The Washington herald., 1913-03-30

lntACi- A1c i8ocu udIucT oiu htof6
earnestly than ever with mo standing
by as a ready witness to the truth of
all he said. Progress and Poverty by
Henry George. was likewise read in the
evenings and duly expounded In Arnot
shops and houses. I do not assert that
the mental exercises obtained as my
fathers right-hand man In his con-
troversial encounters made UP for my
lack of school privileges. but. as you
will see. my mind was turned to serious
subjects. and besides, formed the
reading habit. Furthermore, I learned
In a rough way. some Of the fundamen-
tails of extemporaneous debate
Il became a full-iedged miner, in
knowledge Of the trade at least. when
j was thirteen years Of age. Times
with US then became hard. The mines
because Of slack business, reduced their
output and SO my father went out West
in search OF employment. I supported
the family in his absence. holding a
half-membership In the miners union
] was admitted to a full membership at
the age Of sixteen and after that was
Journeyman miner. Labor unions in
those days were not popular, except
among some classes of workers En-
ployers looked upon them as instrument
talities for the reduction Of their own
profits. My experience and my reading,
together with the influence Of my father,
made me an enthusiastic union SYM
pathizer. Indeed. I became an active
agitator. boy though / was
THE opposition to organized labor
grew SO bitter that the mine operators
established what was popularity known
as blacklist. Certain men were thus
outlawed by employers and consequently
found II impossible to obtain work as
miners. My name was on the list of un-
desfrables. II so happened, therefore.
that I was often prevented from working
at my trade. Occasionally 1 was mixed
up in strike. but. taking my life as
a whole, ! have helped to prevent more
strikes. hundred times over. than I
have helped to organize and carry into
effect.
A Printer and . Fireman.
AT the times when the mines were
closed against me I worked at anything
that offered living. learned to set
type in an amateur fashion at a weekly
newspaper Office In Blossburg. In that
way | came to understand something
about punctuation and capitalization. I
also worked in saw mills and lumber
yards. and once was a railroad fireman
in Iowa. Thus ! lived. always poor.
a miner and often something
e.se. ] was president of our district or
during the formative days of
our unions. No salary was then at
tached to that Office. Later served
when I was paid for my services.
II was pretty near the bottom of my
meal barrel in 1896 man in Arnot
rented me 100 acres of hilly and rocky
land. He thought there were coal meas
ires oil the farm and tina. could open
and develop a mine. l had no knowl-
edge OF agriculture. Instead of a team
of horses. which had been promised, I
had to begin my spring plowing with a
yoke OF oxen. ] had never plowed.
l had never performed with oxen More
over. the land was stony. As to what
I shall leave to your imagina-
ton. Well, there was no coal on the
land. l bought the farm at a later day
and one OF my sons Is now running it
as a dairy. John Mitchell, in 1900 an
pointed me secretary and treasurer of
the United Mine Workers of America.
] held the position by election until
1905. From 1907 till March 4. 1913. / was
In Congress.
Your miners organization" said,
has dev veloped number Of able orators
and leaders"
Our methods of doing business make
us alert and compel US to be intelli-
gent" Secretary Wilson answered. las
many as 1000 miners and 400 operators
often come together to discuss wages
A conference Of that kind brings the
strong men on both sides into promi-
nence. Men Of unusual ability naturally
take positions of leadership. In the old
days, to show you how our conferences
have worked out, We would meet the
operators with a sentimental feeling that
we ought to have higher wages. The
operators would say that they had to
in the markets with coal from
West Virginia. though they were actually
paying a higher rate for mining. If we
raise your rate they would declare. our
coal will be driven from the markets and
the mines will be shut down. So we
went home defeated
How They Learned to Bargain.
Presently we would meet the opera
tors again. We would have the facts,
this time. about the rates in both dis