The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-09-10
MINE RELIEF
A QUESTION OF
LIFE OR DEATH
CONTINUED FROM PAGE oNE)

things are not improved.
Hundreds of other miners, now
living in cheap houses, will be evicted
unless rents are paid. The rents are
small, often as low as So month,
but they must be paid Or we will
have more strikers Drawing the win
ter in tents, which we haven't got.
This is not question of food. 1t
is question of actual sickness and
death for whole families of striking
miners.
Miners come up to the district or
ganizer every day with their feet
sticking out through the bottom of
their shoes. 1t is hard to go out
collecting relief without shoes. Men
are now out collecting, barefoot. Men
are trudging miles to the picket line
in the early morning barefoot. They
come to the organizer with old shoes,
asking leather to repair them. They
do not ask for new shoes. They want
shoe leather and tackS to put new
SoleS on the old ones. They go to
the line now, without shoes, but
| they come back with feet swollen
and blistered, with big sores on their
feet where they have scraped against
culm banks and concrete roads on
the picket line.
Two men whom Organizer Siders
knows personally went out collecting
relief for two days and brought back
sacks full Of food for the camp, but
they came back with their feet one
huge blister. They couldn't walk the
next day.
When Comrade Hawkins went to
CoYerdale as chairman of the relief
committee the miners came rushing
to him with all their problems; prob
lens of tents, of shoes, of food, cloth
ing, bedding and milk for their ba-
bies. They took him into tents and
showed him their sick children.
They asked him to please do some
thing for them.
Hawkins went to Siders, organizer
of the Library section, and talked
over the problem. They decided that
| since the relief committee was get
ting in SO little in funds-hardly
enough to halfway feed the strikers
it would be impossible to handle this
situation without special appeal to
all comrades and organizations who
want to see the National Miners
Union grow as the fighting union
of the miners. This is the time to
show your solidarity.
The local politicians are trading
on the misery of the miners. Arm
strong, candidate for county COM
missioner, offered the Coverdale
miners 800 if they would send a
miner to speak TO rhim at political
rallies. The miners scorned relief
gained by such tactics. Nearly all
the politicians have tried to exploit
the misery of the striking miners for
their petty ambitions. These same
takers, now in office, promise relief
to the miners if they are reelected
The miners refuse them.
We miners will continue the battle
for the working class against all
odds, but you can help to make the
odds against us smaller by sending
relief. Do not let up on collections.
More collections are needed. Now is
the time.
Many miners who went back to
work under the scab contracts of the
U. M. w. A. are coming out to join
us. Over 100 from the patch at
tended our meeting at Coverdale on
Sunday. They know they have been
betrayed. Expression at our Solidar-
ity day meetings show that not only
are the miners getting together to
fight the strike-b breaking U.M.W.A.
and the labor takers, but the steel
workers are joining us. The miners
look forward to the day in the near
future when the steel workers and
miners will join forces and fight side
by side in the battle against slavery.
Comrades: At the w. I. p. con-
ference every miner delegate was
worked up by the promises of out
side delegates and the signs of def
mite organized work for relief-with
the unity and solidarity of the Or
ganization. But now, two weeks after
the conference, we find very little re-
lief coming in. The promise of the
conference is not being fulfilled.
At the beginning Of the strike we
were able to give the miners three
meals week. Now we can hardly
give them two.
The other day heard children at
Camp No. crying for milk, while
their mothers only had milk for the
youngest. How would you like it if
you had three or four children and
had milk for only one of them? This
is what miners wives have to face
i'll our tent colonies.
What is true of Coverdale Is true
of all the other relief camps of the
strike. They must be helped
We must have tents. We must
have shoes. We must have patching
material for the tents and water
proofing We must have shoe leather
and tacks to patch wornout shoes.
You must rush all donations and
funds, AT ONCE to the Penn Ohio
w. va.-Ky. Striking Miners Relief
Committee, Room 205, Gil Penn Ave,