Arizona republican., 1912-04-06

PHILADELPHIA, April 5.-The suspension of coal mining in the an thracite regions of Pennsylvania if il occurs as the result of the present troubles, will be the fourth general labor disturbance in that industry in the last twelve years. In 1900 the miners struck six weeks: in 1902 they were out five and a half months and in 1906 they again suspended work for six weeks. In the 1900 and 1902 strikes the coal diggers. through the United Mine Workers of Amer ica and under the leadership of John Mitchell. won victories hy gaining an increase in wages and q readiust ment of certain working conditions. In neither struggle, however. did the organization obtain what it has in some of the bituminous fields straight out recognition Of the union, although the officers of the union have carried on negotiations as rep resentatives of the men"
 Prior to the first big break in 1900 there were sporadic strikes. but they did not grow to any propor- ton because the men were not well organized one of the post serious of these strikes was in lS97 at Latti- mer in the Lehigh region, where in one clash between deputy sheriffs and mine workers more than twenty strikers were shot and killed.
 In the 1900 strike the union had about 1000 anthracite men upon its membership roll The mines in the Wyoming. or northern coal field. shut down first and the strike rap idly spread sOuthward until' the en- tire anthracite country was involved. about 143.OO0 men being idle. This strike came in a year when a presi- dential election was held and was settled in favor of the men after much pressure had been brought to bear upon the coal operators by. Sen atOr Mark Hanna of Ohio. who was then managing President McKinley's campaign for a second term. A 10| per cent advance in wages was granted to all classes of mine work CTS.
 The following year found the an- thracite regions much disturbed byI labor troubles While there was no general movement, 1O2 separate strikes were recorded during the year
 The 1902 strike. the greatest in the history of the country, was hard fought 1t was remarkable for the completeness of the tie-up and the losses incurred were enormous. The in, crease in wages, a reduction in hours from 10 to day, coal to be weighed wherever practicable instead of measured by the car, and receg- milton of the union. The strike last ed from May r to October g. Nearly 147, 7,000 mine workers were idle and thousands of ulilroad and other workers were thrown out of employment The entire national guard of Pennsylvania. about 10000 1 men, were called into service before i the struggle came to an end.
 President Roosevelt was instru- l mental in bringing the two sides to- i gether and to agreeing to the dp- pointing of the Anthracite coal strike | commission to arbitulte the differ | ences. The commission visited many i mines and examined 55S witnesses between October, 1902, and February. ! 1903. It awarded d 10 per cent in | crease in wages to miners and re duced the hours of men who were paid by the day from 10 to al day, and made numerous recOm- mendations tending to better the
  nlSo created tle board of cOncilia- tion. to which have been referred most of the grievances that have arisen since the commissions awards were made.
 The commission estimated the losses occasioned by that strike as fol- lows:
 Decrease in coal production. a. 604.4S2 tons.
 Decrease in receipts of coal com panies, $46lOO,OOO.
 Wages lost by men. $25.000000
 Miners relief fund. S1,S00,O ,O0O.
 Decrease in cdll freight rates. $2S.- O00, ,O0O
 These figures show a loss of more than $100,0O0, 900. Besides this there were losses sustained by the rail- road workers and employees in other industries. and there was general paralysis in business in a prosper ous section of the state
 The award of the strike commis- sion remained in force for three years until 1906, when it WIS re- newed for another period of three years after the miners had sus- pended work for about six weeks When this agreement expired onl