The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-06
LEWIS TALKS ID MINERS AT ENSLEY Urges Them to Stand Firm in
 Demands LARGE CROWD HEARS HIM Fire at Ensley Hotel Arouses Guests at an Early Hour
 Other News of
 Ensley.
LARGE CROWD HEARS HIM

morning from the Pratt City and Wylam districts at the Ensley opera house. Long before the hour scheduled for the meeting, crowds of miners began to arrive and the opera house rapidly filled up.
 As a prelude to his speech MT Lewis said he came to Alabama to become thor oughly familiar with the conditions, so as to be in position to place the details before the national body in an intelligent manner.
 He spoke particularly of how the miners struggle from an impartial standpoint was just and said that they would ulu- mately succeed.
 l He said in part that the miners strike in District No 20 was the greatest battle l ever Waged on an industrial battle l ground, and that the only reason the op- orators accepted arbitration was because they appreciated the strength of the union and were thereby frightened. Here is his speech in part
 After their defeat at the arbitration, they determined to use force to make us submit. They endeavored to starve us into submission, but after eighteen months they have failed to do anything by their methods. 1t is not the prize we demand, they could stand that. It is the right to organize. The right to belong to labor organization. That is the real issue.
 Unionism Will Thrive.
 "From your stern and determined faces, 1 I know what answer you will send back. l The answer is, that as long as corpora tions shall exist in Alabama, then so long will unionism thrive.
 Labor has certain rights that capital must respect. Without labor there would be no such thing as capital. With your labor, they can reap big returns for the money invested. If we, by our labor, ac- cumulate their wealth, why are we not entitled to our share? We can compare our case to that of David and Goliath. We 1 like David, have justice on our side, and must win. 1 make this prophecy: When the directors realize that they are not | getting a just return for the money in- vested they will be compelled to call upon us for a reconciliation. Then the strikes will cease, the joint meeting will return, and there will never be another strike in the lives of you men before me.
 Operators argue that they can do as they please with their money This is radically wrong. You cannot do as you please with what is yours, if by doing so you injure others. to any degree. others l have rights and this is recognized
 We are handicapped by operators, by | mass it together, while we cannot mass our work.
 We can put our labor together as an organization, but not as a combination.
 Each man has his individual work to do
 Nevertheless combined capital cannot exist without labor and for that req son, combination of capital must recog- nze certain obligations due to the strong right arm of labor"
 Advance the Business / Men.
 Mr. Lewis also addressed a part of his speech to the business men assembled. He said:
 T understand that the strong hand of the Tennessee company is trying to drive from Ensley all the business houses In | sympathy with the striking miners. 1 know also that the men working in the coal fields were ordered not to attend this meeting.
 "ft is to the interest of every individual business man that the miners win this strike. The union miners have no dicta- l tors or mouthpieces, and spend their money where they choose. They are not forced to spend their money where the company pleases and do not spend their money in company stores.4
 He gave a vivid picture of the union and non-union labor in Jefferson county.
 Toward the close of his address he said: l 'Every man has a duty to perform. If 1 in the mines, bring them back not through drink, but by logical arguments, directed l toward their manhood and moral uplift l ing. Stick to the plans you have followed in the past l congratulate you on them. "You can never say again that you were l driven by the necessities of life into the mines of the operators Hunger must and will not have any influence on you. The l organization will be your mainstay in the | future, as it has in the past, and will in every way provide for you.'
 Victory Through Concentration. Victory through concentration of ener- | gies and determination to see the issue l fought out was as a whole the tenor of his address
 The meeting was in charge of Chair man James O,1are, and was considered 1 by all a very satisfactory one. 1 Able addresses were made by the follow l ing speakers, in order named, prior to MT. 1 Lewis:
 President Flynn, MT. Fairley and B. L. | Greer, officers of the district No. 20 or- ganization.
 MT. Lewis spoke nearly two hours. 1t i was a masterful effort and at no time did the audience loose interest.
 After the close of the meeting the min CTS, led by a band, left the city hall and marched through the streets of Ensey to | Wylam, where arepast was served.
 Immediately after the close of his l speech, MT. Lewis, accompanied by Presi- dent Flynn, National, Committeeman Farley and District Organizer Hallier left for Birmingham. thence to Brookside, l where MT. Lewis was to address a meet l ing in the afternoon.
 Thursday the vice president addressed a large gathering at Blocton.
 Fire at EnsIey Hotel.
 The occupants of the Ensley hotel were awakened this morning at 6:10 a. m. to learn Of a fire in the upper part of the hotel
 succeeded in extinguishing i. the flames with only a small loss. | The Ensley hotel, a two-story frame building, is one of the landmarks of the early days of the town.
 | It was built by the Tennesse Coal, Iron and Railroad company in. the nelghbor- l hood of eighteen years ago, and was used as hotel at that time for the men em- | ployed at the furnaces. owing to their be- | ing no other means of accommodation.
 The building Is the property of Ram say & Mccormack
 Personal and General. The Morris block has been completed and the various business men located in the structure are ready for business | J. H. Kirkpatrick, who was accidentally killed at the furnaces by the oyerturn- | ing of a pot of metal. was buried today | at l1:30 a. m. He wasa member of Ems ley lodge No. 165. l. 0. o. F., who took | charge of the funeral The interment was and two children. who have the sym | n ftar Iore