The New York herald., 1922-04-25

advantages-perfect coal. cheap trans
portation and proximity to the steel
works-fhe steel manufacturers bought
up the fields along the river. They are
as important TO the steel manufacturer
as the farmers forty acres are to the
farmer. Some of the companies make
coke right In the fields and some trans
port the coal TO their coke furnaces
nearer the mills.
Tho east bank. Fayette county. was
non-union, as has been said. 1t has
never been anythring else. The non
union wage scale has been lower than
the union, but because OF steadier em-
ployment. due to the steady demand from
the steel mills. as against winter months
OF idleness for the union miner because
his coal largely goes to the great lakes,
which are closed in winter the annual
earnings of the steel companies nom
union miners were higher than those of
their union brethren. There were excep-
tions. but this was the general rule.
Within the last year the steel slump
hit the miner, SO that his earnings fell.
At the same time the steel companies
cut the scale. The United States Steel
Corporation. foster parent of the Frick
and other coke companies. reduced its
miners 20 per cent. and then made a sec
cuts throughout the whole steel corpora
tion establishment
The United Mine Workers knew that
many of the non-union men were dis
satisfied under the new scale, and they
set about increasing and capitalizng
this dissatisfaction. The United Mine
Workers knew that they were going on
strike this spring. Heretofore their
failure to pull out these same non-union
miners had helped to prevent the strikes
from attaining complete success. This
year their big play is to snuff out pro-
duction in the non-union fields and bring
the Philistines into the union.
The chief instrument to this end is
"Bill' Feeney, and his methods are
those he learned from w. z. Foster.
leader of the steel strike Of 1919. Feeney
lives in the State, was formerly a MEM
Der Of the Legislature and worked under
Foster in the steel strike at Monessen
and Charleroi.
At that time Feeney argued that. the
best way to unionize the steel corpora
tion was to start with the coal miners.
As an international organizer for the
United Mine Workers he is now testing
his theory. He began by fooling the
operators-that Is, he planted union men
in all the big mines along the Monon-
Bdneld 1lVeT. NOW, III OllleT StIlhc
years 1t has been customary for union
miners to drift into the non-union mines
for no purpose except to make living.
They are known as union scabs." This
years, with a union strike coming on,
non-union operators began early in the
spring to produce coal at tremendous
rate, for they knew the demand would
be great. They needed every man they
could lay their hands on. and were not
as careful as usual in the selection.
Some of the union men were recognized
as such, but were taken to be merely the
usual "union scabs" beating it away
from the fields where strike and idle
ness were certain.
But as now develops, the union
scabs' proved to be picked union mis-
sionaries-picked by Bill Feeney and his
fellow strategists of the union mine
workers to make converts in the nom
union mines.
They were specially enjoined to gel
the confidence of the leaders of the for
eign miners, each national group Of
whom have a man in every mine to
whom they look for guidance. In many
cases they did this and preached union
ism and discomfort. Then Feeney did
another clever thing. The. United Mine
workers strike was called for April l.
Did he try to pull out the non-union men