The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1906-11-15

Chairman, ] agree that be-
81 ~ the thousands and millions
5orars which are being invested
,bJs state, much of which is being
"a in driving entries, laying off
~. q darling new and additional coal
nH,Er-ies, that the mine inspectors
- X inadequate. Let me tell you
%. of an incident. where an eXplo-
y, occurred in this State. Within
fsw hours after it occurred. l was
- upon the ground, n l hope
cod shall never. as long as l
e. have such experiences again as
,,sr with there In the little noun
- Town you could hear women and
{hiI5-ec screaming from one end OIL
fbat town to the other. enough 10
e Z mans heart stop. An awful
EyDIos!on had occurred. The lives
t. eighteen citizens had bee snuffed
E. rDne, gone forever. The Chief
Eiine Inspector. who is your worthy
f"hairmaa, away from his home in
Erofker section of the State, over
Evoked, went TO the scene of the
E,-onble as last as the train could
!car-y him. and found the same con
lIif.ons that | found-an awful state
Iof affairs. The statute at present
Ike certain responsibilities, and en-.
Isblss the Chief Mine Inspector, or
his deputy, to go to the prosecuting
Iartorley of the county when he finds
I,hat the mine is in an unsafe con-
ldiuion, and apply to the circuit court
for an Injunction. His hands ar.
lied. You say that is a liberal pro-
vision OF the law. a. it is. He ought
Ito have The authority, If he has any
aufhority at all. when he goes into
thai mine and finds this vast accum-
ulation of dust. this horrible con-
d!tion OF bad air. to go right out to
the captains office and say, stop
your mine. The lives of thu men in
that mine are important to
you and cur State than the few tons
OF coal you r getting out. Stop
that mine until the dust. is sprln-
kled, and you get your mine out OF
that condition which is so danger
Gus to the lives of your men," Give
him tine power. if you give him any
at all. 10 act. and not wait until the
horse is stolen u OF the barn, an6
| then go and lock lit. 1t is too late
then. When lie goes to a drum, and
finds the conditions dangerous to the
lives OF the men, he ought to have
the power to act. ! have in mind
an incline in this State, running as
! understand 1900 feet up the noun
tain. in an adjoining county to this
and there are two sections of eleven
AArAA "a !" / lSSI SdCH,
the wire rope is in a dangerous con-
dition, and the mine boss old Of it.
-, that mine. men have to climb to
the mine, by a certain time, half past
seven, must get breakfast and walk
nearly Il mile IN that hill, the way
they have TO go. The mine boss says,
Get into the car. it is all right"
and hen they get into the car to
20 w. if the rope breaks and the
cur 1rNa nNRr o-I an "
OF them, their families cannot recoY-
err against the company, because the
men knew of the defect and the dan
ger. and they took the hazard upon
themselves. When the mine inspec-
Tor sees that danger, let him say TO
the company, You must watch out.
You must take that trouble. You
must / there men better protec-
Ton for their lives" If they say,
well, do not care whether 1 dc
1t Or not then he ought to have
the power to say, Then O shall
Stcr h9rn now. 1 won't stand for it,"
and let him be big enough,-and /
btLe'e Your mine inspector is big
enoH2h. as shown by that man whose
memory will linger in the minds OF
the people who heard that state
inent yesterday as long as we live
iet MIN have the authority to say,
lpu snail do it," Gentlemen, throw
around him those responsibilities.
Put the penalty there, if you will,
upon hlm-and 1 do not mean to re-
Meet upon any man,-if de does no.
10 1t. Give him force enough to
cover this State. and you will find
IN a few years after the beginning
OF the operation of the b~enefcient
laws that you will not hear of the
WIDOWS and orphans being turned
i9ose over the State. 1t is a terri
me th'nG to think about, gentlemen.
understand that there is another
section OF this State, where there
We're some little boys at work. They
ie' iAe IAN stop for an hour and a
nan Il certain day. and the driving
~ me air back to a certain section
Oh me mine where the men were at
WORK was stopped, and on account
ut me stopping of the fans one of
'nt eNnerienced miners began to get
SIGN n in passing out of the mine
NJ saw these two little boys puking
"L4 staggering. like young spring
'at'eS that didn't have enough to
ca on the old farm, when the feed
was all gone. Those are the condi-
Ho2S that + living and crying in
ms state in certain sections. 1t is
Aol-understand this-it is not the
%"2Illon of these people to cripple.
20 Airt. to iniure the coal business,
"-t iAcY come here in their humble,
honest. proud citizenship, presenting
admission, asking that without
lear. and without favor, the laws and
'la PENALTIES of the law be more
RI 10~l- nFt~- or-Iit;or G