El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-07

TvEN If the striking miners in
r, West Virginia do not tear out
- the heart Of the sheriff. kill the
governor, and wipe the militia off the
map" as a Smithers Creek prOclama-
tiOu promises, they have done enough
TO persuade newspaper editors that
VI est Virginia IS now IlnQluE nerSeLI
face to face with the problem that
Pennsylvania had to deal with when
her mining region took on the aspect
Of armed Instruction
For nearly a year there has been
trouble, with a series of fights between
miners and tSherlffs or mine guards,
and two prOClamauOnS of martial law,
eliminating in a pitched battle near
MucllOW, in which sixteen men were
killed, and in the descent of a mob Of
miners upon the state building in
Charleston.
Fight for Recognition.
The primary object of the strike
seems to have been the recognition Of
the United Mine Workers by the opera
tors There ~is nothing in this in
herenuy impossible of adjustment"
observes the Baltimore American. one
Of the papers which would like to see
SnuCh agencies of mediation "aS are
represented by the Erdman board in
relation TO railroad labor difficulties
extended Ito all classes Of labor dis
putes- But il adds, the rancOrOus
and bloody temper aroused by acts OF
riot add greatly to the difficulty in
securing peaceful adjustment of the
wage question, the prices charged at
mine guards, which seem to be the
principal points of grievance, together
with the demand for recognition Of the
union A further disquieting develop
ment, according to the Washington
Post is the appearance of Haywood
and EttOr on the scene and "the dis
cOvery that dynamite tactics and So
cialist leadership have to be reckoned
Hn
Strike Area 10 Square Miles.
The strike territory. we learn from
an item in the Philadelphia Record.
covers 10 square miles, extending over
Cabin and Paint Creeks. taking in
section north of the kanaWha river
Portions of Boone. Raleigh and Fayette
counties are included" All this cOun-
try is under martial law.
According to one newspaper report
Chesapeake and Ohio trains going
through il are equipped with machine
guns as a protection against night at
racks and "sniping" from the hilIsides.
Governor GlasscOck. gOvernor-eIect
Hatfield. and committees of the legis-
lature have been in earnest conference
Six militia companies were in the
field last week, and every national
guardSman has been warned TO be
ready for service at any time. Sew
eral well known labor leaders, includ-
ing Mother Jones'" have been arrest
ed and Will be tried by the military
commission A brief history of this
Little civil war appears in the Louis
vile Courier Journal
Started Last April.
The coal strike In the Paint and
Cabin Creeks districts of Kanawha
county had its inception last April.
Tt soon became necessary to send troops
into the district to Queu riOting and
governor GlaSScOck issued q prOclama-
ton of r-arJi&l law. the first ever de-
clared in West Virginia. After time
the troops were withdrawn. as cOndi-
lions became normal with the presence =
of the soldiers. After few weeks
interval IiOting again broke forth
Trains were held up. coal tipples
burned, and persons shot and beaten.
Governor GlasscOck declared martial
law for the second time
Strikers Take to the MOuntainsg
when the troops reached the strike
district again little trouble was eNper-
fenced. With the coming of the troops
miners and their sympathizers
took to the mountains. Frequently
shots were fired into mining towns