of the coal
miners agains. the coal trust. In one
of his articles he thus speaks of the
coal trust:
Here is a skillful combination of
many corporations engaged in inter-
state trade To control the entire out
put and the selling Lrices in an in
dustry to which the public pays more
than $3.50, 000,e coo Il year. They de-
stroy all competition, choke individ-
ual initiative, suppress as far as pos
sibse the laws of supply and demand,
nuliify the great principle upon which
all industriaiism is founded-rivalry
between men engaged in the same
business as to which shall produce
and sell the cheapest that which the
public has to buy.
The coal trust not only EFFORTS from
the consumer and brushes out the in
dividual mine owner, but jtpsoceeds
10 tx arbitrarily the terms and condi-
tions upon which its multitude Of en-
ployes, the real wealth producers,
must work Or starve.
According to Mr.. Wellman the
amount collected from the people is
more than $3.50, 600, 600. OF this sum
the operators claim to pay s57, 600, 600
TO their employees. but Mr.. Wellman
charges that according to the statis-
tics furnished by the Pennsylvania
state officials they only pay $40 900,
900. When on a former occasion they
were compelled to raise the wages ten
per cent. they immediately raised the
price Of coal from three to five times
As much as the increase in wages
amounted to. The railroads own or
control enough of the mines to give
them absolute dominion over the
trade, and by fixing the freights high
aud the price of the coal at the mine
low they can conceal the injustice
done.
The coal miners union is engaged
in life or death struggle with this
great coal combination, and the sym
pathies OF the people generally must
has shown great deal of ability in
giving directions to the strikers and,
realizing that the preservation of
order is even more important to the
miners than to the, employees, he has
exerted himself to prevent any out
break.
Society, however, has as much at
stake as either employer or employe,
and is Interested in providing an ar
bitration whereby differences can be
settled without a resort to prolonged
and expensive strikes. An impartial
commission that would investigate the
facts and make public its findings
would be of immense service. There
is a sense OF justice in the human
heart that can always be appealed to,
and this sense of justice would assist
materially in the settlement of diff
culties. 1t is not necessary that arbi-
important thing is to inform the pub
lie of the merits of the controversy.
Neither side can stand out long
against an Intelligent public opinion
Mr.. Wellman is doing all that an in
dividual can do to call the attention
of the public to the situation, but no
one individual can speak with the au-
thority of a board of arbitration.
1t is to be regretted that the coal
miners are so slow TO realize that the
ballot box furnishes means OF re-
dress. If they would act as unitedly
at the polls as they do in strike,
strikes would be Unnecessary. So
long as they can be induced to vote
for the men nominated by the rail-
roads and corporations they will find
1t difficult to secure any legislation
that really advances their interests.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT