El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-31

NL----eE- IS now pellS Wa6t4 ia
West Virginia a civil war, a real
war
1t is a war against feudalism, in
which 10000 armed coal miners are Up
posed by the entire military OrEa'l.14-
Lion OF the state.
Fsudalssm in american The notion
must be shock to that faith which
accepts without question the ceclar1-
tiOu that this is a free country NeF-
ertccIrss feudalism does exist mere,
and in West Virginia IL has reached
the Inevitable climax
Tho causes that lie behind this re-
HcIIi0u should be both interesting and
Instructive to those who nave just oean
reading THAI West Virginia vas cele-
bratiug the fifrieth anniversary of her
admission into the Union as free
state Some Of these causes are rs
follows
Miners arc servants. They pay rent
Tor their cottages. but they must yet
cut whenever they displease their mas
ter tSee judicial deCision.3 1IinerS
must vote the way the boss direc.s
fSec what happened TO the men in tile
H0Iley & Stephenson mine-) They must
nav the eL0rbitant prices charged 1y
company stores (See the store n-ices-3
They must not advocate Socialism.
tSee the black HsL) They must recOE-
nize the authority OF the mine guards,
the private police Of the mining com
panies II guard Insults a woman
OF brurally assaults a man the victim
must understand that the guard Is
merely preserving the peace
Struck TO Advertise Grievance.
As there seemed no other way Of
calling these conditions to a reluctant
official attention. the mine workers
called a strike.
The rebellion followed. It had not
been contemplated in the original
plans OF the strikers, and IL did not
occur until il became perfectly plain
taht the armed mcrceuafies OF the
mine owners were going II proceed
just as If war had been declared, and,
furthermore, that the regular govern
ment was not going to interfere. Then
the citizen army walked into Charles
ton, bought few carloads Of rifles.
and came back with cartridges in It's
belt and blood IA its eye.
That was last July. The war has
been In progress ever since. It mas
been the genuine article, with half
dozen pitched battles. an interesting
quota of biOOdshed. and O sufficient
amount of legal uuackery, official IN
justice, and governmental deSpOLlsm 10 I
make the average man wonder whether (
one Of the remote districts of Siberia. .
May Be Fifty Dead.
Both sides have concealed their &
losses but an estimate, made by Ine ,
authorities who were sent in /!
to suppress the rebellion, places the +
number of killed between 2S and 90 :
This is most conservative
When the state finally interviewed !
Ito save the hired guards from ami
hilatiOn at the hands uf the enraEed
miners), the militia disarmed both
sides More than 500 rifles of every
pattern and description were confis-
cated-frOm the ancient musket which
some miner had carried IN the war be-
tween the north and south TO the mod
srn repeating WinchesLers of the !
guards. There were also in the lot
six machine guns, which shoot 300
times in minute and XIII at five miles
distance. 1000 reVOlV6rS and 10000
-Ounds Of ammunition. This included
zen thousand 'dumdum' bullets which
lad been thoughtfully imported by the
nine owners
Such bullets, you viii recall, have
seen prohibited by the rules of modern
warfare. And when the miners found
hat the companies weren't going TO
bide by the rules. they also bought
'dUmdum' bullets and used them
The militia went atJer both SIDES
With vigorous impartiality. taking the
POSITION that mine guards who, in the
.aEo OF law and order, make war with
dumdum' bullets. are equally at fault }
With miners who fight in the name Of
DerLE- Unfortunately, however, Tor
he militas good Intentions the
guards. having no family ties. were
bic 10 make a speedy exit, leaving
he miners TO bear the burden of sub
eQuent proceedings
These consisted Of sundry court mar
ials. the general esta blishment Of mar
ial law for the first time in the his
DRY Of the state, and sentence to the 7
'enitentary by the military com s
handlers Of abOue 20 miners.
West Virginia Z ndcr @ELinE Coal
As may be imagined. the course OF
vents was not displeasinE to the mine >
Wners who had brought in both I
yards and "dumdum" bullets.
The militia was on hand to enforce q
he law The miners had undoubtedly 7
rOlzen it. Now, despite various as =
umptiOns to the contrary. large bodies
men-sav. bodies 5000 strOnE-dO not d :
ret together and break the law for :
version Such events are commonly y
be result OF one thing condition
-hich has caused men to lose faith
n the law Given these conditions, p
very man is potential lawbreaker. =
For more than 20 years the gov e
-ument Of West Virginia has been run y
= the coal companies They had TO ~
IN it. West Virginia is the second p
bal producing state. Cheap labor is Z
for its remarkable pro- / =,
ress- Naturally, this hasn't been as 4
God Tor the worker as Il has been 2 =
" the coal companies To control =
be labor market the companies have Q III
zen forced into politics.
The statehOuse is in Charleston. but -
be real capital has been the little y
.Wn OF Elkins. where the late United :
-ates senator Stephen 3. Elllins lived, 4
I'D where his coal millionaire father -
law, former United States senator ~
eury Gassaway Davis, stin lives. To y
lktus have come governors. congress q
en-, even judges, TO trade political -
Guence for political preferment- y
hose who wanted favOrs from the y
amocratic party. turned TO the Davis =
tate on the left bank of the river. y
ose whose business was with the Re VI
Ibllcan party. 70 the Ei5ins home or
BE- right bank.
Miners Ask Relief
Five years ago, the miners asked the =
ate legislature to relieve them from =
c oppression OF the private police / -
=--= OF
- III