Evening star., 1922-07-02
FIND WEST VIRGINIA
MINERS STARVING
Probers Named by Rabbi
Wise See Shocking Suffer-
ing in Coal Fields.
By the Associated Press.


NEW YORK. July Am account Of
a frightened people in a grim death
grapple with slow starvation. is the
report made public today of the COM
mission appointed by Rabbi Stephen
S. Wise of Free Synagogue. New
York, at the invitation of T. l.. Lewis.
secretary of the New River Coal Op-
orators Association. to investigate
the living and working conditions OF
the striking miners in the West Fir-
ginia coal fields. e.,
With the male workers unem-
ploycd or receiving but negligible
pittance from odd jobs, such as
cleaning ginseng from the bare hills
of West Virginia, the commission
estimates that there are between
$500 and 5000 families in the New
River coal field. where they carried
on their investigation, in dire need.
In the homes of these families, ac-
cording to the commission, there is
insufficient food and in many no ade-
quate clothing.
DIR. Wise. owing to previous engage
ments. was unable to serve on the
commission. 1t comprises Father r.
a. McGawan of the National Catholic
Welfare Council. Washington, D. 81;
rabbi of the Free. Synagogue, and
Winthrep n, Lane. "a former member
of the staff of the Survey Magazine.
< SQUAD Warming in Report.
The: warning. sounded by the COM
mission in their report is that the
condition which they found "bodes i'll
for industrial peace and is very likely
to place New River field in the same
status as MinEo county and, those
other other regions in West Virginia
in which the union has been aggreS-
sivefy fought"
The Commission although making
the'Investigation at the invitation of
operators, did so at their own eX-
pense:-- At the inception of a cam
paign in New York city to raise funds
for starving miners Mr.: Lewis ad.
dressed a letter to Rabbi Wise and
for himself. This letter, as given out
by Rabbi Wise. declared that no
necessary starvation or even priva-
The report states that the precise
numbers in need are unimportant.
since il is clear that many thousands
are suffering" and adds: There is
one group in particular who are in
especially acute need. These are the
families of mine workers who have
been evicted from the company
houses in the course of the COM
panleS efforts to get rid of active
unioniSts.
Find Pathetic Conditions.
THESE men, forcibly thrown from
their domiciles or compelled to leave
by court order, are now living in
what shelter they can find. Some are
grouped together in tents, through
which the rain pourS: some are living
In barns, with their miserable belong-
nr i
houses in which to dwell.
More than 300 families have been
eVicted in the territory visited by the
commission. and house notices have
men are for the most part blacklisted;
the stories of their efforts to get Jobs
in mines about the state are pathetic
They are subsisting as best they can
upon the inadequate allowance Of the
union and their future is darkened by
the prospect of being compelled to
leave the state to earn a livelihood"
Union Treasures Empty.
Locals of the union have emptied their
trea SurieS for food, the report states
and adds that families have begun to
sell their possessions. One woman whose
hardship was only typical, had parted
with her sewing machine and her COW
In order to buy meat and flour for her
family
Touching on the reasons for the
conditions which they report. the
commission says: THE regions Wis
tied are on strike. In a
sense. therefore, it is possible to con-
tend that the need is due to the act
OF the men themselves. But for two
reasons this contention is unsound
First. the market for bituminous coal
has not yet been restored: even If
there were no strike. therefore. 1t Is
probable that many mines would be
idle or running only part time. In
the second place. present need is ag-
gravated by the need that preceded
il. The condition is far worse now
than it would have been if there had
been full employment last year"
e-i'Indeed, it is possible to argue that
the strike had tended to relieve some
Of the distress, rather than to aug
n,ent it, the report says, pointing out
that the regular and systematic re-
lief of the United Mine Workers of
America has been better than the
irregular relief which came from
other sources before the actual dec
laration of the strike.