The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-04
Va Prsssdsstisl iutsvvswass rhts
Tive.

49,
regions u Pennsylvsnla that the Prssi-
dent N The United statoa has determined
60 take part. to-day ~ Tomorrow, IN
the disputs between miners and oper-
atora. When members ~ the Unitod
Nina Workers realized about . fort
night z that tho operators would
grant no further concessions than %
renewal ~ conditions decided upon by
tho Gray commission In 1907, ar N an
alternative q submission of the wage
question 20 q board ~ arbitrators, q
tentative Suggestion appeared here and
there in local newspapers published In
tho anthracite region. Suggesting that
President ROOSEVELT might be induced
10 intervene again, ~ he interviewed In
the last strike. This rumor, faint at
first and h~esltating, has been gathering
strength and defniteness, "a the miners
became convinced that tho operators
were fully prepared for a struggle; and
when Governor ~PENNYPACKER sent forth
his unequivocal declaration from Harris
burg that law and order would be pre-
| served at any cost, that the State OF
Pennsylvania would protect the life and
property Of every man who wanted to
work, regardless Of JOHN MITCHELL and
his union, the miners and their local
organs comprehended for once that
the jig was up, unless they could force
the President to intervene and compel
some sort Of settlement which they could
claim a. q victory.
The newspapers which reached this
city yesterday from the anthracite
regions give their readers strong hope
for interference from Washington. The
report on which these stories are based
seems to have emanated from two
sources, Philadelphia and Wilkesbarre;
and it has been spread broadcast through.
out northeastern Pennsylvania. The
Hazleion Daily Standard, for example,
treats the matter as follows:
Two weeks ago we stated In these columns that
President ROOSEVELT would intervene when the
proper time camo. Al tho time this announcement
was made everybody smiled and sneered. yet every
paper published yesterday afternoon had the story
that President ROOSEVELT would intervene. The
Min Workers leaders do not deny IT. but. on the
contrary, say tina, they have been so informed
II Is a well known fact that as early as last Decem'
Der President ROOSEVELT informed both President
BAKR and President MITCHELL. that the national
Administration would not tolerate another strike.
That was no Idle talk. and since both sides have
agreed to arbitrntc, the President and other lnnu.
entlal men are more determined than ever that q
settlement shall be reached.
From the best information obtainable we learn
that on Friday neat O plan OF arbitration will he
submitted TO the convention. This plan Is said TO
be so fair that tt viii be adopted. and II is said that
Il will even give 70 the miners many OF the grev.
ances asked for, II Is now nve weeks since tho
suspension and the Washington end Is said to have
become very tired OF permitting seven men TO hold
up the entire country for no other purpose than
compelling consumers TO pay e1orbitant prices
for coal. . .
Other newspapers arc somewhat more
guarded In their statements, and one of
them, the WIkssbdrre Times, says that
In an interview JOHN MITCHELL denied
having received any intimation from
President ROOSEVELT to the effect that
he Is prepared to step into the breach"
This, however, Is the only denial Of the
story that we have seer In that quarter,
and it is believed that az a whole the
striking miners, Notwithstanding the
statement Of Commissioner NELL at
Scranton that no went there on his own
responsibility, without the knowledge |
OF the President, are hourly expecting
a message from Washington calling the
operators and the union officials to the
White House for the purpose Of settling
the question: at issue.
OF course 1t Is possible that the Mis-
sissippi River may some day turn around
and flow %northward from the Gulf OF
Mexico, and perhaps some chilly August
morning we may look out doors and see
a fringe Of ioioles hanging around the
edge Of the sun; but no sane person
expects such things to happen, Neither
does any sane person expect that the
President of the United States will in
terfere in the present industrial contest
in the Pennsylvania coal regions 30 long
as there is absolutely no reason for such
extraordinary action. In 1902 conditions
were different. Then JOHN MITCHELL
had his country by the throat and was
choking it into submission. Churches
and schools were closed, mills and fac
tories were shut down for lack OF fuel;
railway trains were laid of. In thou
sands Of homes, from Bangor to Chicago,
from New York to Detroit, men and
and children were literally suf-
from cold; how many aged ones
and helpless infants and frail invalids
died of exposure resulting in pneumonia