Arizona republican., 1914-02-13
Says Mine Guards Were Heavily Armed for Hu- manitarian Purposes to Overawe Strikers and Prevent BloOdshed
UNITED
 MINE WORKERS
Assures Probe Commission He Never Permitted False Weighing and Does Not Question Right of Men to Organize
ASSOCIATED PRESS DIspATcH1

lASSOCIATED PRESS DISPATCH
 DENVER, Feb. 12-'I don't want any relations with the United Mine Workers and I will not have any. Frankly have always been opposed to the eight hour law in coal mines. never knowingly permitted false weigh ing. We have done all that we could to comply with the state mining laws. The operators bought arms and ann intuition for the use of the mine guards. I want to take all the respon- sibility that is coming to me for the purchase of the machine guns. So far as the operators are concerned, the strike is over"
 In these words a few statements were made late today by John C. Osgood, chairman of the board of directors of the Victor American Fuel company, be- fore the congressional committee in vestigating the coal miners strike. MT Osgood was put on the stand as a witness for the mine owners, to tell the story of the labor war from the operators viewpoint
 Last summer Frank J. Hayes, in ternational wise president of the union visited Colorado" the witness said. At that time I was approached by Cover nor Ammons on the subject of meet ing officers of the mine workers in con- ference. We told the governor we did not make any contract with the United } Mine Workers and we refused to meet Hayes
 Some time before we granted an eight hour day and increased the wages ten per cent. I do not question the right of the workmen to organize and do business collectively, but think the business man has right to do business with whom he pleases."
 Mir Osgood then told of the wage scales in Colorado and the neighbor- ing states. He attempted to show the wages in Colorado were not substan- tially lower than in Wyoming and de- clared they were twenty per cent high CT than in Kansas, Oklahoma and Hi nois, where the employers have con- tracts with the United Mine Workers
 Discussing the subject of check Weighmen. the witness said that his company is willing to allow miners to have their own men at the scales, but that in most cases the men failed to avail themselves of the privilege. He said the men are not required to trade at the company store and that the use of script under the present system IS legal. It is not compulsory. but the script is issued only upon the request of the men, as matter of convenience. Mir Osgood contradicted the testimony of witnesses that 95 per cent or the miners in the southern fields obeyed the strike order He said that not more than fifty per cent struck.
 "NoW I would like to explain for vou the notorious criminal guard sys- tems" he continued Before the strike was declared. we never had any guards except one marshal and one night watchman in each camp. When the strike was called we realized We would have to protect the lives of our work men and our property. The maxlfhuih of guards employed at any time by the Victor company was one hundred. We never had more than fifteen to twenty in each camp. we instructed the guards never to leave the company property except in case or necessity. When the strike started, the violence started with us.
 "The day after the men went out the town marshal at Segunda was killed. shortly after the strikers took two wo- men from a stage and held them pris- oners in the tent colony until the gov ernor interferred and secured their re- lease.
 During this strike fourteen men were
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