The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-09-29
WANT0N SLAUGHTER Of
HUMAN LIVES STOPPED.
Not Until Recently Did Big Steel
Mills Permit It's Machinery
to Stop r:
TO Remove aMngled Remains Of
Workingmen Who Were
Caught in Machinery.

One Of the most damning ind1ct-
ments that can be justly brought
against the modern commercial feud- I
ansm that so largely dominates our
government today is the deadening in
fluence it exerts over the finer sensi-
bilities or ethical idealism of our peo-
pie. Precisely in proportion as the
commercial spirit gains ascendancy
we see moral and spiritual anaesthesia,
like creeping paralysis, advance over .
church, school and press. AS the ma
terialism Of the market throws it's spell
over the public Imagination the fatal
spectacle of the exaltation Of property :
rights and interests over human rights
and requirements becomes more and
more potent and compelling in it's bale
full influence. The infamy of child la
Dor in this opulent republic and the
moral obloquy of it's apologists are
but two manifestations of the presence
of the genius of spiritual death in our
midst, which if not speedily overcome
by awakened public conscience will
stif1e that idealism which is the oxy-
gen of free government and national
life.
The reckless disregard for human
life as manifested by the money mad
heads of corporate wealth today should
call in trumpet tones to every man and
woman to whom religion is anything
more than empty word or in whose
brain Justice and human love hold
sway, Look, for, example, at the wan
ton 81 daughter of life in great mining
and manufacturing center like vest
ern Pennsylvania. The editor of a
leading New York magazine informed
US recently that up to a few years
ago In certain of the great steel mills
the management was not accustomed
to permit the stopping of the machin-
cry in any department when an ac-
cident occurred long enough to remove
the mangled fragments Of the victim
caught in the machinery, and as spe-
cial concession at length the workers
secured a provision in the contracts
requiring the management of any de-
partment in which an accident .occurr-s
ed to allow the machinery to stop
long enough to remove the injured or
slain victim.
From recent article in the Kansas
City Star it would seem however, that
this concession was by no means lived
up to by the corporations. The Pitts
burg correspondent of this we'll known
journal after a vivid and realistic de-
scr1ption of the wholesale slaughter of
human beings in the great steel mills
of the steel trust recites the following
specific example:
within the past couple of months"
says this journal, "a foreigner was sent
abort TO do some work about the roof
trusses OF crane shed in a Pittsburr
mill. He lost his hold and fell in such
q way that he became jammed in a
doubled up position, with one leg over
the track on which runs the big crane.
His position was such a peculiar one
that there was no way to release the
victim except to take the crane apart
or crush his leg. When it became evi-
dent there was no other way to get
him out the foreman ordered the Ia
borers out of the way. To take the
crane out of the way meant several
hours work and the stoppage of the
plant. The foreman gave a signal to
the craneman, the big crane rolled for
ward, and there was a scream of
agony as the wheels rolled over the
foreigners leg. He was taken out
minus one limb, but the mill had saved
several hundred dollars. There was no
damage suit, for witnesses cannot be
obtained, as the workers know too well
the power of the blacklist. That the
IS how much regard is paid to one of
despised foreigners in the PittsburR
mill district. Only couple Of weeks
ago craneman deliberately ran down
and killed a foreigner. It was de-
nounced as murder, but no action was
taken, for he was only a 'Hunkie,' and
he had no friends this side of the At,
lantic."
According to the New York editor to
whom we have referred above, the loss
of life in the Pittsburg mills and foun-
dries was simply appalling. But" he
said, "the officials are so completely
under the control of the great interests
that the facts are kept from the pub-
lic." The truth of this statement has
recently been confirmed by some start-
ling revelations made by the Wash.
ington Post. This journal calls the
attention of the public to the wholesale
slaughter Of the workers in and around
Pittsburg that Is going on at the pres
ent in order that the princes of priv
ilege. the steel trust 1nagnates, the
ironmasters, the coal barons and the
railway chiefs, may heap up millions
upon millions Of gold and be able to
further control government and en-
slave and exploit the people. In the
course Of the Washington Posts dis
cussion OF this. subject it makes the.
following startling statements:
Statistics Of of-Allegheny county, Pa.
for the past year show that there were
killed and injured in, the iron and steel
mills and blast furnaces 5000. In 9th
er mills shops and factories 1900 were
sacrificed. while, the coal mines swell
this figure by 400, and the railroad
victims include an additional 1900.
making upsa grand total Of II, 100 who
were slaughtered or injured in one