The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-09-15

i of the operators more than on the nart
 of the miners, for the operators are blg | and strong and should be able to dafsns l themselves under the law, and no, over + l On the whole, there has been but litttI, l lawlessness, and what there has been has l been quite equally divided. May the fn4gra l l show less on both sides, ard may it ba condemned impartially when 1t occurs so
 far legal investigation has usually re-
 suited in freeing the miners. May they l keep the peace now and always as be- I comes good citizens, and not to be led to
 break the law by reason Of the operators
 doing so.
 Concerning Non-Unlon Men.
 Much has been said about the right of
 non-union men to work without let or l hindranee. But have the miners ever said anything more harsh about the non-unlon men, who take their places. than the l cperators have said about the members
 of their organization, who have for one
 reason or another, put their old men to
 work instead of putting new men in their
 mines l hope not, for while the language l used by the operators may have been | somewhat more refined, it has been the
 more scathing for that reason. So We see | that neither the operator nor the miner
 likes a man who does not stand up to | his fellows, no matter what the sacrifice
 
 men, who do like the fellow who does not take the bad and the good with his neigh
 bors and allies. We are not making war | on non-union men, who from principle
 do not believe in unionism We believe l they are mistaken, but they have the l right to think as they choose, so long
 as they do no wrong to those who do not
 think with them. Blu. the operator seems
 to not even like the operator who does f1,1
 than the miners do one who does not
 belong to the miners union. In what
 then do the operators and miners differ l in the matter of unlonism?
 | Whether we are willing to confess It or | not, we all know that there never was l any chance for the miners of this dis
 trict to make a settlement this year. No | sacrifice on their part would have been
 sufficient to have caused the furnace operators to have signed scale. To make sure of 1t. the operators offered scale
 which they well knew the increased cost
 of living would prevent the miner accept
 ing even if so inclined. but they did not | rest there for fearing that's the miner | might by some process of reasoning be- | lieve what they sald about their inabil- ] ity to pay more than 40 cents, now seen 1 to be fallacy. they tied another string | to their proposition, which would have enabled them to have forced a strike in | any event That was their reserving the right to make new rules. No sensible man can fall to understand that There was then only one chance for the min CTS to avoid fight and the question was whether they should meekly submit to
 the will of the operators, and accept a
 less wage than the operators have shown they are able and willing to pay, or go
 on strike. What would any free man have
 done under the circumstances?
 It is acknowledged that 1t is a fight to finish, and If the miners lose, there will be driven from the district a large
 number of men who are now good cit- izens and who have been good citizens for years, and their places will be filled
 by men which no imagination could pic- ture as being better men or of more service to the community.
 We cry over the woes of the Finlanders, driven from their country by the cruel Russians. Bah! If you were a miner. would you have done other than fight for your existence? I think not. No self-respecting man would like to see his position filled by new man, not at lower, but at higher wages; if he had done his work well. The old miners were offered 40 cents ton to mine coal. The new men are offered 45 to 471h cents a ton to do the same work. Is it right? Can the miners prevent striking under such circumstances?
 "The operators can afford to pay last years scale when he Is allowed to choose his own men't-and he is able to pay II when he re-employs his own old men without any picking or choosing, ex- cept for fitness, which is always the employers right. That is shown by the working of many mines in the district on last years scales. ~
 About Collections,
 Now about collections: If it Is right to collect from the miners for a black smith. who puts in three-fourths of his
 time doing company work, and if the collections amount to twice what is paid the blacksmith; and if it Is right to col lect from the men for a physician, and for numerous and sundry other things at the will of the operator, where is the wrong in collecting dues for the miners when the miners. through their organi- zation, makes a contract with the com pany to collect It. In one case 1t Is an authorized collection, and in the other, 1t Is forced collection. You nay inc blacksmith. the physician and any other charge the operator likes and makes money out of. or you quit That Is the way the rule works on that side
 The report of the special correspondent rom Blue Creek disposes entirely of the idea that the operators are endeayorine 10 Wofk their mines on the open-shop plan. No man is permitted to work who does not sign an "iron-clad" contract obHging himself not to become a member of any labor union of any kind This ia certainly as great blow to liberty as the demand of the unions for a closed shop:
 but if any of the newspapers have writ ten any editorials on this phase of inc question, l have failed to see them. This contract alone should settle for all time
 the question as to whether or not the
 miners could have avoided, by any sac rifice whatever, the fight which the oper- ators were determined to have But we do not expect help from the papers. Our opponents are big and strong and rich. while our capital is only muscle. Even the law, which we all respect has enc side for the strong and one for the weak. If you doubt that, 1t is only necessar V to call attention to facts, which you and every one else familiar with the present l situation knows to exist. An injunction is readily and easily obtained restraining the miners from in any manner interfering
 with the operators, their works or em- ployes. We may safely assume that the
 non-un1on men now at work in the mir es where strike Is on are the friends of the operators, and that the operators who have signed temporary agreements with the miners are the friends of the miners. By due process of law the miners are for bidden to call the non-union men names or to congregate around or near them or