Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1921-12-02
I'll E l. p BRING A RAY OF SUN
SHINE INTO THE LIVES OF THE
KIDDIES OF WAR-TORN, GUN
RULED MINGO

KIDDIES OF WAR-TORN, GUN
RULED MINGO
Charleston, w. Va-Much has
been said and written about the gun
men rule and their lawlessness and
the general strike conditions in Mingo
county, West Virginia, but very little
space has been devoted to the 4,973
little children and babes that were
thrown upon the public highways by
coal company gunner during the evic-
tion of the miners and their families
in the summer of 1920, and who have
since lived in tents and passed Win
ter with the chilly blasts stabbing
into their tender flesh like needles and
the rain, sleet and snow sitting in up
on them adding to their misery and
suffering.
These little tots are the innocent
victims of the greedy coal masters,
who in their mad rush for profits and
power have crucified them upon the
cross Of greed and thrown them like
mere chattels to Wither and die upon
the public highways with but a flimsy
canvass between them and the bitter
elements, while the tyrants revel in
licentious luxury and gloat over the
misery and suffering Of the mothers
and the children whom they have torn
from their homes, because their faith
ers and husbands, sought to bring a
little more happiness and sunshine
into their lives by demanding their
constitutional rights.
And now that the holiday spirit is
in the air and everybody is preparing
to bring Christmas joy to the child
rem OF their homes, we stop and shud-
der at the thought Of the nearly 5000
little kiddies of the striking coal min
ers in Wartorn MingO county who
have lived in tents for nearly two
years amid the bleak hills and barren
waste, exposed to the elements and de-
MED all the joys of childhood and with
no prospects of that Christmas cheer
which is so joyously anticipated by
the children of the Nation.
Last year the West Virginia FEEDER
ationist (the only class conscious
labor paper in West Virginia) con-
Quoted a Christmas Fund campaign
which was literally contributed to by
the workers of this state and a car
load of candies, nuts, fruits and a
| Christmas ham for each family was
distributed among them, and it drew
tears of joy from those who went
among them distributing the goodies
and saw the glad light that sprang
into their fOrlorn little faces and the
smiles that it drew from sorrow
creased faces Of the mothers.
But alas, the iron heel Of the coal
masters has descended upon coal min
ers in the organized fields and on the
workers of other industries, and as a
result they have had but little work
since last spring, and in many cases,
they have been idle for months at a
stretch and many of their families are
barely existing and the Christmas
spirit in their homes will be but the
shadow of what it has been in the
past. And those who have worked
have been burdened with assessments
and calls upon their purse which have
stripped them dry. They have given
| in the interest of the cause of human
we have not the heart to add to their
misery by calling for that which we
know they cannot give, therefore we
are appealing to our more fortunate
brothers in those states that enjoy at
leges decreed by the constitution of
| these United States, and ask the read
ers Of the Newark Leader and the
Local Unions in your community to
contribute a small sum to a Christ
mas Fund to provide a few pieces Of
candy, few nuts and an orange and
an apple or two for the little kids in
war-torn, gunman-ruled Mingo and
help US bring a few rays of sunshine
into their drab little lives on the
birthday of He that said "suffer little
children to come unto Me-"
With an abiding faith that the
workers Of this country will respond to
our appeal, and that each one who
reads these lines will add his or her
contribution, be it large or small, to-
ward ushering a few bright moments
into the tented homes Of the little vic
TINS of the greed of the most relent-
less enemy of humanity-the soulless
corporations who erect mansions and
palaces upon the blood and bones of
the children of the wealth producers
of the world
Send all contributions to The Fed
erationist Xmas. Fund, P. 0. Box 1901,
Charleston, w. Va, and let it come
at once.
Trusting that you will give US your
cooperation and support and thank
ing you in advance for the same, we
are, Sincerely and frateinally,
THE WEST VIRGINIA
FEDERATIONIST.
FRANK w. SNYDER,