Arizona republican., 1907-09-01
Recites Reasons For It's Seeming Oppres-
 sion In 1900.
ys the Blame on Violence and Intimidation Stri- ing Mine Workers and Makes ScapegOat of Mark Hanna.

. Philadelphia, Aug. 31.-The Reading company, the Philadelphia and Read ing company and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron company, to- day filed answers to a suit of the fed eral government to break up an alleged monopoly existing in the anthracite coal industry in this state. The an- swers of these concerns, of which George F. Baer is president. is a gen. eral denial of the governments allega- tion and goes into the first great strike in the hard coal fields and its relation 70 the presidential campaign of 1900 .Then Mckinley was elected.
 T. declares that agreements to ad- vance the price of coal were brought about in 1900 by the violence and in inhalation of striking mine workers. by the failure of the government and the state to enforce the law to protect the coal companies and by the importuni- ties of the late Marcus A. Hanna who il is alleged. was anxious to end the strike on account of the impending residential election.
 General denials are made of conspir- scy charges in the answers. The an- cAFl bl lhC COdl HUH akes up the strike and says: Sub s,antially all the workmen in the an- thracite regions abandoned work un- der the force and effect of violence, turbulence and intimidation" The an- sVer says that Shortly afterwards it was represented in substance to the -fficials of this defendant and the rep -esentatives of other mining companies Sy Hanna, chairman of the republican atiOnal committee, that if the said strike should not be speedily settled by advance in the wages of the workmen ir and about the mines the entire aI< thracite region, the strike would ex- lend to the states of Ohio, Indiana, H. lnois and that the election of McKin- Icy and Roosevelt would thereby be endangered; that Hanna represented the company and that he was author ized to settle the strike through Pres iient Mitchell if the operators would agree to give the workmen a 10 per cent increase in wages. ." It set forth that the company did agree to ad- vance the wages of its men and col iery workmen 10 per cent and other lTIncipal mine owners. who had been 1T conference with Hanna had agreed . to the same concession.
 Tt is stated that thereafter confer yces were held between officials or Representatives of the principal oper- 1 ,ors who had heretofore offered the sid advance in wages, and the repre- sntauves of the principal contractors. The defendant was obliged to agree E-th certain contractors severally, with vhom it had pre-existing contracts for ihe purchase of coal to be produced by t1sm respectively. and who were sever ally tenants or lessees of the defend ants, to enter new contracts with such as it should desire to do, increasing prices to be paid for coal to be pro duced by them respectively and to be sold and delivered to the defendants"
 continuing. the answer avows that al conferences between the operators and contractors were wholly brought about. compelled and forced upon the ceiendant by the turbulence. violence and intimidation aforesaid and by the failure of the government and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to en- force the laws to protect the defend snt and its workmen in the peaceful ana lawful prosecution of their work and by the opportunities of the said Hanna in the supposed exigencies of he lending political campaign. There