The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-12-12
MINING, MARKETS AND METAL

encouraged the ore thieves and
thwarted the efforts of the mine own
ers to detect or punish them.
MANY STRIkES.
Fifth-In violation of repeated
agreements and understandings the
union has ordered strike after strike
to the incalculable damage of the
mines and enormous losses to the
owners and general arrangement of
the business of the district. With
out enumerating strikes that went
before, from December 1, 1907, there
were four general strikes in the dis
trict resulting in complete shut downs
of mining. A total of more than 90
days were lost by reason of these
strikes or practically one-fourth of
the entire year.
Without going into details as to
each of these, it will suffice here to
give the cause of each. December,
1906, and January, 1907, for higher
wages. March and April, 1907, be-
cause the mine owners refused to dis
charge carpenters who belonged to
the American Federation of Labor
and did not belong to the Western
Federation of Miners. August and
September, 1907, because some of the
mines insisted on establishing change
rooms to prevent the stealing of ores
November and December, 1907, be-
cause the mines were compelled to
adopt a system of paying wages in
cashiers checks, the only medium of
exchange obtainable in Goldfield. In
passing we would also call attention
to the fact that in January, 1907, it
was expressly agreed as one of the
conditions of the settlement of that
strike that the mines might establish
change rooms. In April it was agreed
that no strike would be called with
out a referendum vote and two
thirds vote would be necessary, but
both the August and November
strikes were called without any such
referendum vote. The annual con-
vention of the Western Federation of
Miners also adopted a rule that no
local union could cali strike with
out a two-thirds referendum vote.
The Goldfield union will not stand
by its own written agreement or the
solemn rules of the organization to
which it belongs.
SYMPATHETIC ACTION.
SiXth-Not content with this rec
ord of strikes in Goldfield itself the
union by majority vote declared it
self in favor of a sympathy strike to
aid a local union in the state TO Cali
a ot lich ra1
had declared a strike against the Ne
vada-C California Power company
which furnishes all the electric light
and power for Goldfield and southern
Nevada. A strong effort was made
to get the local unions in the southern
Nevada camps to go on sympathetic
strikes. In every instance except
Goldfield the local unions voted down
the propositions almost unanimously
but here the agitators were able to
secure substantial majority. For
tunately less than the required two
thirds A strike of that kind would
have shut off the electricity of the
camp, leaving it without light, power
or water.
Seventll-All of the strikes have
been accompanied by the usual
threats of violence to life and prop
erty. In March and April a citizens
committee spent thousands of dollars
in patrolling the streets of the city
day and night. To guarantee against
fire, murder and outrage. With ev-
cry strike all the mines, mills, reduc-
thion plants, power plants, large
buildings, banks and important pieces
of property nave been guarded day
and night and individual owners and
operators have been forced to place
armed guards in and around their
homes. Wives and children have
been compelled to sleep for weeks
with a Waterman in the adjoining
room keeping the vigils of the night
with a sawed off shotgun across his
knees. The union is known to have
bought and had in it's possession at
least two hundred and fifty stands
of arms with a bountiful supply of
ammunition. The above is a brief
summary of the conditions as they
actually exist and have existed in
Goldfield. While the district attor-
ney has done his duty and we believe
the sheriff of the county and consta-
BILE of the precinct are personally
honest and sincere in their desire to
enforce the law, their environment is
such that it is impossible for them to
do So Goldfield is upon desert al
most 200 miles in every direction
from settled country. 1t has been
a rendezvous for all lawless elements
and anarchistic agitators, so when the
mine owners determined to throw off
their letters they laid the above facts
before the governor of the state and
asked for his assistance.
THE SITUATION AT GOLDFlELD
Continued from page two.)