The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-07-18
DEFENSE DRIVE
FOR MINERS is
PUSHED BY It'd
876 Arrested, Keep 200
in Boss Jails


NEW YORK, July 16.-"With eI5
arrests in the strike area Of Penn
sylvania and Ohio, where 10000 col
miners are fighting against starva
ton and evictions, and over 200 are
still in Jail, many held under serf-
GUS charges SO that high bail shoGlo
stay their release; and with two
miners killed and many seriously IN
jured, the strike is like battlefield"
said George w. Maurer, assistant sec
rotary Of the international Labor De
Tense, in the second complete resume
issued by the defense organization
since the strike.
Over IS per cent Of mining town
in the strike area have set up nit
ers' defense committees under (
rection of the International Lats
Defense. AS is pointed out in ri
report, it is the work Of I. La
organizers travelling through n.
strike area to instruct these cor,
mittees how to function effectiyel
leading the knowledge gained by tn
I. L. D. in its work. The organizer
instruct the miners what to do wl1sn
arrested, how to make accurate. re
ports data and tabulations of al
arrests and police terror and .dire6t
the bail-raising campaign SO the mil
liant leaders and workers can be in
mediately released for the picket line
and various other work so necessarr
in strike.
Out of the 676 arrested mine
over 400 have served sentences
from ten TO ninety days, the avert.
sentence being about thirty days. =.
In most of the small communit.
filming miners has become a pc.
graft business for squires' cnu
where the minor is arrested and the
fine is only one dollar. but an adj
ditional $26 is added for costs. This
in itself, as pointed out by the 1.
L. D. report, is a burden to the de-
Tense organizations, as the fines have
run into tens of thousands Of .Gcl-
lars.
Million Dollar Bail Raised by LID.
Bail for arrested miners and their
militant leaders is at present the
most important work Of the I L. D.
since the strategy of the operators is
to arrest as many as possible and
hold them under high bail, thereby
Gripping the strike. The official re-
port points out that up to the pre-
sent time over one million dollars
has been raised under direction Of
the International Labor Defense.
Two lawyers experienced in defense
work have been dispatched by the
national office of the 1. L. D. from
New York and a third attorney re-
tanned in Pittsburgh. The latest
move of the coal operators, accord
ing to the official reort made by the
1. L. D., is arrests on a large scale.
Calls For Wide Defense Movement
George Maurer.. assistant secretary
of the I. l.. D. and in charge Of TIE
Ohio ennsylvania coal miners dc
Tense work, points out that Tvs
must prevent through mass activitis
the slugging and failing Of these mix
itants. We must not permit our de-
tense work to lag behind. The strike
must not and will not be lost be-
cause of the brutality of the coal
operators and their agents, the po-
lice. A powerful defense movement
must De developed in these mining
communities and funds supplied them
for the necessary legal steps taken
by the miners. The international
Labor Defense calls upon all work
ers and their sympathizers to rush
funds to the Miners Defense, Room
$50, 80 East 18th Street, New York
City. -a --a4