Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-01
JUDGE CARY
DENIES men
~ MISTREATED
n

~ ~ MISIREAIED
Mode
hand a.
hlkeE. Continued from Page oneJ
Evaporation. said the woman wa.
4illed during a strike Of coal min.
Bossrs. Judge Gary said in his opin-
ion "the shot probably was fired
2by the strikers themselves" He
y added that his company had no in.
terest in the coal mines where the
riot occurred.
Senator Phipps read a certified
copy of the inquest record in the
case The jury verdict said the
killing was by persons Unknown
and that the deputy sheriffs in
Volved were firing in self-defense
Admits Guards On Payroll
Chairman Kenyon asked whether
r. deputy sheriffs were sworn in at
casde corporation plants and were
y-ssl the company's payroll.
11ow'I should say, yes" said Mr..
sre;ry. $50 far as know they
I.-e had nothing to do with any OF
oa On e outbreaks"
|coIiesE added that it was possible
II " some of the company's guards
mad participated in disturbances
since the steel strike began, but
pointed out that Mrs Sellens was
killed before the strike started.
Referring to testimony of Sam
uel Gompers, president of the
American Federation of Labor.
that Jefferson D. Pierce. a union
organizer. had been beaten by com
pany agents while attempting to
organize unions in the steel mills
and died from injuries, Judge Gary
read an affidavit which he said had
been sent to his Office on Sept. 81,
by Pierce's son.
Reads Sons Letter.
Il was with my father the night
he received his injuries" said the
IA fddavit, land he said they were
On caused by any agents OF the
vi corporation.
lcT1cFHe was injured by a member of
up up l. w. W. faction which was en-
bWasavoring to gain control of the
organization. ] wish to refute
I~lost emphatically the charge of
Mr.. Gompers that his death was
caused by any agent of the United
States Steel corporation. He died
one year later of cancer resulting
from the wound"
Judge Gary then took up the
statement of John Fitzpatrick,
chairman of the steel strikers
committee. that men had been kill
ed at Hammond, Ind, during the
steel strike.
we have no connection with the
Standard Steel company there" he
said, land had no connection with
the incident"
Tells OF Present Strike.
This strike has been conducted
in many respects like other
strikes" Mr.. Gary continued "Only
worse in some of its features. The
large majority of our workmen
we're not DESTROYS of engaging in
strike. They were not members
OK any labor union, having declin-
ed to become such year after year.
tThrough the war, our workmen
weEe loyal. While it is true that
therke is a radical element of for
eignA eTs at the present time. it is
onlykS doing justice to lay that in
N.Y. opinion, the majority of the
Gsf6reigners were good citizens"
~ DO you mean by foreigners
b ose not naturalized? asked
"a gilman Kenyon.
I I'll include all foreign born"
Employees Many Foreigners.
What proportion of men of for
eign birth have your" asked Mr..
Kenyon.
81 cannot give-you that now, but
will later" said Mr.. Gary.
Are about half foreign born? ?"
asked Mr.. Kenyon.
THAT might be true" the wit
ness replied. I'll present some
exhibits to show that foreigners
among our employees are engaged
in welfare work which will set
aside any theory that they are I'M
willing or mistreated workers.
Forced to Strike, Claim.
THE men did no. strike of their
own volition," continued Judge
Gary. They we're taken out by the
constant effort of union leaders to
bring about a strike. Threats had
Aoeen made-We have a great deal of
ersay testimony that families
-~@See told their children would be
EAed, their houses burned, if the
e ofn did not go out. Large numbers
unoe; men remained away from work
lsiIi-cause they were afraid.
ST. IF you exclude these, who did
: not think there was sufficient pro
lection, think i is fair to say that
not over % per cent of our en-
ployes struck. If you include them
the total away from work was
about 40 per cent"
Says Men arc Returning.
Judge Gary said the men we're re-
turning to work.
More returned yesterday than
on any day since it started" he
said
Senator Mcclellan, Democrat, of
Tennessee, said it was contended
that the hours of labor in the steel
mills were unusually long.
II want to refer to wages first"
Judge Gary said. THE lowest wage
rates paid by the corporation to I'M
skilled labor W. king 10 hours a