The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-11-18
A BATTLE OF INTELLECTS.
John Mitchell We'll SuStains Powerful
Cross Examination
CONPLmENTED BY Mr.. MAcyEAGH.
The Investigation Promises to Be Tedi-
Gus and the Commissioners VIII
Try to Shorten It.

Scranton, Pa. November 1T.-In the pres
cucc Of as many persons as could be jam.
med into the superior court room today,
Wayne MacVeagh, for the Erie company,
and John Mitchell, for the miners, con
tiuued their brilliant battle Of cross-cx-
animation before the anthracite coal com
mission. The two men. the one in mis-
| thlrtleth and the other in his SEVENTEEN
year, were followed with interest by both
the commissioners aud the crowd through
out the day, and the contest will be re-
sumcd In the morning. The fourth demand
| Of the union, which calls for a yearly trade
agreement, aud which means n struIghtout
recognition of the union. was the bone OF
| contention and, although four hours were
| taken up I'm discussion Of the question
not much material progress was made. MIR
| MacVeagh, skilled in the art OF crossex-
| animation, attempted to show the utter ir
! responsibility of the union and It's undtncss
To make contracts which It could not live
! up TO- His principal argument was the
alleged boycott, and he often pressed the
miners president for an answer The lat
ter, however, slowly and deliberately gave
some reply, but he did not always satisfy
the lnqusltor. Mr.. MacVeagh in the pres
cncc of the assemblage, and on one occasion
when Mr.. Mitchell parted a question re
garding the boycottng OF q coal and iron
, policeman by a hotel keeper. the distin-
gushed attorney threw up his hands, laugh
ed and said:
Mr. Mitchell you are the best witness
for yourself that l ever confronted
THE REIGN or TERROR.
/ Mr.. MacVeagh weighed heavily on what
he said was n reign Of terror In the an
thraclte region during the strike He read
a list Of fourteen names OF men who were
killed during thar time, and also submitted
in evidence about scycnty-hvc printed pages
| Of alleged acts of violence, boycott and I'm.
tmidaton and with the assistance Of
stacks OF other documents maintained that
/ lt would he utterly impracticable for the
coal companies he represented to enter into
! agreements with an organization that could
NOT control It's own men.
! Mr. Mitchell Stoutly maintained that
! uIseipliGe IN the organization Is AS good as
! II could be where $4,000 men were IN
/ VOWED. He asserted that the strikers were
I not entirely responsible for the acts of law
lessness that were committed. lie regret
| tea that members of the union had I'm
! some instances violated the law, even
/ AFTER they had been warned to refrain
| from doing SO, but made the excuse that In
/ ways more or less disorder
IA answer 10 questions he said that where
I there was reign of terror, and he had no
Information thar such was the case dur
ing the late strike, conditions arise that
are "mtolcrAhle' or unfortunate" Re
plying To- specific Instances, pointed out 20
him 10y MIR. AlaCNGagh whore men had
Deen deferred from going 10 work through
fear Of personal harm or social ostracism
Tor themselves and families, Mr. Mitchell
satd that, la some cases, men may have
been deferred, but denied the assertion
That such alleged acts prevented the mines
nom being operated He said thar when
the strike was declared every mine work
or IN the region quit work and remained
out, eyon after the entire National guard
of the State had been thrown INFO the coal
ncds. Tn short nc said the mon would
net have gene 10 WORT under any circum
stances.
MIrCHELL'S sKILLFUL REPLIES
The miners president no matter how
sEHfdlly he was questioned, could not be
dragged into a DAT admission that he. as
president Of the union approved OF the boy
colts complained OF by the companies He
had his personal opinions OF some phases OF
the boycott, but would not express them as
being the sentiment or policy of his or
ganizatlon. During the cross,examinatlon
the commissioners often interrupted with
questions 10 stop long colloquy over some
point While the examination was at times
quite spirited, the best OF good feeling pre-
vailed Only once Mr. Mitchell showed
signs Of irritation. This was when MIR.
AlacNeagh, reading the long list OF acts Of
violence would take Mr.. Mitchell U task
for some particular vicious act, and say,
sharply.
You could have prevented this"
In the course ~ tho forenoon session
Mr. MacNeagh examined Mr.. Mitchell re-
garding the eighh hour day demand, and
referred TO the fact that Abraham Lin
coin. James A. Garfield and William Me
kinley worked more than eight hours a
day and were thus enabled 10 climb the
ladder 10 the presidency. Mr. MacNeagh
grew eloquent IN the course Of putting one
~ his questions 10 Mr.. Mitchell regarding
the martyTed presidents, and said;
II only mention these because they are
three victims OF the spirit OF anarchy
which Is the curse OF this country today,
and the only serious curse affecting tt
Tho miners president quick as q flash
came back with the inquiry;
Trade unions are not held responsible
for it, are theyt'
MURMUR OF DIsAPPRovAI4
To this Mr. Macye0gh quickly replied
that they we're not. and supplemented this
With tho remark that labor unione are most
admirable. The bringing Of the vera IAN.