Fergus County Democrat. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-1919, 1915-02-04
VIOLATION
0FLAWS BY
OPERATORS
Lawson Gives a Reason Why
Coal Mine Owners Refuse to
Recognize Union Labor.

NEW YORK, Feb. 3.-John r. Law
son. executive board member of the
United Mine Workers OF America from
the district which includes Colorado,
today told the federal commission on
industrial relations that the reason the
Colorado Fuel and Iron company and
other operators refused to deal with
,rGanized labor was that they realized
hat the unions would force them to
obey the mining laws, which, he said.
they had repeatedly violated.
Mr.. Lawson. who was a witness last
week was recalled to the stand after
Mrs. Mary Petrucci and Mrs Margaret
Dominski, the wives of Colorado min
ers had told the story of Ludlow and
the batlie there as they had seen it,
Mrs. Petruccis three children were
smothered to death in Il suhterranean
chamber where they had hidden when
the tent colony was burned
Mr.. Lawson said that the only reason
the operators had granted the miners
anything was because they had seen
the handwriting on the wall, placed
there by the unions" AS he testified
he held in his hand copies of II Colo
radO mining laws. Each of these, he
said had been broken many times by
the operators. The operators realized.
he asserted. that the unions not only
would force them to obey tho statutes,
but would prevent them from import
ing vast numbers of workers from
Southern Europe. who had never seen
mine before, and then pay them what
they pleased, work them as long as
they pleased and keeping them in
state OF poverty for the rest of their
lives
jerome ID. Greene, secretary of the
Rockefeller foundation, and formerly n
member of the personal staff of John
ID. Rockefeller, ST., occupied the wit
| ness stand all during the morning ses-
sion and part of the afternoon ses-
sion. He defended the practices and
policies of the Rockefeller foundation
and the aims and ideas OF it's founders.
He admitted that the foundation could
within the scope of the charter granted
by the New York legislature do many
things incompatible with the general
interests of the public"-such as con-
Quoting propaganda against organ
lied labor or a campaign against com
pensation for workmen. But he de-
clared there was not even a remote
possibility that such things would ever
happen.
Mr. Greene said that while, until the
first of the year, he was member of
Mr.. Rockefellers personal staff. he
had seen his employer but twice in the
last five years. Mr.. Greene said he
considered the troubles in Colorado to
be economic.
hnn tnI
about living conditions in the Colorado
at the stores of the Colorado Fuel and
Iron company were higher than else
where and that for this reason miners
| frequently went to nearby towns for
| their supplies. She asserted that one
miner was discharged when he was
caught with a trunkiul of supplies pur-
chased outside the mining camps
Mrs. Dominski described the alleged
| trouble between the miners and
| shooting at women and children during
the militia. She said that militiamen
had demanded from one of the miners
leaders named Tikas the production Of
a certain miner who was not in camp.
Shortly after Tikas had so informed
them, the witness said she heard a
bomb explode, and looking out of her
tent she saw militiamen riding toward
them.
"Tikas told us to scatter as the mill
tia had machine guns" the witness tes
titled. about so or 60 of us, women
and children, were standing on the
hill when they started to shoot at us.
Two of my children hid in a well with
some of the women and hid in barn
with my other child. Later in the aft
ernoon my children crawled out of the
well and started for the barn. The
Continued on page siX)