Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-19
NOTED BATTLES OF LABOR
NinsrE Strike Believed to BE the 6ostlisst
in the United States.
OPERATOR, MINER, CONSUMER PlNcHED
Review of Former Struggles Between
b and Capital, Involving
Lose of Life and Destruo-
ton of Property.

The strike Of the anthracite coal miners
promises to go Town in history as the cost
lest war between capital and labor since
the republic was founded. There have been
more desperate struggles, causing greater
loss Of life and destruction Of property.
such as the railroad strikes Of 1871. the
Homestead tragedy and the so-called Debs
rebellion, but none Of these struggles APP
preached in duration and direct financial
loss the anthracite miners strike Of 1902.
Il is twenty-three weeks since the miners
quit work and the loss occasioned by the
shutdown Of the mines is estimated by the
Philadelphia Ledger at s136. 900. 900. The es-
Innate covers the miners losses In wages
ane losses to the owners of the mines, but
whether II includes the cost to consumers
by reason Of the greatly increased price
Of hard coal is not stated. The latter item
Of cost Is incalculable. In the seaboard
cities hard coal doubled and trebled In
price. and very little could be had at any
price. In Chicago and tributary towns
prices more than doubled. and in Omaha
the advance was $3.50 above the ruling
price in october. 1901. Bradstreet esti-
mated the losses occasioned by the Debs
revolt at 800, 900, 900 more than one-half
OF which is charged to the employees Of rail-
ways and other wage workers. This esti-
hAIb IL SUN VI NsNTNNVtNNN - ~
amount OF wages lost by railroad employees
aud S35, 900, 900 as the loss of other en-
ployes In the various branches Of business
which were closed, or partly so, by the
strike. The rest is made up OF losses suf-
fered by railroads.. the government. merch-
ants and others.
where Trouble Breeds.
The mining interests Of Pennsylvania are
easily tka most fruitful source. Of labor
troubles IN the United States. 1t is evil
dent from the record that the owners of
the mines possess a greater stock Of greed
and arrogance than any other class OF mine
owners. Rapacity is scarcely an adequats
term to describe their principal charac-
teristic, for while they hold q practical
monopoly of the product and fix their price
at will, they fleece their workmen by means
of the company stores. short weight. false
measurement Of cars, and low wages. Al
most annually, the miners have struggled
to fair treatment, gaining a little at each
step. but at tremendous cost. So deep
rooted is the greed OF the operators that
they have repeatedly changed the racial
characteristics OF their employees in the
last thirty years. Long ago American min
ers were driven from the region because
they dared demand their rights. Welch
miners were also exiled for like reasons,
and the mines filed with workmen Inn
ported from Europe. This method OF bresk-
ing a strike was destroyed by the federal
contract labor law, but the operators have
somehow managed to keep about the mines
a large number of foreigners as a part Of
their plan to weaken the growing spirit of
unionism.' In the present strike, however.
the foreigners proved as loyal to the cause
as the more intelligent workmen, practi-
cally forcing the operators to come TO
terms or abandon the mines.
some Famous Strikes.
II is instructive to review in this con-
nection some Of the great labor struggles
which marked the last quarter of the nine
teenth century. The first strike OF national
Importance was that of the telegraph oper-
ators in the summer of 1871. That strike
was confined to commercial operators
mainly, as was that of 1888. The principal
cause Of the former was a reduction OF
salaries. Some concessions were granted
and the men returned to work. The great
strike OF 1888 was caused by q refusal OF
the company to aocede to certain demands
of the operators, namely: Regulation Of
the hours Of labor, making nine hours q
days work and seven and a half hours for
night work; 10 per cent increase in wages;
extra pay for extra work; all Sunday work
extra and women to be paid the same wages
as men for the same class Of work. The
strike started July II. In exactly one
month the men returned to work, some OF
the objects sought having been granted
A minor strike among operators occurred
in 1890, and was confined to the Rio Grande
aud Denver & Gulf railroad systems.
The great railroad strike OF 1877 began on
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad at Martins
burg. W. Va The immediate cause Of the
struggle was a reduction Of 10 per cent In
wages. The reduction was the last straw
labor's back could bear. Employees had
borne innumerable burdens patiently. worl
was irregulsr. pay days we're few and far
between and expense bills remained unset.
tied. The order for a cut created an ex-
plosion that oonvulsed the country. rh'
flame started at Martinsburg on the morn
ing OF July II. spread with the uncontrolla-
BILE hereeness OF a prairie fire. enveloplna
the Pennsylvania Central, Erie. Lake shor5