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

PIE represent. if any yiolaIion n,
SnS Jaw occurs There would he mo-
oaiaing. there would be NO eyasion
posed. 10y os 4
Now, something was said nv AR
L~ittlepase and Others SesfsrSay
ABOUT the number OF men mar had
teAs the state. and il seems TO me
20 nave been based on the fact thar
We nave a no mining laws. 1 sun
pose ana II l am wrong 1 would like
20 oe corrected by those who know,
y 90 not Keep statistics in my
mind and MIR. Lewis doubtless
Knows. that there are more minerS
al work in this State than there have
.ewis2 "
Nix. 7. l.. LEWIS.
MT chairman, ii you will permit
me TO answer. the mere giving OF
an answer yes" or no." sometimes
tosS NOT convey the facts. and / do
Iot wish to say yes" or no" with
out explaining the answer. The Gov
srnor Is absolutely correct in his
statement that there are more men
employed In this State now than eve,
oetore. In connection with that, the
miners 90 not claim hat the miners
are leaving this State in reate
u nue. imam they are coming here.
oS IN SldlLl lnaI inc
NpeEiehced miners are leaving this
state because of conditions that eS-
-Steu IN tnlS State, and the operators
are TO send agents to New
fork II other Seaboard cities to
orlng inexperienced men into thu
Late, and there has been a much
larger number OF men brought inro
the state, as stated by Mr.. Nugent, ::
member of the Commission, than
nave gone away. but the men brought
IN are inexperienced and incompe-
tent miners.
GOV. FLEMING:
mink II reason for sending
out FOR men is because there is o
great scarcity of labor. There is q
great scarcity, | think ali over tho
state. in all departments, day labor
as e as miners, and mechanics of
all Kinds. There is a create demand
Ior labor, and 4 greater demand TO,
people in The different walks of life
man perhaps ever before. and hence
people do send out. / to
orlns IN persons that they need in
various employmentS, to a certain
extent, perhaps, and while that is
true here. we suffer here in the
same way. Emissaries are here from
ONO and Pennsylvania and else.
where after our labor, because of the
scarcity of labor in their sections.
and they are trying to get our men
away. -.now that in the Monon-
gahnla Falley-and l do know abou.
ina ection-w suffer in that way.
ana 1T takes a good deal of care to
see that people are not improperly
persuaded away by the false Dre-
lenses that they will do better or that
the mines are safer in some other
section of the n
NOW, the main thing which I got
IN m - e. =.
ed. There is another matter, how
ever, WISH to speak about. 1 do
not want the impression to ger
abroad in this State or out of this
state, especially out of this State.
that the mining conditions here are
waning, and not prosperous. 1 think
frCnl what has been said, it could
De construed to mean hat the min
erS and people were leaving this
State and going to other states where
better conditions exist, or as they
claim better conditions exist, making
a false impression, that men are leay.
ing conditions are not good.
Perhaps that is not false. Mr.. Lewis
a 1t is true. 1 do not know how
tnat is. think, however, hat other
reasons must exist for men leaving
than the conditions existing, unless
it be at certain points in the State.
or at certain mines. ! am confident
that that reason does not apply in
the section OF the State where | am
best acquainted, and l do not want
the impression to go abroad that
conditions here are bad, or are SO
much worse than in other states that
people won't stay here to work. !
think this is a reflection and a SLAM
der upon the State, not only upor
the laws of the State, but upon the
people of the State and the mining
industry. l am glad to have the
statement of Mr.. Lewis therefore,
thai there are more men at. work In
the State in the mines than ever be-
fore He claims that the experience
ed men nave gone, and inexperienced
men have come in. l do not care IL
those experienced men had stayed
here. there would have been the same
effort to get the other men in, because
we need thirty to forty per cent
more men thar we have in the State
at work, or would need them if we
had transportation facilities for the
coal. We have now about as many
men to work as we a use loading
the cars that are furnished by the
railroads. l hope that we will no1
cause a dearth of men because of
false Impressions, SO that we will,
not have enough men to load the
cars that we do get. 1 think l am
through. l was going to say to Mr..
Adam Littlepage that so far as the
penalties are concerned. and made
AT point yesterday, 1 think these
laws ought to be general, and make