The Sentinel=record., 1910-01-20
PROFITS RESPONSIBLE FOR LACK OF PROTECTION TO MINERS,
 SAY OFFICIALS.
Cherry Disaster Referred to as Proof That Action Should Be Taken to Protect the Miner
 from Neglect


 one excuse for the great slaughter of human lives in the coal mines of the country-profits" so declared E. S. Mccullough. vice president of the United Mine Workers of America, in his report presented to the conven- tlon of the organization today.
 ''To provide continues the report, safety appliances for the protection of those who provide the fuel supply Of this country, and make profitable our present state of industrial, com mercial and social status, means the expenditure of money and less profits to those who own the mines. and to the extent that health, life and limb can be protected, and are not, is a na- tional disgrace and murder of the most cruel type, and, in my opinion, so long as the public can secure it's fuel supply and profits is the chief aim of the industry, no relief can be hoped for except through the united action of the mine workers them selves"
 As to the Cherry disaster. the re- port says:
 This horrible blunder and sacrifice Of human life should call forth our earnest efforts to prevent a repetition of such criminal negligence and wan ton losses of those who have so far escaped, but whose lives are surround. Cd by the same possibilities and ele- ment of danger.
 Tine various diseases which destroy human life have awakened public in- terest and enlisted the support of the hestc itizens of our land to prevent and destroy their blighting influence, but those who perform the labor of our land who make possible the grati. f'cation of every desire, who, by the magic touch of labor, transform and change from the crude to the finished product supplying the wants and needs of all, live and work amid dan. gers, squalor and disease, and little or no attention is given them save few dollars during periods of arous. ed sentiment and sympathy such as the Cherry disaster
 The first and principal great nee,i of our union is the organization of the non-union mine workers of this courSry. So long as the great army of non-union men remain outside the organization they continue to be a menace and stand in the way of the progress ad advancement of the or ganized mine workers.
 "On account Of the industri i de. pression it has been very difficult and impossible in most places dur ing the past year to induce men to join the union. But as there are hopes and prospects of revival along the industrial line, earnest considera- tion should be given the question of organization during the coming year.
 The dissension in the official realm of our union should be given consid- eration at your hands Unless the electioneering tactics which have dis graced our organization during the past two years are prevented there is but one result--the destruction of the power and effectiveness of our union.
 There are great possibilities with in our grasp, but they can only be secured through singleness of pur- pose and unity of action"
 Deploring theu unprecedented loss of 1 life in the mines of America in 190s and 1909, Edwin Perry, secretary treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America. declared in the conven- ton today that "notu ntil the func. tion of protecting life is placed where i it rightfuIly belongs. namely, on the 1 operator or mine owner. can we reas