Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-04-13
MISREPRESENTATION
ANTHRACITE AND BITUMINOUS
SHAFTS CLOSED.
Pits East and West Are DcserteG-
Regular Troops May Guard Prep
crties-Opcrators Build StocLadcs
and Riots May Be Expected.

\ half million Of the members of the
United Mine Workers of America have
ceased work, awaiting the granting Of
their wag demands by the coal opera
tors Of the country. 1t is anticipated
that few operators in the southwestern
district, composed of Missouri, Kansas.
Arkansas, Texas, Indian Territory, and
Oklahoma. will grant the scale for the
present and q prolonged strike may
follow. In Ohio, Indiana and Illinois
the same condition is anticipated.
That there is to be war in the an
thracite coal regions of Pennsylvania
is indicated by the active and thorough
preparation of h operators for a deS-
perate struggle. Besides Il small army
OF private well-armed guards, who have
been secured within the last three
months in anticipation of a strike, sev-
eral troops of mounted state constabu-
larry have already been called into ser
vice at various mines.
AS a result of demands of the mine
owners, the whole force of pcnnsylva-
MAS State militia, numbering 10000
men, has been ordered to be ready for
service at an hours notice. All this
military activity, argue leaders of the
miners, indicates that the hard coal
operators are preparing for a supreme
contest in which they confidently eX-
pect to smash the union. knock out the
closed shop, and become once more alb
Solute dictatOrS as to wages and work
ing conditions.
Bitter Struggle Expected.
Although less than half Of the ar
thracite miners are members Of the I'M
out through n~onpayment of dues, fully
9J per cent Of the men will be in the
great labor army when the war opens,
ready to fight for the principles of I'M
ionism. There will be arrayed against
the anthracite employers in this strug-
gle fully $4,000 men. The State mill
tia, it is believed by many, will be insult
ficent to control the situation if rioting
begins. and national troops will be call
ed in to aid them. For several months
agents of the coal-producing railroads
have been employing men ostensibly to
serve as laborers and private watch
men at the mines. StOckadeS have been
erected where lone was required in
1000 or 1902, and miles of barbed wire
fencing have been shipped into the all.
thracite region during the last week.
Riot and bloodshed will follow any at.
tempt to operate the mines during q
strike. 1t was attempted in a small
way in 1900, after the great majority
of all the mine workers had quit, and
men whose eyes We're shot out, children
who were blown out of their beds by
dynamite and ONE who suffered seri.
u injuries live to protest against the
proposition to work the mines with non
mo labor.
Never before in its history has thu
anthracite mining union been called
upon to meet a determined attempt tt
work the mines during a general strike
The sentiment of the community in thu
mining region is hostile to such at
tempts and heretofore the operators
have bowed to public sentiment. At thil
time, however, the operators think Their,
is no general sympathy for the mine
workers and that the demand for coal
will compel them to work the mines.
That a great many miners believ,
that the strikew i'll be a bitter struggl,
between the workmen and their EN-
ployers was evidenced by the departure
Of scores of miners from the Schuylkil
region. A majority of these men ar,
foreigners who will so to their homei
in Europe and there await the outcom,
of the pending strife.
Nowhere in the world is the feelin:
so strong against nonunion labor as il
the anthracite field. Thirty years have
not sufficed to wipe away the stigma
Of one days work Gin the diggings'
during the first strike in the region. II
churches and in schools children arr
made to feel the weight and force o.
the unwritten law against nonunion Ia
Dor and social obliteration Is the por
ton of all who set aside the custom
of the region.
Illinois Miners Quit.
Without demonstration of any kind
but quietly as for a holiday, $50 Goa
mines in Illinois closed down. Thu
$4,000 miners employed in the shaft
remained at their homes in pursuance
of the strike instructions issued from
the Springfield headquarters. Coal dig
ging came to an abrupt standstill prac
tically throughout the State. 49, H.
at the outset Of the strike, at least
violence is not expected. Neither min
ers nor operators have given much con
sideration to possibilities along thi,
line. Later, especially If attempt i,
made to run the mines with nonunior
crews, rioting and vandalism may de