The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-07-08
MINE EMPLOYEES WANT
TO BE ALLOWED TO
CONTINUE WORKING.
virginia Daily Enterprise.)

Strikes seldom if ever benefit any
one. Certainly, large-scale stoppage OF
essential work and the bitterness which
is occasioned when reason departs and
large groups of men are pulled off their
jobs leave an aftermath that does the
cause of American welfare no good.
Although this section of Minnesota has
not in years experienced a strike in its
principal industry, there have been
some exceedingly regrettable disputes in
years gone by, the wounds Of which
scared deeply, one of these being in
1916, when an I. w. W@Sponsored
furry, organized along CIO lines, raised
havoc in many ways, including lives
lost. The mines continued to work, the
larger number of the employees having
been entirely unSympathetic to the
strike, yet the affair will be remem-
bered as one that involved much hazard
to life and limb, both to those who
have left mine work never to return and
those who stayed on the job.
Before 1916, there was 1907. Residents
of Northeastern Minnesota who have
long memories will be disposed to an
earnest hope that no flames will be
famed in 1887. Indeed, it is quite
apparent that there is no sentiment for
anything untoWard among those who are
employed in the mines at this moment.
They are Singularly unanimous in the
viii and the wish to work and to make
up so far as possible for the curtailment
of income experienced through the
worst of the depression. But because
there is an almost universal desire here
abouts for industrial peace and quiet,
it does not follow that strikes elsewhere
are not affecting the employment of
Minnesota and Michigan mine person.
mel. Properties belonging to a number
Of the concerns now gripped in strike
in steel centerS are down or working
limited crews, with resultant pay check
losses to a goodly number of iron mine
workers.
Mine employees who are losing time
because of the war in the lower lake
and Pennsylvania sectors cannot under
stand why these walkouts have been
called in the steel mills of the indie
pendents. Perhaps a majority of the
men who are out of jobs in the steel
manufacturing plants feel equally dis
turbed and really want to work It is
only few short weeks ago when they
were all happy and content in their
employment. One of the mines down
in Minnesota is at Ely, the Zenith
property, where something over 200 men
are suffering serious wage losses They
realize the extent to which far-away
industrial conflict can PROSTATE jobs
In wide ramiflcationS. The situation at
Ely, according to the Ely Miner, is such
that the community is turning against
the organization responsible for the
strikes in the steel plants. Moreover,
it is recorded in this Ely paper that
the Reverend Father Mihelcic, strong
and potent force for good in his To-
cality, has vigorously denounced the
Go from his pulpit, with a strong
warning to his people that they shun
it and the strife that is being bred.
There are, of course, more than a few
who thrive on diScord. It is their stock
in trade and they make the most of it.
But America will do well to ignore the
agitator, no matter who he is and where
he is. These are unjustified days of
unreasoning hatreds. Actually, the re-
cord shows that there never was time
when labor as such received a larger
measure of the national income than
now, and that same record suggests that
the flames which have been and are
being famed to conflagration proper
lions are not in the interests of the
many. If most of those who make up
America citizenship will continue to
hold to their senses this nation will yet
ride out Of the storm. If they do not,
the collapse which may even now be
inevitable will be the more disastrous.
This country never needed greatness in
craftsmanship more than it does at this
moment. The right word from the
White House and from the capitols of
48 states would do much to restore ma
tional equilibrium. Unfortunately, it is
not going to be forthcoming in a day
when politicians are craven, unless the
general populace demands it.