Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1912-04-11
j, C. McKinley's Rules
4 Making Slaves of Men
Daily Papers Run
Fake riot :
Story

:, strike at the Mound Elty CoaA COW.
.,v,s mine at First street. Mounds
81. Monday the strike was called
Tvesday about eight saen were Y
aaeed to go into the hine' but %
Wednesday, the mine was closed down
completely not one man gong 9
work
c. MKinley, of Wheeling, who
!, n cmtrol declined to meet with
CONSERVATIVES OF the men.
That the strike Is justified is made
Mainly apparent by the stories told
~ the men. A Majority man, early
an the scene, was t:ld by the men
fiat the workers in the mine were
tsgted simply as slaves, and that the
w Of the state in. regard to mines
~ violated perpetually. They claim
tSat the mine is damp, but that there
ia great deal Of gas. and that the
state inspectors have been lax ID their
sVorD duty, to the danger Of the men.
They claim that the men are cheated
in he weighing of their coal, being
deurayed Of a check-weighman Tin
sujte Of the state law) and that they
are compelled to remain in the
evening after their work is done, I'M
III II suits the god pleasure Of the
MANAGEMENT to permit them to come
10 the surface and go to their homes:
IN short, they tell story Of slave
driving that belongs in the hietQry
d. Ne middle ages, instead OF today
md carried on by the orders Of 9
man who poses as a leading citizen
and who seeks the spot Light IN
civic Improvements" in Wheeling
and who poses as benefactor Of
little children. c. Mckinley.
How Il Started.
The starting of the trouble seems
TO have been Friday week ago. Az
that time, the men say, they were
I. told to sign "ironclads." No one
seems to know just what the iron
clads" were, for they say that no
one was permitted to read them. They
state that the boss simply read aloud
what be pleased from the s'ir0nclad
and then told the men to sign 1t, I'M
der pain Of discharge for refusal. Il
Is understood, though. that it Is an
agreement by which the employee
signs away all his rights aga citizen
Of West Virginia; that they even sign
away the protection guaranteed them
BY the law Of the state.
Preceding the agreement was the
straw that broke the camel's back.
few foreigners signed it. it Is
claimed. but others refused. Those
Who refused were told to take their
tools and quit, and were paid the
little money due them.
This precipitated the strike. The
men had been complaining for long
Of the conditions under which they
we're forced to work, and when they
AV their last chance of self defense
oelng wiped out, they were simply
GiSea to revolt.
The M'Kinley tactics were as Us
@A The daily papers printed lying
aaounts Of the rioting, and the fore.
y Of government were called upon
compel the men to nturn TO their
sussry. This is the same fonce Of
sV'emment that never interfered dur
'As all the time that ]. C. Mckinley
aau been violating the law Of the
A' III denying the men g chance
y look at the scales that weighed
ne coal they dug.
Men are Determined
Tue men are determined. They say
WY Will stand solidly for their de
1AaOs' These Include q check
.',saman, union scale for mining
saa nine safety. Their cause Il *
~. s that they are satisfied to LAY
s 4sr case before the people OF fhis
N@'s-tO lay their case alongside
We case Of ]. C. M'Kinley
Man Makes II Cents ! Day
:, ~ an Illustration OF the working
81, 1e MKinley skinning system th,
- o told this story:
A. As man. recently. worked hard al
y and loaded eight cars. Each "a
4. supposed to hold 80 bushels. 70
4. aays work he got Just s71k cents
A. - . that he had to pay so cent
- aoRder, and 10 cents for oil. Thi
rs,' s'a ah cents for his days wori
y hardly paid him for the YEA
toor N NJ