East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1921-09-19
BY sIGRTED ID. WEYER
/. n, $. STAFF Correspondent.

a
" l. N, $. Staff Correspondent,
20 Copyright. 1921, by the Information
q al News Service)
e NEW YORK. Sept l9.-AThe at
Is tempted March TO Mingo." which re
Q suited in hloodshed during recen
y weeks and finally forced the govern
' ment 20 send troops into the "battl
zone was not the first mass action OF
lthe part of the union miners in Wes
] Virginia, Twice before the latter have
moved in force to spread the gospel
of "the right to organize" which, they
claimed, they could not propagate by
peaceful means because of the coal
operators guard system,
The worst warfare ragged in 1919
land 1913, which arose from the uni
on miners efforts to organize the
Paint and Cabin districts of Kanawha
lcounty. How comparatively mild was
the recent fighting may be judged
from the casualties in that bloody
struggle eight years ago.
! Nearly zoo men We're killed. of
whom about 500 were Baldwin-Felts
detectives and 20O deputy sheriffs
and armed citizens opposing union
ISM
Since then the United Mine Work
ers of America have made great
Roadway in organizing the West Vtr-
ginia coal fields but the richest of
all--that in Logan county-remains
to this day n thoroughly "open shop"
1t is the bulwark OF the coal operat-
ors, defended, as was seen recently
by an invincible army of anti-union |
men, nprivate detectives, state troopers |
and armed citizens. A good many
people have been puzzled by the sup /
port of supposedly "uninterestedr
citizens TO the coal operators and by
the readiness of hundreds of Inhabi-
tants who, on the face of things, have
no part in the controversy between
miners and operators, to taRe up
arms and risk their lives in the battle
against the union men,
The answer is simple: Those citi-
iens are. for the most part. in lines OF |
rade or profession which are di -ectly
II indirectly dependent upon the coal a
,perators. In the forefront of this I
army" are traders whose :
BUSINESS has flourished for years un- /
Ter the open-shop rule. They read a
he union as a spectre that will de- a
rive them of their prosperity They il
read, above all, strikes, which. they a
ear, would paralyze trade and indus a
ry in their sections.
Strikes, too. are the main bugaboo e
f the operators in their determined h
lst stand against unionism. II is the ''
i'd, old story: At present, with the n
7orkers unorganized, the operators U
re the dictators. With the union tri- p
mphant in that richest of the coun- /
rvs black diamond" field, the en- c
loyes would sooner or later be in @
osition to turn the tables and dictate e
D the employers.
That is why the war has been call a
d in these dispatches an Amagedon n
etween labor and capital. 1t may
e proper to state at this juncture d
hat the purpose of these articles is 4
ot to argue the right or wrong OF iy
ither side, but merely to set down the I
fundamental facts and to give the v
o aekground of the struggle. which is 0
estined. before it is settled, 10 playIs
n epoch-making part in the social 7
conomic history of the United States, u
or the present military occupation is h
lerely an armed truce.
The Coal Operators5 Association. in
brief of many thousand words h
admitted to the senate committee ii
ow investigating the AIingo troubles, lie
ct forth eight main points in support IL
f its own case. e
Briefly summarized, they are: e
First-That to recognize the union p
n this coal field would put the coal u
Industry in this section at the mercy a
+ its competitive fields.
Second-That it has been repeated n
Y demonstrated that mine workers. 4
ghen organized. frequently, for imag- L
nary causes, go out on strike. thus b
the output of coal and t
hereby increasing the cost of pro- b
uction. a
Third-The production of coal, if
ii miners are organized in one union.
s put at the mercy of the officers of 4