The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1921-09-09
Appetite Of This Private Greed Is
Upheld BY A Private Army
Of Killers

ed to apply the award, and instead
they arbitrarily applied five, ten and
fifteen cents on each mine car rate,
there being no coal weighed through
out that field The capacity of these
mine cars varies from two to five
tons, and the highest rate paid per
car was $140 This price for five
tons of coal represented and included
all dead work and tonnage rates.
When the award was granted the
bituminous miners by the commits
sion, the miners of Mingo county sent
committeeman to the operators and
requested that the award be granted
in full, and the companies refused it.
The miners contended that the award
was granted them by their govern
ment and that they were going to in
sist upon it. Every plea to the oper-
ators was met with refusal, and fin
ally the miners of Sprigg, Stone
Mountain and Red Jacket went on
strike, called meetings and sent a
committee to Charleston to interview
the officials of District IL, u NJ. w
of A.
They were told plainly by the Min
ers' Union that the union would not
organize them while they were on
strike, to return to work, put all the
mines in operation, and then if they
desired to become members of the
union, they would be given the oppor-
tunity.
These instructions were carried out.
Again the committees We're returned
and about eight hundred miners allied
themselves with the union at once.
Following this the miners focked
into the union, and as a result were
all discharged and served with evic-
tion notices.
The discomfort had become very
acute in the month of April, 1920. By
this time the Baldwin-Felts detect
ives appeared in Matewan to evict
the miners, their wives and children
At this time practically all the min
ers had joined the unon.
In the report of the last senatorial
investigation of which there is pub
lie record, that of 1914, Senator
Shields in his section Of the report
refers to the mine guards as gen.
orally lawless and desperate men,"
Inasmuch as the conditions ther
under investigation exist today in az
intensified form, it is informing tc
read from the report of Senator Ken
yon the following extract:
1T is well to inquire as to the rea
sons for such deplorable conditions
Many things appear on the surface
which might be deemed causes, bu
they are only surface indications OF
deeper trouble A reading of the
record will lead one to the belief thai
there were many causes for the con
ditions existing.
among them might be related the
employment of mine guards, higl
prices charged the miners at company
stores, mine guards acting as deput!
sheriffs, post offices located in com
pany stores, private roads to tht
, schools and stores, no opportunity tt
purchase homes, cemeteries upon
company grounds, attempts to union
: ize the miners, alien ownership o
q large tracts of land-in one instance
21,0 900 acres All of these various
things appearing in the testimon.
, might be cited as causes leading VI
G to the conditions which the commit
a tee investigated However, it is tn
opinion of some of the committee tina
q the cause of all this trouble is deepe
i and more fundamental The basi
cause is the private ownership o
great public necessities, such as coal
n this coupled with human greed, Incl
dent to such ownership, has brough
; about the deplorable and un-America
e conditions in the West Virginia Goa
Q fields under investigation.
f In relation to the hired gun me
j. who have brought the administratio