The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-04-14
By JAMES B. MORROW.

of America
It is a great word. Some may say
that Il was shrewdly chosen. 1t suggests
slavery, extortion. and the lash. Al
spoken by Mr.. White, however, It Is
lacking in anger and bitterness. Hi
masculine voice gives II no particular
stress. Oppression to him Is proved
case. It Is accepted as fact, along
with the rising Of the tides. the blowing
of the winds and the changes of/the
seasons. His speech is calm. his eye Is
steady. and his strong. handsome face Il
unfinished by wrath or animosity. He
feels In his heart, It Is clear, that the
20. 200 miners OF the United States are
wrongly treated by their employers.
Thus with him oppression has become
a common word, describing an undeni-
able industrial condition. And coal. as
he measures II, Is the first cause OF the
nations prosperity Without coal freight
still would be going over the Allegheny
Mountains in wagons. Europe would be
six weeks away instead OF hve=days by
the calendar. There would be scarcely
any factories or mills. The Pittsburg
district would be smokeless by day and
unlighted by night America would be
an agricultural country. and oxen would
draw wrought-iron plows through the
fields, and fails would beat out the wheat
and rye from the ear.
The views of Mr.. White and the man
himself are big wnh interest and impor-
lance at this moment. He is a potential
and impressive person, visibly. AS he
leisurely enters the room where am
waiting, note his lean, powerful Shout
ders. his long, straight legs. his great
head, his fine eyes and nose, his large,
oratoricaI mouth. and his warriors chin
and short upper lip. His brown hair Is
IN wiry shock over his wide, full brow.
Physically he is a leader Of men On
horseback, with a rife across his saddle.
he would be a picture of the brave, ad-
venturous, and vanishing West.
Does His Thinking Sitting Down.
An Irishman, born in America, he has
the courage, the stamina, the fiuency,
and the sagacity Of his race. II have
never, found It dificult." he remarked
with a smile, ito put my opinions into
words. And from the very first liked
the politics OF the labor cause" At the
end Of the interview he said: Let me
see your dope after you get # into
print" Then he slowly disappeared into
the room whence he had come. Like
nearly all orators, he is Unconditional
while sitting down. He hammers out his
policies while he Is alone. Later he puts
them into words or ink.
Plenty of men can think but cannot
talk More, perhaps, can talk but can
not think. John p White can do both.
So he is like John Mitchell. whose polse
and serenity he seems to follow in pri-
Cate Conversation. Though an orator,
he Is also a strategist. Out in Iowa
where he dug coal and won HIS place in
leadership, he argued that full treasury
promoted peace between the union and
the owners of the mines. He contended
with his colleagues, won them over after
a hard battle, piled up a surplus. and
proved his case. TT is easier TO bar
gain with a beggar." he says, than
with a man whose pockets are full of
cash. He established that principle
among the miners. BE ready for war;
so runs his policy. and ones enemies
will try TO negotiate" asked him about
his life in the mines when he was cutting
coal for a living.
81 began as a trapper-boy," he said.
"a trapper-boy opens and closes the
air doors of a mine as the loaded cars
are taken to the shaft or are brought
back. Ny parents were natives Of Ire
land. They met in this country. how
ever, and were married. I was born at
Coal Valley, in Illinois. forty-one years
ago. We lived In a shanty made of up
right boards, near the Rock Island and
Peoria Railroad. by which company my
father was employed I was so young
when he died that ] do not remember
how he looked.
Was Hungry m q Boy.
MY mother was left with six children
to support. We were very poor, but
remember that We were happy. Our
home was humble and sometimes we
didn't have all We wanted to eat. but
God, my mother said. was always pres
4,r- - l.
living with my sister on a farm close to
my home at Oskaloosa, Iowa, and is
years old.
"As my brothers grew up they went
to work and helped TO support the fam
fly. My mother gave us all the educa-
tion she could. I went to school In
Illinois and Iowa until I was fourteen
years Of age. Ny first day in the mines
gave me a costly and painful initiation
into the eoal-digging business. A huge
chunk of slate fen from the roof and
almost killed me. II was three months
before / could return to work. was |
under ground eleven hours a day and |
was paid s. a week. In time. became |
q miner, learning the trade from my |
brother I continued in the mines until |
I was twenty-eight years old. Since |
then have been an officer of the min |
ers' union, first in my own district and
State and afterward in the national or |
ganization.
while a young man. I realized that a |
strong treasury was the best argument |
! labor union could make in its demands |
for better wages and improved condi- |
lions. carried that philosophy into all |
the meetings attended and preached II |
Tt is a simple matter |
said, to deal with poor devil who is |
down and out financially, but II Is an
other matter when one comes to do busi-
ness with a man who has a bank &C. |
count As it Is with individuals,' i de- |
clared. so II is with labor organizations
I liked 70 talk to my brethren OF the |
mines and they liked to hear me. Any
way, they gave me one ONCE after an
other and as my influence grew en-
phasized my financial doctrine.
Iowa Has a Fund Of. 100000.
II pleaded for a tax that we might
have sufficient cash on hand to give us
standing and dignity when entering into
q controversy with our employers A
tax Is never a popular suggestion and /
met with opposition. but stuck to my /
text and now the miners or Iowa have
a fund Of 10000 in cash and liquid Sc
curities. Though we have had our trou-
hles IN Iowa, our little strikes and lock-
outs, we have had no Statewide dIficul- /
ties. no general suspension OF work In
all the districts. Experience has shown
that my financial policy makes for har-
mony and gives force and respectabiiity
to such communications as labor may
address to capital. About q year ago 1
was chosen president Of the United Mine
Workers Of America. an organizations OF
coal miners. you understand. and not
miners of cold silver or ofopr metals