The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-09-16
IF THEY STICK
THEY WILL WIN
(By Harvey O'Connor)

Wy lleAINtN ~ NOiliOIJ
eve will win"
When 500 miners, their wives an
children with one voice shout thi
battle cry after six months of tn
most bitter industrial struggle which
ever gripped Washington, it SPELL
victory.
That's what happened at Blacl
Diamond Friday night. 1t was tn,
greatest union meeting | ever at
tended in the course of three years
work as labor reporter for the
Union Record.
1t wasn't the noisiest. Nor die
those ranks of union miners stand
ing toward the back of the Pres
byterian Church, crowding every
available inch of space, while theil
wives, mothers and children were
seated in the church pews, bubble
over with light enthusiasm.
The spirit of the Black Diamond
miners is deeper than mere en-.
thusiasm. They were not there tC
applaud speakers, but to counse
with their officers, their legal ad.
visers and each other.
But in the eyes of every last
man, woman and child there was
the determination to stick it out
until victory comes.
Victory will come. There is no
force under heaven that can be
modified by coal operators or their
hundreds of paid gunner which
will intimidate the miners families
of Black Diamond.
- Il 4:
of every mining camp affected by
the lockout, the settlement of the
coal dispute in this state on terms
satisfactory to the miners them
selves is a mere matter of time.
The union men and women have
weapons which no employer can
meet.
you have both the law and the
gospel on your side" That was the
brief remark of Rev. NJ. j. Robinson
of the Black Diamond Presbyterian
church, in opening the mass meet
ing. The beloved pastor of the
Black Diamond miners in that SEN
tence struck off the keynote of the
following speeches and the temper
of the entire mass meeting.
VI tiASIC d SGIuIllG I6lISlOuS
fervor in the minds and hearts of
these union men and women who
for six months have run the gaunt-
let of the Pacific Coast Coal Com
pany opposition. Isolated from the
world, these miners have stood
with solid ranks against the ca
iolery, the bribery, the threats and
the intimidation of the agents of
the coal owners.
They are fighting at this time
not for a scale of wages but for
their very homes, from which they
are to be evicted if the operators
are successful, to be thrown into
tent colonies. They are standing
for the union shop in Washington
and in the half-year fight they
have already sacrificed even the
common necessities of what is con-
sidered civilized life to protect the
gains they have made by a lifetime
OF devotion to union principles.
These were the points empha-
sized time aad again by Ernest
Newsham, secretary of the state
miners union, who quietly drove
home fact after fact in reviewing
the history of the present lockout
George D. Rummens, the miners
attorney since 1907, in brilliant.
scathing language exposed the le-
gal steps being taken by the oper-
ators in their struggle and finally
throw them out of the company
owned camps.
Mrs. Wiswell Wilson in a great
inspirational address told the men
and women in the little church
what the struggle meant, not to
the miners alone, but to the thou
sands Of other trade unionists in
this state who are following the
progress Of their heroic fight.
mo man is going to return to
work until the agreement is signed
between the operators and the Unit
ed Mine Workers." declared New
sham to the accompaniment of the
first applause which broke the at
tentiveness of his audience. The
house fairly rocked.
But we've got a long, hard
fight ahead of u.s." he added. eve
have got to steel ourselves to a
struggle which is the bitterest this
union has ever had on its hands.
We can't afford to indulge in glow
ing promises, but one thing we can
be certain of is this; If we stick,
we Win"
Rummens in satiric vein review
ed the ridiculous efforts of the op-
orators to secure a permanent in
junction which would prevent min
ers from even calling the hired
gunner and strikebreakers in the
camps by their true name-scabs.
In affidavits it had been alleged
that women in the Black Diamond
camp have "intimidated" these gun
toters, IS of whom are said to be
parading around the Black Diamond
camp alone.
Following the meeting there was
a long conference between Rum.
mems and the miners on the lega
phases of the injunction order. A
thorough discussion took place OF
the issues at stake in the lega
proceedings, and the miners adj
iourned to meet again early Sat