Montana labor news., 1935-06-13
MINERS UNION DAY
SYMB0LIZES MARCH
FOR FULLER LIFE

4 ~ AZ ~ cAS
Day, this historic day OF celebration
that used to be a high-light in the life
of Butte under the old Western Fed
Grafton of Miners. On this day there
will be no Slavs, Firms, Cornishmen,
Irish. They will all be just Miners,
the fellows who go down in the mines
and juggle heavy machines, dodge
boulders and produce the wealth which
helps to make this town the best in the
land.
In the history of human society, GER
tain traditions arise, serve their pur-
pose and then pass from the scene, to
be replaced by new and better forms.
1t would be bad for the working class
to be mathematician Rather they
should be iconoclasts, ready to break
tradition if it will serve their ends;
ready to part from the old concepts OF
property rights and set up new forms
which will give them a better life.
Granted then that some traditions die
and should stay dead. But if a tradi-
ton is built around struggle and sacri-
flee and all that is best in human ma
ture, then it deserves to survive.
Militancy the Only Policy.
Such a tradition is Miners Union Day
1t is the birthday OF the Western Fed
Grafton of Miners and what this outfit
did to improve the life conditions OF
the miners and indirectly OF the other
workers is a matter of record. There
is a story there OF a fight against
uphill odds, during which they faced
company gunner, National Guards,
crooked courts and a hostile press.
Some times they won, sometimes they
lost, but through it all they were a
group Of workers fighting for a better
standard of life. Out OF these strug-
giles grew Miners Union Day, which
symbolizes that old fighting spirit that
made history here in the West.
Here, then, is a tradition which
should be kept alive by Butte Miners,
because it is a tradition built by men
who were not afraid to go to the mat
with the Boss.
Most business houses in Butte are
closing on Miners Union Day. These
business men are much like other So
cial groups, there are some who think
only in terms of self and some who
think in terms of the masses. 1t is a
fact that here in Butte during the de-
preston, some of these business men
have made heavy sacrifices in order to
carry their old customers on credit.
These tough times should have made
all business people realize that their in
terests are tied in with those of the
workers.
In keeping with the spirit of the day,
there will be a full program OF sports
a ball game, races for young and old,
a dance in the evening. In the after
noon there will be a short talk by
Mayor Hauswirth and a main speech
by Mr.. William Knerr, who is Chair
man Of the Industrial Commission,
State OF Utah. In this position he has
been of great help to the miners in
Utah and is highly recommended by
International Secretary James Robin
son. The committee found that high
powered labor speakers are scarce but
they are sure the miners will not be
disappointed in Mr.. Knerr.
No Mucking Contest.
One contest that featured recent
Miners Holidays at the Gardens will
be conspiciously absent and that is the
mucking contestl When the sports
committee were considering their pro-
gram, the idea of a mucking contest
was brought up. One member sug-
gested that we have the contest and
any miner who loaded the car in less
than 10 minutes should be fined $500.
That was the end of the mucking con
test.
Another feature that will be lacking
is the drilling contest. Machines have
taken the place of those famous old
timers who set up unbeatable records
in the drilling contests OF years past.
But while we regret the passing of the
old artists with hammer and steel, it is
simply the march of progress. More
rock can be broken with a machine
than by hand, but the machine should
be collectively owned and operated for
the benefit of the masses.
Miners Union Day will be a great
day Of get-together, Of fraternizing, Of
breaking down tribal barriers. 1t is a
fact that more progress was made in
this line during the miners strike last
summer than in 20 years before. On
the picket lines last summer there were
often five or six nationalities in one
small group of a dozen men. They dis
cussed the strike, recalled incidents Of
their childhood in the old country. 1t
was good for their souls and out of it
came the realization that no barrier of
race or religion should stand in the
way OF their common struggle for a
worthwhile goal-a better life, better
homes, new clothes for the wife, more
milk for the kids-and maybe a new
car.
This is a good town and can be made
a better one We are sitting on "the
richest hill on earth" Mining geolo-
gists tell us that nowhere on earth is
more universal wealth concentrated in
a two-mile circle than here in Butte.
But this vast accumulation of natural
wealth is controlled and exploited by a
private corporation.
Miners Union Day can be a r~allying
point for those who think these great
natural II should be used for
the benefit Of all, rather than the pri-
vate profit of the few. Let this day
crystalize those divergent opinions
about a Labor party, the rightness or
wrongness of private ownership OF
capital. Let it mark the beginning of