The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-01-17
MITCHELL SPEAKS
 AT IND|ANAP POL|S Makes AIIusion to the Strike
 in Alabama IS CONSIDERED IMPOR TANT He Also Tells of the Strike in Col orado and of the Efforts Ex- erted By the National
 Organization.
IS CONSIDERED IMP0RIANT I

Indianapolis, January 16.-John Mitchell,
 president of the United Mine Workers of
 America, read his annual address before
 the convention -o-day, Speaking of
 strikes MT. Mitchell said:
 Tn no other year since the formation
 of the United Mine Workers of America
 have there been so many men continu- |. ously on strike, and at no previous time
 in the history of the organization with
 the exception of 1902, have we been com i pelled to expend so much money in the
 support zand maintenance of those in- | volved as in the year just clos | He dwelt at length on the Colorado 1 strike, the declaration of martial law in
 Las Animas county by Governor Peabody
 and the riotous scenes that culminated l in attacks on mine workers officials and l in the deportation of union miners from Colorado by the militia. He spoke of the l district convention held in Trinidad,
 March 24, to consider calling of the strike | off, and said:
 ''On the day preceding the one on which ! the convention was to be held the Gov ernor ordered 400 troops to the city of l Trinidad, and Las Animas county was | declared under martial law. When our | convention met, on the following day, the
 delegates in attendance and the miners
 in genera1-may hundreds of whom were | residing in the city of Trinidad-were so 1 incensed at the unwarranted and un- called for action of the Governor that, | instead of calmly considering the status
 of the strike and declaring it off, as they | undoubtedly would have done had the 1 troops not been there they decided that,
 while the civil laws had been suspended,
 resumption of work would be regarded
 not as a recognition of their defeat by | the coal companies. but as a cowardly | surrender to Peabody. The action of the | convention in deciding to continue the strike under the circumstances then ex- isting had received my full and unquai- | flied indorsement.'
 | MT. Mitchell then said that when it | began to be evident later on that the
 miners could not win the strike the ex- ecutive committee of the National Mine l Workers, at meeting at Indianapolis, | April 27, decided to take steps to end the | Colorado strike. A district convention to
 meet in Pueblo June 20 was called, but
 this convention, contrary to the advice of the national officers. decided to continue
 the strike. Financial assistance from the
 national body was withdrawn after contribution of $15O0O on July 1, and the middle of October the strike collapsed. | Commenting on the failure of the strike, l MT. Mitchell said:
 l Saw it Was Lost.
 "It is needless to say that the failure 1 of this strike was to us a source of sor-
 row and keen disappointment, and in spite | of the fact that it had already cost us
 approximately one-half a million dollars. | had there been any reasonable hope of l success. we should have advised its con-
 tnuance, even though this course would | have exhausted our national treasury; ' but when we are convinced beyond perad- | venture that a strike cannot be won, 1t | becomes our solemn duty, regardless of
 criticism or condemnation. to recognize
 the inevitable and declare that so far
 as we are concerned the strike should be 1 brought to a close
 | Of other strikes, Mir. Mitchell said: "The strike in the Meyersdale district 1 of Pennsylvania, which was reported at
 the last annual convention, is still in progress This strike, originally involving
 some 5000 men, grew out of the action of
 the operators in attempting to enforce
 reduction of 10 per cent per ton. At pres
 ent there are from 12Oo to 15O0 families 1 there depending upon us for support.
 "A very serious strike occurred in that l portion of district No. 6 known as sub | district No. 5. 1t was caused by am at-
 tempt the part of the operators in
 Eastern Ohio and the Panhandle district | of West Virginia to depart from the In- dianapolis agreement and introduce new | conditions of employment which would
 have amounted to serious reduction in wages. After the strike had been in prog
 ress something over two months an adjst 1 ment was reached which secured for our
 members practically all they were con
 tending for.
 The Strike in Alabama. "A strike of considerable magnitude and | of vital importance to the present and 1 future of our organization in the south
 ern states has been in progress in Ala ] bama for the past seven months.
 "The cause of this strike was that the l furnace operators refused to grant de- | mand of the miners for renewal of the | scale of 1903 and 1904. This scale had been l fixed by arbitration, Judge George Gray | of Delaware being the umpire in the
 case, and was agreed upon after very | exhaustive investigation. At the present | time fully 5000 families are dependent | upon the national and district organiza- | ticns for support. The strike has neces- | stated the expenditure of large sum of | money, approximating. for relief pur- poses. s10.000 per week.
 During the last three months, and | especially during the month of December, | thousands of non-unionists have been re- cruted In the Virginias and through em- | ployment agencies in Philadelphia and | New York Assisted by the officers of | the Federation of Labor, we have sought | t. prevent the shipment of men from
 eastern points, and in this we have suc- | ceeded to a marked degree, although | many nonunionists are still accepting | transportation and employment, notwith-
 standing the fact that they are fully 1 aware that our members are resisting | conditions which, if accepted, would lead | to complete demoralization of the stan | dard of living secured through years | and years of struggle and seif-sacrifice on
 the part of the union miners of the | south"
 Lewis Makes Annual Report. | Vice President Lewis made his annual report following President Mitchell He
 gave a brief account of his work during
 the year. and in summing up said:
 During the year there have been kept large forces of organizers on account of
 general strikes, and in some districts the time of the board members and organ
 izers could not be devoted entirely to
 the work of organizing. Considering the
 number of difficulties to overcome, the
 report of my colleagues will show that.
 numerically, the organization has held its own.
 ''The opposition to the organization has become so pronounced that in some dis tricts the organizers have been viciously assaulted by guards who are employed by the corporations antagonistic to labor
 unions. Some method should be provided