The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1941-07-03

Jop diOiic' IL IL SolIIS W IdhC IHS |
combined will and determination of
every man, woman and child in our
country to do their bit and cushion
the shock of the coming post war COL
lapse. Right here is where the Ma
tional Brotherhood Of Operative Pot
ters can step out in front and lay
down a program that should be fol-
lowed by every labor union through
out the nation.
The many years that had the good
fortune to serve my country, both at
home and abroad, are looked upon by
me as wonderful school of expert
ence; and as l now stand before you
incident after incident flashes before
my mental vision seeking recognition,
appealing as it were to be told-those
trying days of the inflationary period
when Germany went on her currency
when we went over the financial
structure and administrative proceed
ure of that new republic with fine
tooth cmob; the hundreds of inter
views with industrial leaders in Ger
many, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Aus
tria, Holland, Norway, Sweden and
the Latvian States, all these and
many more appear in breath taking,
Kaleidoscope fashion, too fast for ex-
ternal recording and yet in perfect
order.
must brush all of them aside for
none of my personal experiences in
life, whether it be at home or abroad,
or the far flung ice fields of Alaska
where | passed two winters before
half of the people of this nation were
born, stands out as beacon light and
standard as something that happened
| in the little Pennsylvania anthracite
coal mining town where was born.
was twelve years old at the time and
during the summer vacation period,
youngsters like myself who were
twelve years or more went to work in
the coal breaker picking slate, ten
hours day at four cents an hour, or
forty cents day.
twenty-five years after the close of
the Civil War, labor was still scarce
in the coal fields and the coal opera
tors had their agents abroad scouting
for young men in Switzerland, Aus
tria, Poland, H gary, Tyrol, Wales,
Germany, Engl:I.-, Ireland and Scot
land-in fact every country in which
coal mining was practiced sent out
the S. o. S. call by word of mouth,
newspaper ads and through the
steamship agencies, inviting laborers
to come to America, the land of free
dom and plenty.
l remember seeing them arrive in
our little hamlet of Milnesville a vii
lage of less than one thousand, in
patches of five and ten-some of them
with wives and children-but all of
them carrying their entire worldly
possessions on their backs or in
strange looking hand bags and suit
cases. They invariably came on foot
the last three miles from Hazleton as
there was no means of transportation
no trolleys, no railroad trains, Haz-
Teton was their jumping Off place.
The arrival of these foreign born
workers, not alone in our community
but in the entire anthracite coal fields
with an intense feeling of worry and
everybody said it was a sign of trout
BILE in the very near future. These
sincere men and women came here
with their passage paid by the Agen-
cies and they were herded and han
died practically as slaves for they
were placed in boarding houses where
the food they ate was purchased in
, the company stores by the boss Of the
boarding house. When they received
their wages-they were paid one dol
lar day for ten days work-the first
deduction was fifty cents month fo1
the company doctor, then the com
pany store bill if they bought any
clothes or tobacco, then the board bill
, and what was left was placed on the
pay envelope and given to these work
ers who worked as laborers, in oper
strippings, with pick and shovel, load
ing coal, drivers, helpers in boiler
houses, wheeling out ashes etc.
In a few years thousands upor
thousands of these poorly paid immi
: grants were imported into the Goa
fields of Pennsylvania and it was onl!
matter of time when they trickleC
into other sections Of the country, be-
y. cause many jumped their contracts
= and were offered more lucrative en-
ployment in other fields at perhaps
$1.25 instead Of a dollar a day. Al
any rate, it was the arrival of these
great hordes of immigrants which
, caused the awakening of American
t workingmen, especially in the Goa
{ fields. believe it was this condition
that really gave impetus to nationa
e labor movement under the guidance
1 of such great militant leaders as JOIN
Mitchell, who won the respect of al
: classes of citizens, including the oper
= ators of the coal mines.
: This Pennsylvania coal strike be-
: tween the operators on one side anC
e the miners on the other was the first
: great struggle. Strike breakers were
I brought in; deputy sheriffs were
= sworn in and annaared at the cOa