River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-11-20
AGAIN IN WITNESS BOX.
The Cross-ExaminRtiO of President
Mitchell Continues Before Coal
Strike Commission.

Scranton, Pa, Nov. 1.-THE coal
strike commission resumed its SEES
sions Saturday. After q few prelim-
inaries President Mitchell, who was
on the stand all day Friday, again
went into the witness box and his
cross-examination by David Wilcox.
general counsel for the Delaware d
Hudson company, was continued.
Mr.. Mitchell, answering a question
by Mr.. Wilcox, said that the local
unions or mass meetings may direct
the operations of pickets. Mr. Wilcox
then read from statement made by
President Gompers, of the Federation
of Labor, at the Chicago trust confer
ence in September, 1899, in which Mr..
Gon1pers is alleged to have said that
| any trust legislation which did not
specially exempt organized labor from
its operation would meet the unques-
toned opposition of all the labor
forces, and asked the witness if that
expressed his views. Mr.. Mitchell re-
piled that organized labor would not
look with favor upon any law that
would legislate them out of business.
Mr.. Mitchell, answering further
questions, said he regarded as living
wages for q miner not less than 5000
| per annum, which would cover his ac-
tual necessities and permit him to ed
ucate his children.
At this point Judge Gray asked the
witness if he meant to say a wage suf-
! ticient to permit the children to avail
themselves of the public schools or to-
| spend a portion of the family income
directly for education and sufficient to
render it unnecessary to employ child
| labor to increase the income of the
! family. The witness answered in the
affirmative.
Mr.. Wilcox took up one OF Pres
ident Baer's statements and Mr..
Mitchell said that it was susceptible
of several interpretations "For in
stance" he said, "Mr. Baer is quoted
as saying that slate-picllers receive
IS cents day. That may be true
in some cases, but we know that
most slate-pickers get much less than
that amount"
Mr.. Mitchell denied that his organ
iZation restricted the quantity of
work man should perform, but said
it did believe in regulating the hours
of the work
Judge Gray asked: eff l blast and
| throw down enough coal to employ
three laborers to load, and you only
throw down enough to employ two,
am not to be allowed to employ the
third laborer?"
Mr.. Mitchell replied: ''You would
not be, because your laborers could
not all work in the same place. You
should have to work at two different
| breasts to do that, and as you would
have to comply with the law of Penn
sylvania in looking after the safety
of your laborers, you can only do
that by being with them and work
ing with them"
When Mr.. Wilcox concluded his
REORGANIZATION, the witness was
| questioned by Wayne MacVeagh, rep
resenting the Pennsylvania Coal com
pany and the Hillside Coal and Iron
company Mr.. MacVeagh held Mr..
Mitchell down to an exact statement
of the grievances which the miners
had against the companies represent
ed by him. Mr.. Mitchell stated these
to be that the companies have failed
to pay wages sufficiently high, that
they have failed to establish conditions
of employment that were fair; that
they have wrong system of measur-
ing the earnings of the miners, and
that their opposition to the treatment
IF ho hnc nf
been for the best.
Mr. MacVeagh questioned Mr.. Mitch
ell on the demand for an increase in
wages and pressed the national presi
dent hard when he asked him if he
cared to carry the responsibility of
increasing the living expenses of the
great mass of the people OF the east
ern states, who ultimately would
have to carry the burden of the min
ers if higher wages were granted.
Mr.. Mitchell's reply, in substance,
was that the miners could not as
sumo the responsibility, as it was a
situation over which they had no
control
The constitution of the United
Mine Workers of America was also
taken up by the lawyer, and he and
Mr.. Mitchell several times spared
for points regarding the references
contained in it to an eight-hour day.
Mr.. MacVeagh contended that no one
had the right to deny a man the priv
ilege of working more than eight
hours day if he SO desired. TO the
direct question whether he, as presi-
dent of the union, had a right to cur
tail the hours of daily employment
of the miners, Mr.. Mitchell said that
he thought he had. He explained by
saying that if one miner worked
more than eight hours day it prob
ably would result in the other men
being compelled to work the same
number of hours.
Death of a Prince.
London, Nov. 17.-Prince Edward,
Of Saxe-Weimar, died here Sunday
morning. He was attacked by appen-
dicitis Thursday, and succumbed to
congestion of the kidneys, with which
the original malady became compli-
ctaed.