The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-06-12
MINERS SIDE OF
CONTROVERSY
Statement Issued by the Fed,
GRAFTON Officials.
BLAME PUT ON MINE OWNERS
HISTORY OF EVENTS LEADING
UP TO STRIKE
ENvER. June 1.-THE executive

DL miners AD4at 4GEAlEA a. E-cANN
ment regarding The situation in Grip
pie Creek in reply to the statements
made by General Sherman NJ. Bell and
Secretary C.. O.. Hamlin of the Cripple
Creek Mine Owners association II IS
as follows.
"The cause of the strike of the West
eru Federation of Miners in Colorado
is one of long standing and involves the
failure on the part of mine managers
. I'm various parts of the state to live up
. to their own written agreements. As
far back as 1888, as result of a strike
at that time, the mine owners agreed
that eight hours should constitute a
days work, that the minimum day
wage should be So and that there should
De ne discrimination against union men
in the hiring and dischaTging of labor.
AT the outset of the trouble Manager
MacNeilI of the STANDARD mill at
Colorado City peremptOrily discharged
fOrty-hve men, members of the West
eTu Federation of Miners. for no other
/ reason than that they had become
. union men. All of these were old en-
ployees of from two to six years stand
ing Millmeu are affiliated with the
Western Federation of Miners and are
entitled TO all OF the protection that
goes with such membership,
To-day the only questions involved
are the enforcement of the eight-hour-
day. the right of men to organize in
the unions and TO prevent dlscrimlua-
ton against union men of all kinds.
Placing the Blame.
The responsibility for the laWless-
ness connected with the contest rests
entirely on the shoulders Of the mine
/ operators. the Citizens Alliance and
their allies, backed up by the ready
! power of the state government The
responsibility has been placed on these
persons and organizations by District
Judge Theron Stevens, who denounced
the military usurpatiOn i'm Telluride IN
Z strong language, from the BENCH by
District Judge j. Walter Dixon, Re
publican, who openly condemns Gov
. ernOr Peabody and severely CritiCises
his acts involving the deportation OF
men from the state without trial or
other chance of hearing; by eX-Gov-
( eTu0r Charles S. Thomas, who plainly
points 20 the mine owners association
and Citizens Alliance al being respon-
sible for the many outrages committed
on the persons Of helpless and innocent
miners. by the recent Democratic state
convention, which denounced tn
scathing terms the line of policy pur-
sued
'"The events Of che present week I'm
the Cripple Creek district justify every
+ accusation contained aboye. The fol-
lowing crimes upon citizenship have
followed swiftly upon one another.
Acts Of Violence.
THE resignation OF Sherin Robert
son of Teller county. forced by mob
at the point of a pistol and coil Of
rope. the forced resignation Of Coroner
Doran of Teller county, of the city
D. a Of r.# ~ ! Pc
men and justices of the peace In the
district the entire official directory OF
the CITY of G0IdfeId, assault upon and
demolition of the Union hall i'm Victor,
furcible entrance into the four union
cooperative stores and destruction Of
the contents, destruction of the Victor
Daily Record by an armed mob, IN
vasion OF DunuViie, outside the mlll-
tary lines. Hundreds of men confined
iu unsanitarv bull pens: forcible shut
down of the great Portland mine, en-
pIoyiug union men, by order of the
military commandment on the plea of
military necessity and subsequent
deuortati0n of the men therein en-
ployed.
concerning the explosion which
wrecked the depot at Independence and
killed sixteen unfortunate uou-union
miners. IL need only be said that the
ney. in the employ of the Mine Owners
association had few days previously
been released from custody at the be-
hest of the attorney for the association,
and that this same Mckinney was OBJ
served going down Potts canyon I'M the
immediate vicinity of the Wreckage
only a short time after the disaster.
and that the bloodhound used follow
the trail of the criminal went directly
To q house occupied by q detective i'm
the employ Of the Mine Owners as
suciatiuu. and was promptly called off.
Mckinney stated undag cross eEamiua-
tion during tne trial of the union min
ers who were accused of the attempted
train WreCliug that he and other detec-
uves did. that for money COusidera-
ton, he would pull spikes and wreck
Merely a "scabv List.
Photographs of marked miners re-
ferred TO by General Bell VINO. he
claims, were marked for death must
be regarded as an invention of his own
brain The photographs IN question are
those of slrike-breaker and We're kept
for the purpose of publishing a scab list
. with the pictures OF the men accom-
panyng their description, SO that
+ members of organized labor all over
+ the country would become thoroughly
. acquainted with these men who have
{ committed treason 10 themselves ana
2 to their classes. These pictures are
nothing more than those having charge
of the strike ina the district have pub
Hcly used for many months
Charges that miners are not all
. lowed TO vote 0u questions of strike are
utterly absurd. AS a matter of fact
+ according to the constitution of the
Western Federation of Miners, II is
absolutely impossible FOR the executive
board 90 call a strike of its own Volt
ton The present strike is a result OF
a direct vote of the members OF the
various unions iu the district which left
the matter entirely. in the hands OF
properly delegated authorities for adj
Indication and settlement The twelfth
annual convention recently held i'm
Denver appointed a special invesugat-
ing committee consisting. of Malcolm
ellis of Butte. Mont, H. 3. Seaman OF
ROssIand b. c. and r. Il. Allen of Oil
ION Wyo. which committee made a
personal investigation by a visit TO the
Cripple Greek district only last week,
ana reported to the convention that
the constitution Of the Western Fedora
zion of Miners had been observed to
Tbe minutesJ detail during the entire
prosecution Of the contest.
How the Deaths Occurred.
Absolutely no deaths have occurred
during the contest for which the Vest
ern Federation of Miners can on ought
10 be held responsible. Some fifteen