Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09

| al tHc tuIOeS OF q coal laIuln0. NOW, IL ID
law Of the United Mine Workers that II
five Of the different organizations COM
posing 1t demand a national convention It
has to be called. Five did call for it, In
Guiding some organizations already In
volyed in the strike.
las result a thousand delegates repre-
sentfng the vast army of bituminous coal
miners met at Indianapolis with John
Mitchell as their president. They had q
contract for the year with the operators az
to prices and wages, and the question was
whether they should break this and join In
the sympathetic strike to help their
brothers. the anthracite miners of Pennsyl-
yania.
TAT that convention the awful condition
In the anthracite mines was explained, the
terrible want and suffering set forth and o
general strike demanded. Had they granted
the demand and broken their contract with
the operators they would have inflicted Inc
calcuable loss to the United States. Most
OF our industries would have come to
standstili. Within a short time the coal on
hand would have been used and every fac
tory would have had to shut down. Every
car upon the railroad, except perhaps the
mails. would have had to stop. and cold and
want would have dropped upon majority
of the homes of the United States.
1.-THE public did not fully realize it, but the
situation was terrible one. John Mitchell
saw it and in connection with the other
leaders of the United Mine Workers brought
forth the sentiment which prevented the
strike. The question was referred to a COM
mittee of twenty-nine, who strOve one whole
night as to It's settlement. In the morning
they brought forth resolution which was
adopted by the convention. 1t was that the
United Mine Workers would stick to their
contract. but also that they would give ten
per cent of their wages to help their
brothers in their strike in the anthracite
mines of Pennsylvania
Organized Labor Come to Stay.
"How about organized. labor, senator?
Has it come to stay?'
There is no doubt of it," was the reply
ut is a condition and should be treated ac-
cordingly. The trades union is not an orig
inal creation of the United States. 1t was
imported from England. It is now being
Americanized and 1t is better In every way
than the English union. 1t does not believe
in the restriction of output and in the limi-
tation of individual effort"
Yes said /, but it does believe in a
continuous shortening OF hours and a
continual increase of wages. Can this go
on and our industries continue?
Such things regulate themselves" re-
piled Senator Hanna. The movements are
perfectly natural ones. The capitalist
tries to get all he can out Of his share Of
the business and so does the workman.
With our enormous immigration and re-
stricted supply of work there have been
plenty of labOrers until within the past
three years and the capitalists have had
the whip hand They could fix the wages,
raised them. Within the past three years,
however, there have been two jobs for
every man. The laborer has taken advan-
tage of the situation and increased his pay,
and don't blame him.
But will he not have to come down now
that the times have changed?'
YES. in many places"
will he not striker
Il don't think SO without there is some
other reason than the reduction owing to
the hard times"
Hanna as a Union Man.
'Tf you were working man, senator,
would you belong to union?'
Eyes, would; but I would do all that
could to bring about a closer relation be-
tween my union and my employer. The
sooner the laboring man and the employer
come together the better for both laborer
and employer
THAT is What the Civic Federation is try
ing to do, is it not?''
THAT is what the Civic Federation is do
ing" replied Senator Hanna. I'VE have
settled a great many labor disputes and
prevented many strikes by bringing the
leaders of the union and the representa-
lives of employers together. Both are be-
ginning to understand the other. The labor
ing men are becoming more conservative
and the employers more ready to recognize
labor organizations. Strikes in most cases
come from Observation-Disclosures, and some Of
the most serious ones from trifling dis
agreements. The. employer and the work
ingman stand face to face, each with a chip
on his shoulder. The employer feels deter
mined not to make advance toward a
settlement and the workingman is too
proud to do it.
Has the Civic Federation any special
rules of action in such matters?"
None except the golden rule replied
Senator Hanna. I'VE do not believe in
sympathetic strikes, nor in the boycott,
nor in the restriction of production to en-
hance values"
How about the man outside the union,
senator? What are his rights?"
He has the right to work and to exer-
else his individual rights granted by the
Constitution of the United States, and he
should be protected in those rights"
The Poor Public.
But, SENATOR" said 1. 'if labor and capt.
tai are to combine. will not the public be
ground between the upper and neither mill
stones Of high wages and high prices?"
1.-THE public!" said Senator Hanna. What
is the public? In our country it is made
up of capitalists and labOrers. With the
exception of a very few every man in the
United States is an employer or an en-
ploye We are all workingmen. Some of
us work with our brains and the others
with our hands, and the employers, as
rule, work the hardest"
At this point 1 turned the conversation to
personal matters and in answer to my
questions Senator Hanna gave me much in
teresting information about himself both
as a laboring man and capitalist. He re-
ferred to certain rules of his business life
which have undoubtedly contributed to his
great success, and gave me other matter
which would be of value to the young men
of the United States. This. however.
account of the innate modesty of the sena
tor-extraordinary in public mani am
forbidden to use.
In closing would call attention to Sena-
tor Hanna's peculiar position. He is the
earnest friend of both capital and labor and
is doing what he can to bring the two to-
gether. Indeed, he might be called our
great national peacemaker and he is such
from the standpoint of his honest convic-
tons. He recently said that he would rather
have the credit of ending such troubles than
be President of the United States, and that
If he could make successful the plans of
the federation by resigning his seat in the
Senate he would be glad to do so.
Nevertheless Senator Hanna has more
than ten thousand men at work in the va
rous institutions in which he is Interested.
and their pay roll is said to be about three