The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-01
Spicy Revelations Made By the Reading Railway to
 Federal Court
MARK HANNA BROUGHT
 MINERS ID RIGHT ABOUT

Reading Officials Declare They Were
 Not Guilty of Conspiracy, as Pollti.
 cal Influences Aided In Settle.
 ment oF Threatened Split. | Philadelphia. August 31.--The Read ing company, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway company and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal aha Iron company today filed their answers to the suit of the federal government to break up the alleged monopoly ex- isting In the anthaoito coal regions of this state. The answers of tho three concerns, of which George r. Baer is president, make a general denial Of tlio governments allegations, and go fHeo the first great strike in the hard coal fields and its relation to the preslden- tial campaign of 1900 when Mckinley was elected.
 | It is declared that the agreemnts to advance the price of coal were brought about in 19eo by the violence and intimidation of the striking mine workers, by the failure of tie United 1 States government and staxe of Penn sylvania to enforce the law and protect the coal companies and the importuni- ties of the late Marcus A. Hanna, who 1 it is alleged, was anxious to end the strike of the miners on account of tho impending presidential election.
 General Denials Made.
 1 General denials are made of the con- spiracy charges in the answer of tho Reading company and that of the rail- way company. The answer of the coal and iron company takes up the strike of 1900, and says that substantially all the workmen in the anthracite regions abandoned their work. under the force and effect Of violence, turbulance and | intimidation, and the employees and workmen of this defendant and others in the same neighborhood were induced or compelled by like violence, turbu- lance and intimidation to abandon their employment"
 The answer goes on to say that shortly afterwards it was represented In substance to the officials of this de- 1endant, and the representatives of | ether mining companies by one Marcus A. Hanna, acting as chairman of the republican national committee in the then pending political campaign for the election of candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, that if the said strike shnuld | not be speedily settled by an advance | in the wages of the workmen. in and about the mines in the entire anthra- cite region, the strike would extend to | [ TD1 T4. l nois. and that the election of Mir. Me | kinley and Mir. Roosevelt would ther<s l by be endangered"
 | Hanna's Influence.
 The answer declares that Mir Hanna represented to the officials of the com pary that he was authorized to settle the | strike through President Mitchell of the | Miners union if the ouerators would | agree to give their workmen a 10 Ter cent l increase in wages.
 | It Is set forth that the company did 1 agree to advance the wages of it's mine and colliery workmen 10 per cent, and | that the other principal mine-owners who had been in conference with Nr. Hanna. had agreed to the same concessions. It IS stated that thereafter, conferences | were held between the officials or repre- | sentatives of the principal mine operators l who had heretofore offered the said ad- | vance in wages and the representatives | of the principal mine operators who had | to do so; that as the result of the agree l ment of the operators this defendant was l obliged to and did agree with certain | of the operators severally, with whom 1t 1 had pre-eXisting contracts for the pur- chase of the coal to be produced by them | respectively, and who were severally the | tenants or lessees Of this defendant. to | enter into new contracts with such as l-l7n Iaofs- NA Iaprices to be paid fer the coal to be pro- duced by them respectively, and to be sold and delivered to this defendant"
 Failure to Enforce Laws.
 Continuing, the answer ayers that all the conferences between the operators l and the contracts which resulted there- from, 'were wholly brought about com | pelled and forced upon this defendant ny the turbulence, violence and intimidation l aforesaid by the failure of the govern | ment of the United States and that Of the | commonwealth of Pennsylvania to enforce the laws to protect this defendant and | it's workmen in the peaceful and lawful | prosecution of their work, and by the supposed exigencies of the pending polit- ical campaign, whereby this defendant | was obliged most uuwiliingIy to buy it's | peace and the peace and protection of its | wcrkmen by the said advance in wages; and that the said conferences were in no way whatsoever ill the least degree in- | duced by the motives nor the alleged un- lawful result. so indefinitely alleged and set forth in the plaintiffs petition"
 | The answers of the Reading company and the Philadelphia and Reading raii- way specifically deny the various allega- tions contained in the governi 1ent's suit.
 Denial of Control
 Tn reference to the charge that the Reading company controls the other two corporations. the answer of the Read ing company says: 4
 This defendant denies that 1t holds the entire capital stock of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway company and of the Philadelphia and Reading Ceal and Iron company and majority in interest of the capital stock of the Central Rail-
 oad company of New Jersey. as charged
 I plaintiffs petition, but it admits that
 Is the owner of an equitable or, bene-
 al interest-subject to certain liens, or
 not material as this defendant is ad-
 sed by counsel, to he particularly set
 -th herein-in the major portion of the
 are capital of each If the said several
 porations.'
 is also declared that the Reading
 ipany no longer holds any stock of the
 Datt ofA T<r~ but &l. {