Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-11-24
CON TINUING THE
CROSS-EXAMINATl0N
FOUR MORE HOURS SPENT IN
DISCUSSION.
UNIONS ARE IRRESPONSIBLE
Unfit for Making Contract-Boycotting
Question Pushes Mitchell Hard for
Answers - Unions Demands for
Yearly Contract the Bone of Con-
tention-WiII Resume Soon.

Scranton, Nov 18.-In the presence
Of as many persons as could be
jammed into the courtroom yesterday,
Wayne MacVaegh, for the Erie COM
pany, and John Mitchell, for the
miners, continued brilliant battle OF
cross examination before the commits
sion The two men, the one in his
thirties, the other in his seventies,
were followed with intense interest by
both the commissioners and crowd
throughout the day, and the contest
will be resumed this morning. The
fourth demand of the union, which
calls for yearly trade agreement, and
which means straight out recognition
of the union, was the bone of cOnten-
ton and although four hours were
taken up in discussion Of the question,
not much material progress was made.
MacVeagh, skilled in the art Of cross
examination, attempted to show the
utter responsibility of the union and
it's unfitness to make a contract which
it could live up to. His principal ar
gument was alleged boycott and he
often hard pressed the miners presi-
dent for answers. The latter, how
ever, slowly and deliberately gave
some reply, but they did not always
satisfy his inQuisitor. MacVeagh, in
the presence Of the assemblage, eX-
pressed his admiration Of the ability
of the witness, and on one occasion
when Mitchell parried question re-
garding the boycotting Of coal and
iron policemen by hotel keepers, the
distinguished attorney threw up his
hands, laughed and said:
''Mr Mitchell, you are the best wit
ness for yourself that l ever con-
fronted."
MacVeagh weighed heavily on what
he said was the reign of terror in the
anthracite region during the strike,
citing the number killed and injured
and presenting long list Of the alleged
acts of violence and intimidation,
maintaining it was impracticable for
the companies to make an agreement:
Mitchell maintained that the discipline
was as good as it possibly could be
with 147, 600 men involved and denied
that the strikers were responsible for
all the acts Of violence.
The miners president, no matter
how szillfuIly he was questioned, could
not be dragged into a fiat admission
| that he, as president Of the uion, ap-
proved Of the boycotts complained OF
by the companies. MacVeagh exam
| ined Mitchell regarding the eight-hOur
demand, and referred to the fact that
! Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield
and William Mckinley worked more
! than eight hours a day and were thus
enabled to climb the ladder to the
: presidency. MacVeagh grew eloquent
in the course of putting one of his
questions to Mitchell regarding mar
tyred presidents, and added: II only
{ mention these because they are the
three victims of the spirit of anarchy,
which is the curse Of this country to-
day and the only serious curse af-
| fiicting it,
Mitchell quick as a flash, came back
with the inquiry: "Trade unions are
not held responsible for it, are they"
to which MacVeagh quickly respond
ed they were not, and supplemented
this with the remark that labor unions
are most admirable.
| The bringing OF the word anarchy
! into the examination caused a distinct
murmur of disapproval from many
miners in the court room. The inves-
tigation is moving so slowly that the
commission will probably suggest
that the attorneys agree upon a plan
to expedite it.