Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-02-18
LAST TALK. IS MADE.
Mr.. barrow Ends Argument Before
~-~ Strike Commission.
Is HEARD BY A GREAT AUDIENCE.
Further Sessions of Commission Will
BE in Secret-BeEins Considera-
ton of Its Verdict in Washing
ton Next Thursday.

Philadelphia, Feb. 14.-The anthra-
cite coal strike commission, after be-
ing in session for more than three
months, closed it's open hearings Fri
day with an all-day argument by Clar-
ence S. barrow in behalf of the miners.
The commission will meet in secret in
Washington next Thursday and begin
the consideration of it's award. It is
expected by the end of this month the
arbitrators will be ready to make their
announcement. If an increase in
wages is determined upon, the increase
is to date from the first of last No.
,vember, the commission having de-
cided upon that date on October 81.
After the session Friday the commis-
sion held a short conference with the
lawyers for the several sides, and asked
them to hold themselves in readiness
in case they are called upon by the
commission.
Great Crowd to Hear barrow.
The crowd that heard Mr.. barrow
speak Friday was fully as great as, that
which listened to Mr.: Baer and Mr..
barrow Thursday. He took up the
entire time of both sessions-five and
one-half hours. He touched upon al
most every phase of the strike, and
long applause which Chairman Gray
did not suppress. President Mitchell
was in court all day, but did not
have anything to say to the COM
mission in parting. Mr.. barrow
wasted no time in preliminaries,
and began his speech as soon as the
session was opened. He first dis
cussed the cause of the strike. The
responsibility for the coal famine, he
said, rested with those who were re-
sponsible for the strike. If the men
struck without just reason, they were
responsible; but if the men were right,
and the operators not broad-minded
enough to see the business of their
claims, then the latter were respon-
sible for the trouble. He believed the
strike was due to the blind, auto
cratic, stupid spirit of the operators
They believed the issue was, who should
be the master, the operators or the
men. l say neither should be the mas
ter of the other"
Mr.. barrow proceeded at some length
to verify his assertion, and quoted
from the testimony of the late Ario
Pardee, a coal operator, before a con-
gressional investigation 20 years ago,
showing the alleged blind spirit" of
the operators score of years back,
when they refused to treat with the or
ganization of the men. The same
spirit, he said, exists to-day. He
briefly referred to the spirit shown
by John Markle in evicting ID persons
for alleged criminal acts, and then took
up Mr.. Baer's sliding scale proposition
made Thursday. He said if Mr.. Baer
believed he made nice, fair propo-
sition, he proposed to show that it was
not. With the assistance of the
miners expert statistician, Mr.. barrow
said, the one per cent. raise on five
cents suggested by Mr.. Baer would give
the operators an increase of three and
one-half per cent. in profits, and the
miners only one and one-half on the
$3.50 basis. Mr.. Darrow's remarks
on the proposition plainly indicated
that the miners fatty reject the prop
osition.
Operators Forced Strike.
Reverting to the cause of the
strike, Mr.. barrow quoted from the
replies of the operators last spring.
when they refused to treat with the
organization. He said labor leaders
hesitate to call strike, because they
knew it means distress and suffer
ing. He wanted the captains of in
dustry" to know that it was better
for the men to treat with them than
have the men go to "the petty feudal
tyrants," who are under them in au-
thority for the purpose of getting
just treatment. 1t would be better
for the industry and the country to
have the heads of the coal companies
and the representatives of the men
meet face to face, rather than have
the individual workers go to the IN
der boss. If the boss does not like
what the miner says, he throws the
latter out. 49,.
At the afternoon session Mr.. barrow
again took up the question of violence.
''You can never have great strike ex-
cepting- here and there violence. is
done,'' he said, "and so it was in the
coal fields, where 100000 persons are
living very close to life > He said it
was wonder, after the operators had
insolently and cruelty rejected. the re-
quests Of theg men, that there was not
more violence among this population
which was reduced to a condition Dor
dering on starvation. He paid a trib-
ute to the foreigners in the coal re-
gions, whom he said were warm-heart-
ed, emotional, sympathetic, religious
people. It comes with poor grace, he
said, for the operators to say that the
Poles and Slavs, whose labor the presi-
+ dents have taken for years, could not
speak English, and therefore are not a
responsible party with. whom they
could make a contract. He spoke Of
the strict adherence Of the operators
Z , - go