Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-11-28
MINERS FEARED
Old fuckers
Reason For the Strike in Face
of Advice Of Officials Has
Been Discovered
ALL BACK TO WORK MONDAY
Miners Thought Clearing House Ger
tificates Only Step From Old Com
pany Script-Jewish Merchants In
sisted on Discount-Men Easily
Stampeded.
Special to r,mes-Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, Nov. ALPHABETICALLY all
| the coal miners now on strike here will
return to work next Monday. Some
| few will return to work Friday but
the strike is settled now by the bank
ers agreeing to furnish the money with
which to pay the miners all in cash.
| Incidentally it is the miners fear
of the introduction of the old flick
ers'' or company store script" that
| induced them to refuse the clearing
house certificates. The state law prac-
/ miners in anything but cash. This
was done to get rid of the old Script
! system whereby the miners We're paid
| in due bills on the store owned by the
| coal mine operator. When the miners
| insisted on not accepting the clearing
house certificates they stood on their
| rights and won out.
| Many Of the coal miners are Of the
unlettered type but they saw thru the
clearing house certificates that If the
company could induce them to accept
them now it would be q precedent for
part of the operators and leniency on
the part Of the miners later on in 9TH
er matters. So they insisted on get
ting all cash.
Many of the operators secured money
and could have paid their men in cash
but they had agreed with the other
operators to pay half clearing house
certificates SO in order to get around
the matter they provided two count
ers. At one the men were given half
cash and half clearing house certifi-
Gates. AT the other counter the clear
ing house certificate was redeemed in
cash.
Another reason for the miners OBJ
jecting to the clearing house certifi-
Gates was the fact that their trading
is mostly done at a long row Of shacks
on Second street in this city where a
lot of Jew merchants do big busi-
ness handling miners supplies" These
Jew ulleEClttIllS Will IllOIc Ol d uiSpO
ton towards thrift and frugality than
towards quieting any disposition to-
wards a panic, insisted on discounting
the clearing house certificates to 10
per cent.
It takes little or nothing, however,
to start a strike among the coal min
ers and after the strike is settled 1t
takes few days for the miners to get
back to work. Consequently the coal
supply in Des Moines which was short
before the strike, is much shorter now.
Recently when there was light snow
fall, 200 miners in one mine found
grounds for a strike. The rabbit
hunting was too good to be missed and
BESIDES it was the first of the year. The
next day they We're all back at work
without the formality of a settlement
of the strike.
John P. White Of Oskaloosa, who has
devoted the last ten years to the cause
of the united mine workers of the
Iowa district, and most Of that time
has served as president will retire
March 81. 1t is announced by friends
that he will enter the race for the vice
presidency of the United Mine Work
ers of America, and if he does, 1T is
said, he will have practically a clear
field. In this position he will be sec
ond only to John Mitchell, the presi-
dent of the organization, who has
gained fame as one of the best labor
leaders of the time. Mr.. Mitchell and
Mr. White are close personal friends.
According to gossip among miners
and coal men now, Joe Sharp of Cen
terville, the Iowa member of the ma
tional executive board of the United
Mine Workers of Amerca, will succeed
Mr.. White as president. No other
name has been mentioned, altho it is
possible that other candidates may en-
ter the field before the referendum
vote is taken.
Mr.. Perry, the present secretary and
treasurer, has been urged to run for
the presidency to succeed Mr.. White,
but it is stated that he will not do so,
as he wishes to retain his present po-
sition for time
NH. White has been very successful
as head of the Iowa district of the
united mine workers. He gained not
only the esteem of the members of the
union to the extent that for the last
three years they insisted that he re-
main as president altho he asked to re-
tire, but also enjoyed the respect Of
the operators as he has, they state, al
ways endeavored to give both sides a
square deal.
The first case of serious insubor-
dination that has been encountered
was within the last week when the
miners of the Des Moines district re-
fused to accept onehalf clearing house
certificates instead Of all cash for their
semi-monthly pay. Mr.. White made
this recommendation only after he had
consulted John Mitchell president OF
the United Mine Workers of America,
at his home in Illinois. Mr.. Mitchell
was lying ill at La Sale, but consent
ed to see Mr.. White and urged the
latter to cooperate in tiding over the