The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1918-01-04

sion of Public Safety, will tell for
the first time of the influences be-
hind the I. w. w. in the effort
to slacken the production of the
iron mines on the Minnesota
ranges, and will sketch briefly
the foundation, growth and de-
cline of the organization and the
reasons therefor.
When Former Governor John
Lind as commissioner of labor on
| the Minnesota Commission of
Public Safety gave me my pre-
liminary instructions prior to
starting for the Mesaba range
country early in April, 1917, we
who were interested in the move
ments of labor organizations
knew that the Industrial Work
ers Of the World had voted at
the convention Of 1916 held IN
Chicago a sum of $4,000 to be
used for organization purposes on
the Mesaba range.
We knew further that Gregor
Elievalias Andreytchine had been
appointed assistant to Joseph Et
tor, general organizer for the In
dustrial Workers Of the World
with special instructions to cen
ter on the work of organization
among the SlavOnian workers en-
ployed in the iron and steel in
dustry. In view Of this my IN
structions were to inaugurate a
campaign of reinsurance by per-
sonal solicitation among the Sla
vonia people, to instruct them Iii
the true purpose OF the United
States in entering the war to
urge the cooperation of the Sla
vonian peoples to the extent OF
their physical ability in the va--
ious divisions of labor in which
they were employed.
Right here let me say that 80
per cent of the unskilled laborers
on the Guyana, Vermilion and
the Mesaba ranges are natives OF
Austria or Hungary and the Bal
kan nations Serbia, Montenegro,
Bulgaria and Roumania. Some
come from the Ukraine or the
district called Little Aussia and
are called Slovenes but the bulk
of workers speaking the Slavonic
language are natives Of Austria
and may be either Croat, Czech,
Lithuanian, GaEician, Silesian,
Moravian, Bosnian or Serb. The
latter are scattered all over
Southern Europe and the at
tempts to bring these liberty low
ing and turbulent people into one
geographic group have caused
constant friction in Austria and
were probably the chief contrib
utory causes which led to the pre-
sent war
Repudiated by Other Bodies
Right here let me say that the
American Federation Of Labor,
the United Mine Workers of
America and the Western FEEDER
alton Of Miners, since the year
1915, has repudiated the Indus
trial Workers Of the World and
the outlaw labor organization in
turn has waged bitter war on the
greater unions as consequence.
Organized labor Of the right
kind is standing shoulder to
shoulder in the industrial service
of the country and it has ever
been the policy of Former Gov
ernor Lind, acting commissioner
of labor on the Public Safety
Commission to protect the or
gained laborer that is loyal and
to preserve protective labor
standards.
| was instructed to make an
impartial investigation as to la
Dor conditions, as to adequate
wage, hours Of work and actual
conditions on the job and to
check stories being circulated by
the |. w. W. as to their veracity.
1t is generally supposed that
coal mining, because Of the many
appalling accidents brought to
public notice in connection with
the coal industry, is the most haz-
ardous work in the country. AS
a matter of fact the metal mines
as a group have higher rate of
accident fatalities per thousand
than the coal mines Of the coun-
| try The |. w. w. attribute this
condition to many things and the
reasons they advance are gener-
ally based on prejudice. They
told Of the universal use by the
Mesaba range mining operators
Of the one-man drill which they
claimed was substituted for the
Leyner Piston two-man drill in
the interests of efficiency. 1t was
wrong, they said, to put one man
in stope, who, if injured, might
die before assistance could reach
him.
furthermore, the drill weighed
$50 pounds and the post to which
it was to be set rigid an addi-
tional ninety pounds. This they