New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-08
Miss Rankin's
Initial Speech
Scores J. D. Ryan
Accuses Copper Masnate OF
Depressing Montana
Miners
Applauded by House
Woman Representative Urges
That President Operate
Properties
Applauded by House
rsn1-il Correspondence

WAsHINGTON, Aug. 7.-Represent-
40, Jeanette Rankin, Of Montana,
-, her maiden speech in the House
..S,v in support of resolution Of
80 by herself to permit the Presi-
A., 20 take over and operate metal
ferrous mines Of the country.
setting out the conditions that now
.,;,. in Montana because Of the strike
:, ,opper miners and the decreased
.,,,ut of the mines, Miss Rankin de-
.,,-.d that she had tried repeatedly to
.,v. some Federal agency or execu-
80. DEPARTMENT adjust the situation.
81. said she had been told that the
President lacked the authority TO act.
Speh authority, Miss Rankin said,
would be given by her resolution. She
,l,o made an attack on John D. Ryan,
COPPER magnste, and on the Anaconda
Copper Company for instituting the
aru,tling card system" by which the
miners known to be labor agitators
,r. barred from jobs in Montana. Miss
Rankin asserted that Ryan could
change the system at once, il he de-
sired. Ryan is q member Of the Fed
sr,l srW Purchasing Board.
Close attention was given Miss Ran
klns speech by the House. The news
that she was to make an address
brought out a large number Of spec
tators, and the galleries were crowded
with persons curious TO see the new
Congresswoman in action. TIE House
also had a larger attendance than
usual
Liberal applause was given Miss
Rankin at the conclusion of her speech.
Miss Rankin Easily Heard
Miss Rankin spoke in her rather
high.pitched but clear voice, and her
remarks were audible throughout the
chamber. If she was a bit nervous at
her first appearance before the House in
set speech, she did not show it, She
was simply attired in white skirt and
a Georgette crepe blouse. She wore no
hat, SIS has been her custom.
Miss Rankin started Der speech by
spologizing for the fact that her first
speech was not on the subject of woman
suffrage as a war measure.
~ believe it is the most important
question before the American people in
our struggle for world democracy" she
said.
az 4, A.. e.on tbo4 r,,,.+ - 4.l,on &c
We are to solve with justice the ques-
tons that come before US daily. hope
the time is not distant when / shall
talk on woman suffrage. But to-day /
must talk on my resolution"
Says Her Efforts Were Futile
Miss Rankin declared she had made
many futile efforts to interest Federal
officials in the Montana situation.
After the Bisbee deportations, she
said, Butte people appealed to her for
help. and on the night before Frank
Little was lynched in Butte she re-
eeyed particularly urgent appeal,
which caused her TO call the Secretary
Of labor by telephone after midnight
He asked her TO see him the following
day
Il tried all the next day until late in
the evening, and was still trying to
see the Secretary on the following day
when received word that a man had
heen lynched," she declared.
This rustling card system" she
said, "has effectively discouraged the
men from organizing. 1t has prevented
them from obtaining the enforcement
Of laws requiring safety devices in the
mines IL has caused them to hesitate
TO discuss their grievances on the out
side.
Conditions in the mines have grown
more and more unsafe. ! have had
hesrt-breaking letters from the wives
Of some Of the miners, saying that
when their husbands went to work in
the morning they never knew whether
they would ever return and that they
lived in constant anxiety. On June
100 men were burned to death in a
Ere In one mine. This was the climax.
The men stopped work.
Card System Denounced
The workers knew that they would
never be safe as long as the rustling
card system existed. For under that
system every man who complained OF
conditions or reported dangers or en-
esayored TO form an organization was
aid of on one protext or another. and
4 would be impossible for him to OBJ
tain work again in any mine in Mon
lana or elsewhere. II is easy TO see
The necessity Of abolishing the rustling
card system"
Mss Rankin also declared that the
-.a~lgsmsted Copper companies have
refused 70 accept the 1867 cents a
pound for copper at which the govern
neht has been purchasing. and is
awaiting action by the committee on
var purchases.
representative Johnson, of Wash
larton, interrupted Miss Rankin TO re-
mark hat members Of the /. w. W.