Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-06-19
PREPARATION that could possibly

" say LAdL Lie SOfOIuo1 duu MS
friends disavow knowledge of these
outrages beyond the suppression of
the papers and the arrest Of the ,edi
tors, declaring that the other wanton
acts above referred to were wholly UNI
authorized.
1T should also be said that the gov
nor and his friends positively disavow
the threat alleged to have been made
10y Governor Hatfield, and for which
he has been so bitterl ydenOuneed,
that he would deport from the state
Pail miners who refused to accept the
terms of settlement with the operators
and resume work in the coal fields.
1t is emphatically denied that any
such threat was ever made
Beginning with the oath inst, we
visited the Cabin Greek, Paint Greek,
and New River districts, in the order
mentioned, attended In the first two
by Mr.. Moore, the governor, s assistant.
private secretary, whose services he
rendered and which the committee ac-
cepted. The governor on behalf of the
state also rendered the use of a spe-
cial train to the committee which was
respectfully declined.
"At the Cabin Creek and Paint
Creek districts, accompanied over the
entire route by numerous miners
familiar with the situation, the com
mittee made house to house and
tent to tent canvass, hearing the
stories of men, women and children
and witnessing scenes of horror and
dessolatiOn which beggar description
outrages Not Exaggerated.
The report of the outrages perpe-
trated upon the defenseless miners
and their families during the Glass
cock administration have not in the
least been exaggerated Houses and
tents were shot up Unfortunately
from an armoEed train in the darkness
Of night; men were assaulted and wo-
men insulted by the dastardly mine
thugs, and even little children were
not spared.
AS all these atrocious crimes agaist
the striking miners and their families
will be brought out fully in the sena-
torial Investigation now under way and
PLACED before the country for its edi-
fication as to the despotic misrule of
the criminal mine barons, we refrain
from the attempt to chronicle them in
this report. Indeed we could scarcely
begin to do justice to the subject
without m aking this report far too vol
luminous for the limited space in our
press and for general circulation.
Distinct Victory.
"A dfctinct victory has been achiev-
ed in forcing this investigation upon
the mine barons of West Virginia in
spite of their combined efforts to de-
feat it. HenceforWard there will be
a decided change in the situation. The
Investigation will bring the facts to
light and every effort should be made,
on the part of the miners and their
friends to have the whole of these
facts in their greWsome details brought
out and placed upon record,
"By act of the legislature recently
adjourned the mine guard system,
which was one of the prime causes
of the trouble and a source Of unceas-
ing brutality and terror to the miners
was practically abolished and for the
first time in the history of industrial
West Virginia, the miners and other
workers can now organize unions and
hold labor meetings free from the in
reference of the private thugs and
sluggerS of the mine owners, whom
Governor Hatfield is pledged to do all
in his official power to suppress.
Trouble Alien Ownership.
s'The great trouble with West Vir-
ginia, as Governor Hatfield explained,
is that hundreds Of thousands of acres
of coal lands are owned by great cor
porations, aliens for the most part, |
such as Guggenheim for instance, who |
care nothing about the miners and no
thing about West Virginia beyond their |
own heartless exploitation, Vast areas
including entire mountains and val
leys, are their own private preserves,
patrolled by their own private guards, |
and it is in these privately owned sec
tons where the power of the corpora
tons is absolute, and where, in fact,
the feudalisfn of the middle ages pre-
walls, where the most cruel conditions |
have existed and the most outrageous |
crimes haVe+been committed.
1T is with both pride and pleasure |
that we bear testimony to the uniform
ly brave spirit and high character Of
the comrades who have been on the
firing line. in the West Virginia strug-
gle. They have fought one of the
bravest and bloodiest fights in the in
dustrial history of this country.
Against Overwhelming odds and with
spies and sluggers dogging their foot
steps, they held their own to the very
end.
Join Hands Now. l~4
cat the close of our labors we. re-
joiced to see the better understanding
that existed between the United Mine
Workers and the Socialist Party, which
we sought in every way to encourage /
and promote, and barring very few
who are. bent upon arraying them
against each other to their mutual un-
doing, we left the. comrades in the best
of spirits and with the assurance upon
every hand, freely given especially
among the striking miners, that our
visit had resulted in immeasurable
good and that they would not take hold
with renewed vigor and enthusiasm,
and push the work of organization,
economic and political, in all, the coal
fields and throughout the state.
9etha New Rivar district which has