Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1916-07-13

| isolated from the rest of the State, be-
cause Hardin county is one of the two
| counties in Illinois that, have no rail-
roads. The miners are all native white
| Wages, hours and conditions of labor
Ehave always been, and are now the
lowest. and poorest in the American
| continent for this class Of work. The
workers in and around the mines have
been inarticulate, accepting without
question the companies terms. The
minimum work day is 10 hours.
Feudal Oppression.
"In addition to the low wages and
degrading conditions of work, the min
ers have been denied any civil and So
cial rights. that the companies disap-
proved of. Victims of personal injury
and preventable accidents have been
met with threats and intimidation.
Men were compelled to work Sundays
and holidays under the threat of i'm
mediate discharge, and such things as
sickness in the family, baptismS fam
| lily gatherings, and REVEALS heve never
been considered sufficient reasons for
allowing men to stay away from, work
even on Sunday. A real system of
peonage established years ago has
been continued up to date. -.
Contrast this situation with condi-
lions in practically every other mining
town in the State, where the United
Mine Workers, with $4,000 members.
have increased wages, reduced acct
dents to the minimum, protected every
man in the exercise of his rights, and
established general good feeling and
satisfaction.
1T finally dawned upon these work
ing men that they could never be free,
to assert their constitutional rights or
seek redress for economic wrongs, I'M
| less they themselves organized. So in
May of this year they began to organ
ize into a local miners union. They
] applied for and received charter from
the Western Federation of Miners,
/ which is the branch of the American
Federation of Labor having jurisdic-
ton.
Discharged UnfOnists.
| ION May Is, the company began dis
charging men who had Joined the I'M
| ion or were known to be in sympathy
with it, They were told plainly that
| the operating companies would not al
/ low any kind of union or working
mems association to exist there. A few
miners who had joined the union were
lcoerced into signing disclaimers in
(which they repudiated their union con
nection.
Another effort to force men to sever
| their connection with the union took
/ the form of legal notices on miners
| who occupied company houses and who
owed rent, threatening them with evic-
i ton unless the rent was paid within
| five days.
| Import Strikebreakers.
"The result of this lockout of un-
| ion members was mass meeting OF
/ citizens to uphold the union and 9
] strike by $50 union miners. These hahe
Jbeen joined by others, and the mer
i are standing firm. The companies are
i trying to secure strike breakers or
both sides of the Ohio river, and few
of the poorest illiterate natives have
been brought to Rosiclare. Most O.
them quit work when they learned
what the situation was.
Community Sympathizes.
""The Mclean representative at Rosl
clare is w. P. Hanson, the mine super
II intendent, an excitable and arbitrar.
man with hatred for all labor unions
N His conduct has won the strikers tn
81 sympathy of the entire community. l
is no longer a strictly local fight TIL
entire labor movement Of Illinois
| supporting the miners Open air meet
ings are being held, and in spite of tn
evictions and the refusal Of the com
pany. to meet their men, good orde
has prevailed.
This situation is the worst on tn
American continent. The miners o
| Illinois feel as matter of state prid
that it should be cleaned up. By thei
own efforts the Illinois miners hav
Ibuilt up the greatest district Union i
1.-THE world, have demonstrated the fac
that they are as intelligent a body c
men as there is in any walk of lift
and have done more toward promotin
Industrial peace than has any othe
agency, and they will certainly go tn
| limit in their support Of these miners
miners, their fellow workers and neigh
bors."
John Walker Advises
John r. Walker, president Of the Ill
nois state Federation of Labor, wit
SOC, 600 members, is now at Rosiclar
~ odvise the strikers In a telegral