Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-23
DISORDER At MINES
Harsh Measures Adopted
During Coal Strike.
THREATS A FACTOR
SOME FURTHER COMMENTS OF
THE GRAY COMMISSION.
Responsibility Imposed Upon Labor
Organizations = Condemnation Of
Boycotting and Blacklisting.

oOyCOtCluK anu bldCkl1SCluE.
The anthracite coal strike commission, II
its exhaustive report to the President OF
the labor troubles in the coal regions, Wig
orously denounces the harsh and unlawful
measures adopted by both sides during thu
strike. Ii says:
I'm the letter of the operators, which form,
the basis of the submission of issues to this
commission the signatory parties state
that they are not discriminating against
the United Mine Workers. but they insist
that the miners union shall not discriminate
against or refuse to work with non-unior
men, The testimony proved that some
discrimination, on the part of both opera
tors and union men, was made, before and
after the strike was fnaugurated, and even
to some extent. after 1t had been declared
off 1t is difficult of course. to determine
just how far the employers declined to re-
employ miners, simply because they were
members of the union. or just how far the
miners themselves refused to work with
non-union men. In the aforementioned let
ter 1t Is stated that the understanding Is
that the miners will return to work ano
cease all interference with or persecution
of any non-union men who are working OF
shall hereafter work.
Discrimination Serious Menace.
THE testimony does no treveal any con-
siderable amount of interference on the part
of mem oers of the union with non-union
men, after work had been resumed-that Is
after the 23d Of October. Nevertheless II
is evident to the commission that discrimi-
nation whether on the part of the opera
tors or of any of their employees, Is serl-
Gus menace to the discipline of the mines.
There is no industry in which discipline Is
more essential than in mining. The hazard
Gus nature of the work calls for the best
discipline; it is to the interest of the EN-
ployer and the employe to see that II is
maintained. Each should aid the other,
not only in establishing the best methods for
securing discipline, but in efforts to pre-
serve It. Discrimination and interference
weaken all discipline.
Disorder at the Mines.
although some reflections on the general
subject have been made no discussion of
the conditions prevailing in the anthracite
region during the continuance of the late
strike would be adequate that did not fully
deal with the disorder and lawlessness
which existed to some extent over the
whole region and throughout the whole
period 1t is admitted that this disorder
and lawleSsness was incident to the strike.
Its history is stained with a record of riot
and bloodshed eliminating In three muir
ders, unprovoked save by the fact that two
of the victims were asserting their right
to work, and another, as an officer of the
law, was performing his duty. in attempt
ing to preserve the peace. Men who chose
to be employed, or who remained at work,
were assailed and threatened and they and
their families terrorized and intimidated.
In several instances the houses of such
workmen were dynamited or otherwise as
saulted. and the lives of unoffending women
and children put in Jeopardy. The armed
guards. employed to protect the collieries
and the men who worked them, appear not
to have been an unnecessary precautlon,
and the governor of the state was, as the
evidence before the commission shows, JUS
titled in calling out the citizen soldiery of
the commonwealth to preserve its peace
and vindicate Its laws.
THE resentment expressed by many per-
sons connected with the strike at the pres
ence Of the armed guards and militia of the
state does not argue well for the peaceable
character or purposes Of such persons. No
peaceable or law-abiding citizen has reason
to fear or resent the presence OF either.
Some Exaggeration.
'It is true that exaggerated accounts of
the disturbances were published. and there
was testimony from reputable witnesses
tending to minimize them, and vouchirg for
the good order of the communities in which
such witnesses lived, but these were mainly
in the localities where the operators made
no attempt to work the collieries 1t Is also
true, and justice requires the statement,
that the leaders of the organization which
began and conducted the strike, and notably
it's president, condemned all violence and
exhorted their followers to sobriety and
moderation 1t would seem, however, that
the subordinate local organizations and
their leaders were not so amenabe to such
counsels as to prevent the regrettable oc-
currences to which reference has been
made.
Many Law-Abiding Miners.
I'm making this arraignment we are not
unmindful of what appears to be the fact
that the mine workers of the anthracite re-
gion are in the main well-disposed and good
citizens of the commonwealth of Pennsyl-
vania, and that it is in the power of the
minority of the less responsible men and
boys, together with the idle and vicious,
unless properly restrained, to destroy the
peace and good order of any community.
Absence of protest and of active resistance
on the part of the better element means en-
enlargement and license to the class above
described. 1t has been declared by some
persons that this state of things is no more
than was to be expected in communities
where such large numbers of men and boys
were idle for so long time. If this be SO,
and 1t Is not necessary for our present pur-
pose TO traverse the truth of this statement
1t affects seriously the responsibility of
those leaders of labor movement who are
In the main responsible for the Inaugural
tion and conduct of a strike.
Threats and Violence a Potent Strike
Factor.
There can be no doubt that without
threats intimidation and violence toward
those who would otherwise be willing to
remain at work, or take the places Of those
who had ceased to work, the coercion OF
employers, which a strike always contem.
plates would be less potent in compelling
acquiescence in its demands This is the
danger point of the whole matter The
law, which governs all citizens of free
country alike, can make no exceptions
The benefcence Of labor unions Is acknowl.
edged. Their development, as we view it
has been one of real, though of slow and
intermittent progress to the betterment O.
labor conditions and to Improvement in the
relations between employer and employed
All c5nbinations of men, however, t
achieve common purpose have potencies
for evil Such combinations are more thar
mere aggregations of the rights and power.
of the individuals composing them. They
become new and powerful entities anc
factors for good Ill. according to the
| wisdom or unwisdom with which they are
managed and controlled. The strike -