The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-02-20


Philadelphia, Pa, Feb. 13.-With the
expectation OF hearing George f. Baer,
president of the Reading
make the closing argument against the
demands of the miners, the largest
! crowd that has yet jammed into the
! United States circuit court room was
| present When the coal strike commits
sion opened it's session today. Former
Congressman Wolverton, principal
counsel for the Philadelphia and Read
ing Goa ard Iron company, concluded
his argument, begun yesterday, and
I was followed by Mr.. Baer.
! Mr.. Baer SAID: ''In the DEVELOPMENT
OF the natural u of the earth
it is necessary for men to combine both
their capital and their energy. Rail-
roads, steamship lines, great steel
plants and workshops of every kind can
only be created, oy combination of cap
: ital. We are apt to overlook the part
these business corporations play in the
redistribution of wealth. Their stockhold-
4 ers are many. scattered far and wide,
land the business is not owned, as
smany people suppose, by a few rich
The profits made in any large
business carried on by a firm consist
ing of very few persons are distributed
Eamong these few, but successful bust
yness carried on in corporate form dis
tributes its profits among many and
therefore necessarily tends to the great
er distribution of wealth. In general,
no n denies the right of man to or
ganize for any lawful but the
right to organize and the power of that
Reorganization when organized must still
: BE governed and controlled by the gen.
} eral laws Of the and Under which our
llnd1vldual and property rights are pro-
ttected.
I Right to Organize.
7 w concede to organized labor the
Esame rights that we claim for organ
lied capital. Each must keep within
the law. There cannot be one law for
citizens and corporations n another
for labor organizations. The lawless-
ness in the coal regions was a direct
result Of mistaken theories as to the
rights OF mine workers. 1t will not do
to say the leaders ave not encouraged
violence and crime. 1t is true, no
kdoubt, that they did not advise. They
Fmay at times have counselled against
H. ana expressed regrets for it; never
theless, they are legally and morally
Irresponsible for the situation they Gre
ated and from which this violence and
fcrime necessarily resulted.
MANY good men have found fault
with US for not making an agreement
with the United Mine Workers of
America. You will recall that a de-
tmand was made upon us for an uni
form scale Of wages, covering the
whole anthracite field. All the OPERA
Etors were asked to meet in convention
Ewith a view of adopting a uniform
scale. Conditions of employment are
mot always the same, and therefore a
uniform scale Of wages applicable to
the whole United States would not be
just. We nave made every effort to
convince Mitchell Il his friends of
the utter impracticability of his
scheme. Our chief objection to his or
g~anlzatlon was it was a foreign or
gan1zation interested in rival and COM
petitive business.
9 Objects to Outsiders.
w never could see the wisdom of
permitting the bituminous coal miners
to inject themselves into the anthracite
mining situation. 1t has proved to be
just as mischievous as we believed
1t would be. In addition to the fact
that the miners union was controlled
by hostile interests we objected to it
because we cannot delegate to the
miners union. or to n other labor
union, the right to determine who shall
be our employees. We have the right to
employ any honest mar without dis
elimination as to his religion, national
lty or membership In labor organiza-
tons. This is a right we will not sur
render We do not object to our en-
ployes joining labor organizations. This
is their privilege. But we will not agree
to turn over the management of our
business to a labor organization because
some Of our employees belong to it.
II limit the right of exertion of
work is to limit production. It is not
only wrong done to an individual u
1t is violation of sound economic prin-
ciples, and therefore an injury to So
c1ety. The ultimate effect of restrict
ing production SO as to divide employ
ment and increase wages must be to
keep on dividing the wage fund as often
as new men seek employment. There
must be a limit to the increase Of wages
but there can be no limit to the in
of workmen.
A Dangerous Plan.
THE process must inevitably lead to
the destruction of industry or reduc-
ton OF the wages of every man to a
sum barely sufficient to sustain life.
Wages can only increase when each in
diVidual is left free to exert himself to
his fullest capacity, thereby creating
wealth which in turn gives new en-
pioyinent and creates a demand for
commodities, and a demand for work
men to produce them. Only in this way
can a wage fund be increased. Il we
are over anxious about~tkc effect OF
mere possibilities of monopoly what
u be the measure of anxiety as to
placing the control of the fuel Of 9
country in one organization, and that
too an organization without capital or
reSnpn iztttE4G~fE .aEH -tE.sE 81