Arizona republican., 1906-12-15

Labor day, the Eight-hour day, John Mitchell day. virden day and other such days are. more or less observed throughout the country. Then there are the holy days and saints days on which the mines are thrown idle in many sections of the country
 After each pay day there are many men who remain away from work with an attack of payday fever Frequent excuses are found for either shutting down the mines. or for considerable percentage of the men to remain away from work whenever there Is a funeral of someone directly. indirectly or re- motely connected with the mining fra ternity.
 If. as MT. Mitchell says, the men really desired to work 300 days in the year. the mine owners would only too gladly operate their mines. for upon the steady operation of the mines their business success depends. Every coal mining company Is subject to fixed charges which must be paid on days when the mine is idle as well as on the days when the men work. There Is every reason why the owners of the mines should wish to work 300 days in the year. and there is no good reason why they should wish to work only the minimum number of days. There is today q scarcity of good miners fin many sections of the country. if not in all sections of the country.
 "There ,s not time to go into com plete examination of figures. but let us take as an example and illustration some of the figures Of the principal col lieries of the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania. The average days work ed by the miners In 1905 were as fol- lows:
 D. & H.. first district .....245 days D. & H.. second district . .251 days Lehigh Valley ...... ...... ..239 days Philadelphia & Reading ... .260 days
 Now there are twenty-nine holidays in these districts which are observed by the English and foreign miners ih Pennsylvania. The nature of mining Is such that If any considerable number of men quit all are thrown Into idleness because the colliery can not run. Ac- cordingly the holidays are observed by the English miners compel the foreign CTS to take a holiday. and hOlidayc which are observed by foreign miners in turn compel the English to lay or also. and the work of the breaker Is interrupted in both occasions by no fault of the operator
 Besides the holidays. picnics. ex- cursiOns and circuses keep many away. make necessary frequent shut downs.
 "The practice of quitting work when miner is killed, and also on the day of the funeral is responsible for much loss of time. although the funeral is at tended generally by none of the miners who quit work Add to the figures quoted above the time thus lost of the miners own violation. and you can easily account for over thirty days.
 Tt follows therefore from the fore going facts. that it is not from the want of opportunity that the employees of these industrial institutions do not earn good wages each working day of the year. not because there IS no demand for their labor for each such day. bu' principally because of the intervention of these numerous occasions for reere- ation set apart for their observance by law and their own regulations.
 ''I have some knowledge of the de- mand for mine labor in West Virginia. and do know that the operators have not been able to operate their collieries to their full capacity for want of labor. and l can safely say that l could locate al those collieries several thousand mine laborers if MT. Mitchell will tell me where to find them. and if they will work at railroad construction at wages ranging from s1.5O to $2 per day I can place 10000 or more with contractors who are eagerly looking for laborers.
 The requirements of our ever in- creasing manufactures and commerce demand more labor. which can not be supplied from native sources. and hence the necessity of meeting them by resort to immigrant labor."-From the Nash vile Banner