The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-11-23

20 cents per man. SO you see tha,
/ the sheriff makes 25 cents per man
clear. 1t costs him absolutely moth
ing. The deputy sheriff makes five
cents per man, clear. John Rile5
Sounders, the last contractor, gets
only 20 cents per man.
III Saunders makes as much as
five cents per man, that leaves only
5 cents with which to feed a man
three meals, and these men are
working at the hardest kind of man
ual labor, ten hours per day.
MI Love, If you have not had no.
tice of this matter before, I want
you to take notice now, and if you
do not put stop to this unIa wfui
method of getting labor, | VIII take
the matter up with the Governor
OF our state, and see what he can
do with it. 1t is the worst thing
that / have ever seen in Fayette
county, and l have been here for
over forty years.
And again 1 say, if you must work
these men illegally, for Gods sake
give them a bed to sleep on, and
do not compel them to lay on the
iron or cement floor after working
them ten hours day, and give them
enough to eat, no matter if it is
only cabbage and beans, corn bread
and bacon. You know, and every
one knows, that you cannot board
a man with Is cents per day, anG
work him all day at hard manual
labor. That would scarcely keep him
alive sitting down in Jail.
About two weeks ago there were
Two working men who are employed
by the c. G o. Ry. Co., walking up
through the Thurmond yards The
Mayors labor agent saw them, and
knowing that there was just room
Tor two more men for the new county
road, captured them, and would have
taken them to Jail, but their cards
showed they We're employed as shop
trackmen. Their names are J. r.
Bragg and T. ]. Guffin. 1t is getting
pretty bad when a man is even en-
ployed by the c. c o. Ry Co. can
not walk to or from his work on the
right of way, without being arrested
And the worst part of the whole
thing is that the mayor and his labor
agents do not stop with arresting 2
men. but arrest boys.
| saw some very young faces there
the other day. They had done moth
ing but ride in a box or coal car
an the c. & o. Ry. OF course. that
is violation of the law, but is that
crowded Jail the place to reform
young boys?
H. NJ. Black, who is the special
officer employed by the c. & o. Ry.
Co., at salary of from /EEO.OU to
$1,000 per month, also holds the po-
sition Of town marshall. He fur
nishcs from s to 10 men every day
or two, at q cost for his services
alone OF near S350.OO every two or
three months. for arresting men who
havo committed no crime, and who
are denied any trial, and yet be is
not constable of Fayette county.
Another thing I want to call atten-
ton to, is that p. H. Kelley, Of Thur
mond, w. Va, has no authority TO
arrest or try any man for any Of
fense that is committed outside Of
the limits of the town, and yet he
is doing this very thing every day.
No matter where the men are found
along the line, they are tried by
Kelley, because he has an under
standing with the promoters of the
, road. Just as soon as the men are
turned over to the sheriff. the labor
agent makes out his claim for the
and Mr.. Love is ready and willing
TO o. X. each and every claim, with
out making any investigation of the
case, or the charge that is agains:
the man, who sent them to Jail. or
| whether they came from Kanawha
Fayette. Raleigh or Summers county
1t makes no difference just SO they
can get them to work on the new
! county road.
| Between October 2nd and Octobel
26, 1911, II. NJ. Black and = r
! Stringer arrested twenty-three mer
| for 'trespassing. These men wer,
sentenced to jail for from 80 to Tt
days. and fined from $500 to $1,000
and costs.
Citizens of Fayette county. How
| much longer will you allow thcs'
inhuman conditions TO prevail ii
/ your count--2 Men are being en-
shaved, you are being robbed. Is i
not time to raise your voice in pro
test?