The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-24
Advance Sheets of the Story Of .
Coal Strike.

Wenote that President RoosBvEIrwin
visit Wilkesbarre, Pa, on Aug. 10, for
the purpose Of addressing Mr.. JOHN
MIToHELL's body Of United Mine Work
ers. We wish, very much, that we could
be present and hear Mr.. ROOSEVELT
speak about as follows:
Fellow citizens, and others: am truly
glad to be here, in the heart Of the an
thracite coal regions, and I propose to
tell you some plain truths which are i'm
portant to you as we'll as to the rest Of
the American people. ! am especially
glad Of this opportunity Of speaking to
you, man to man, face TO face, because,
during the last FIVE months JOHN MITCH
ELL and his fellow Rgitators have been
making preparations to order you on
strike next year; once more TO seize
twenty millions Of the American people
by the throat, and thereby force your
employers, the mine operators, to adj
vance your wages. In 1909 MITCHELL
tried this, and very nearly succeeded.
He IL evidently getting ready to try the
same thing again.
you live In a very small strip Of coun-
try-a strip less than q hundred miles
square-yet one in which q large ma
jorlty Of the people east Of the AnsEis-
sippl are vitality interested, for they
depend upon It for fuel whereby to main
tain health and prolong life. And this
little, insignificant territory, called the
anthracite region Of Pennsylvania, has
been, for nearly half q century, one Oft
most tumultuous localities In the civilized
world. Nowadays order Il kept rea-
sonably' well In your citiss-Scranton,
WiIkesbarre, Hasleton, PottSville, Mauch
Chunk and others, But the surrounding
country, from the time Of the Molly
Mcguire outrages down to the last strike,
has earned a widespread reputation for
lawlessness, disorder, anarchy.
you know, better than !, the ccndi-
lions under which the mining Of anthra-
cite coal has been carried on; many Of
you have seen one labor leader after an
other arise, in the last forty years, gather
an organization around him, inaugurate
a strike, get beaten, and sink out Of sight
For the last eight years or 30 you have
been loyal 70 leader Of superior mental
endowment, Of tireless energy, who
might have carved for himself perma-
nent place In the temple Of fame, who
might have rendered all Of you untold
and lasting service, had he chosen 80 to
do, by using his intelligence In making
the United Mine Workers q truly benef-
icent body instead Of the industrial army
that it is, ready to strike at their fellow
citizens whenever they have the latter
at a disadvantage. You, men from
the middle coal fields, remember JOIN
MIToHKLLs part in the strike Of 1897
when, with 'headquArter' IN HALLE
ton, he preached peace by day, and by
night permitted his right hand accom-
plice, Mother JONES, to lead hundreds
Of maddened men and wonen on Wild
moonlight raida from mining patch to
mining patch IN order to throttle the
last vestige Of liberty among those who
had refused, at first, to forOgo the right
Of earning their daily bread. You know
what happenedless than three years ago
when, from this very spot where ! am
now standing, one could SO, on the OUT
skirts Of this city Of 5000 people, bArri-
cades built Of heavy timbers to protect
the lives Of men who merely wanted to
do honest work 20 a. to support their
families, Tell me, by the way, how
greatly did these barrioadSd men in 1904
differ from their ancestors who, on prac-
tically this same ground were beseigod
by other savages on July 4, i77s-the day
Of the Wyoming Massacrel
As all Of you knew at the time and a.
] have learned since then, a large pro-
portion Of the men on strilro IN iSO7
wanted 10 60 hack To worn By the hrSt Of