Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-18
Commission win To-Day rronnb,y
vited 10 Testify,

| presence of as many persons aS couiu "
jarnmed iIto the Superior Court room
to-day. Wayne MacTeagh, for the Erie
Company. and John Mitchell. for the
miners. continued the brilliant battle OF
cross-examination before the Anthracite
Coal Strike Commission. The two men
the one in his tlsirtjes. and the other in
his seventies. were followed with intense
interest l,y the commissioners and the
crowd throughout: and the contest will be
resumed in the morning. The fourth de
rnand of the union. which calls for ::
/ yearly trade agreement, and which means
a straisat-cut recognition Of the union,
was the bone of contention, ana although
! four hours were taken up in discussion
! of the question. not much material pro-
| gress was made. Wayne MacEeagh,
| skilled in the art of cross examination.
| attempted TO show the utter irresponsl-
/ bilitv of the union. and its untitncss to
j make contracts which it could live up
10 His principal argument was the
] alleged boycott. and he often hard pressed
the miners president for an answer. The
| latter however slowly and deliberately
/ gave some reply. but it did not always
satisfy his inquisitor
M MacVeagh. in the presence of the
assenbaSe, expressed his admiration OF
the ability of the witness, and on one
occa aston. when Mr.. Mitchell parried a
question regarding the boycotting OF q
coal and iron policeman by a hotel keeper
the distinguished attorney threw ZIP his
hands. laughed, and said: Mr. Mitchell.
you're the best witness for yourself that
I ever confronted.
Alleged Reign of Terror.
Mr. MacVeagh weighed heavily on what
he said was a reign of terror in the
anthracite region during the period or the
strike He read a list of fourteen names
of men who were killed during that
time and also submitted in evidence
about seventy-tiSc printed pages OF acts
of alleged violence, boycott and intisnida-
ton. and with the assistance o. stacks of
documents maintained that 1t would be
utterly mpra cticable for the coal corr
paries he represents TO enter into agree
ments with an organization that could
not control its own mcn
Mr.. Mitchell stoutly maintained that
the discipline in the organiZati tion Is as
good as it possibly could be where 1900
men are involved He claimed that the
strikers were not entirely responsible for
the acts of laTieSneSS that We're commit
ted He regretted that members of the
union had in some instances. violated the
law. even after they had been warned TO
refrain from doing SO. but made the eN-
Cuse that III time of great excitement
there was always more or less disorder.
In answer TO questions. he said that
where there was q reign of terror. and
he had no information that such was the
case during the late strike. conditions
arose that are ''intolerable' or unfortu-
nate.
Replying to specific instances pointed
out 10 him by Mr.. MacVeaSh, where men
had been deferred from going to work
through fear of personal harm or social
ostrac ciSm for themselves and families,
Mr.. Mitchell said that in some cases. men
had been deferred. but denied the asser-
tion that such alleged acts prevented the
mines were being operated. He said that
when the strike vas declared every mine
worker in tho region quit work, and re-
mained out even after the entire National
Guard of the State had been thrown
into the coal fields. II short he said.
the men would not have gone to work
under any condition.
Mitchell Not TO BE Trapped.
The miners president. no matter how
skillfully he was questioned. could not
be dragged into flat admission that
be, rs president of the union, approved
the boycotts complained of by the COM
panies. He had his personal opinions of
some phases of the boycott, hut would
not express them as being the sentiment
or policy Of the organization. During the
cToSS-eXamination the commissioners
often interrupted with questions in en-
dcavor to stop a long controversy over
some disputed point
While the cross-eXamination was at its
height the best of good nature pervailed
Only once did President Mitchell show
signs of irritability This was when Mr.
NacNeagh. reading the long list of acts
of violence would take Mr.. Mitchell to
task for some species of violence, and
said sharply: you could have prevented
this
Eirht-Hour Day and ':Annrchy.".
In the course of the forenoon session.
Mr.. MacEeagh examined Mr.. Mitchell re-
.,ardinc the eicht-hour demand. and re- |
ferred 10 the fact that Ahra ha m Lincoln. |
James a. Garfield, and William Mckinley |
worked more than eight hours % day, |
and were thus enabled to climb the ladder
TO the Presidency. Mr.. VacEeagh grew !
his questions to Mr.. Mitchell regarding
the martyred President, adding: Il only |
these because thev are the |
three victims of the spirit of anarchy,
which is the curse OF this country to-
day, and the only serious curse atnlcting
it,
The miners president. quick as a fash
came back with the inquiry: Trade
unions are not held responsible for it.
are thew to which Mr. MacVeagh