The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-08-17
SOME CAUSES OF RECENT
TROUBLE IN LEAD BELT
Get Those in Absolute Control of Great
Lead Companies and There Will Be
No Further Trouble in St. Fran
co.'s County Mining District.

tuition With the American such con-
ditions will not be tolerated, and
when one is injured while working in
the mines, the operators know that
they must make fair restitution. Yet,
when it comes to ordinary courtesy,
the Americans know better than to ev-
er expect such a thing. Their work is
constant grind, with very seldom
even a Sunday off. All of which has
apparently been part of the plan of
pressing down hard on American la
bor Those who should know say
there is absolutely no reason why the
miners could not be given at least an
occasional Sunday off.
By this time, perhaps, you are ask
ing who is really responsible for the
bringing about of such conditions in
the mining district. Then read on
and you shall know. 1t is the men
who are higher up in these great min
ing corporations. 1t is the men who
are paid to go and paint glittering
pictures to these ignorant foreigners;
who tell them that they can furnish
them with work that will bring them
dollars, where they have been able
to get only dimes, or even pennies,
in their native lands. These are
the men who are almost, if not wholly,
to blame for the late conditions in the
Lead Belt, which caused the American
miners to explode with indignation.
If the dates of these real trouble
breeders are cancelled in the future,
then the chances are that there will
be little more labor trouble in the
Lead Belt
The foregoing deductions finally
brings the trouble right home to the
management of the different lead
companies which have figured in this
trouble-back to the very head. There
the correction must be made, if the
present calm that is now pervading
the Lead Belt is to become permanent.
1t is worse than foolish for the heads
of these companies to longer pretend
that they did not know just what was
being done in regard to bringing into
that district ignorant foreign labor.
1t might be possible for the raine fore
men to "sell" foreigners jobs and "get
away with it, without the higher-ups
becoming aware Of it. But even that
would be a very hazardous proceed
ing for the foremen, if the manage
ment of those mining properties are
the thorough business men they
should be, and that they doubtless are.
That the heads of these mining cor
porations, or those in absolute charge
of their workings, should not be passed
up by grand jury Investigations that
may be attempting to get at the real
truth of the inner workings of such
great combinations, there is absolute
ly no tangible reason to believe. Get
at the controlling head and the work
Of investigation is then finished. All
this rafting around in the outer edges
of things which are supposed to be
under investigation, does not accomp-
lish thing to be desired by those who
favored such investigation Such
things only serve to muddy the waters
and assists the big fish to escape.
The Times feels that the day has al
most arrived, if not really here, when
wealth and lofty position will fail to
serve as a protection against the law,
even though it has IN the past served,
almost without fail, in protecting the
really big criminal.