Miners' strike

“ The miners saw that they could not get their demands through peaceful legislation. That they must fight. That they must strike. All the metal miners struck first. The strike extended into New Mexico and Utah. It became an ugly war. The metal miners were anxious [Pg 95] to have the coal miners join them in their struggle.
The executive board of the United Mine Workers was in session in Indianapolis and to this board the governor of Colorado had sent a delegation to convince them that there ought not to be a strike in the coal fields. Among the delegates, was a labor commissioner. ”

“ Previous to my coming, or in previous strikes, the Welsh miners had been in the habit of quitting work, carrying out their tools, permitting the mine managers to run the pumps, allowing the engine winders to remain at work, carrying food down to the horses, keeping the mines in good shape, while the miners themselves were marching from place to place singing their old-time songs, gathering on the meeting grounds of the ancient Druids and listening to the speeches of the labor leaders; starving for weeks contentedly, and on all occasions acting most peaceably ”

“ Therefore, the future strikes of the coal miners will not have the same compelling strength and important consequences as they have at present. No more will it be possible to stop the country's railroads, to shut down factories and to cripple the world's commerce by tying up the steamships as it has been attained lately during the coal miners' strike in Great Britain. ”

“ Miners by the thousand had to betake themselves to other parts of the country, and entire communities were threatened with depopulation. Industrial towns held indignation meetings, to protest, and to demand the nationalization of the mines; and excited operatives are still holding conferences to discuss a general strike. The Government has sent a commission to inquire into the movement; and the Minister of Commerce has urged the coal magnates to proceed as mildly as possible. ”

“ They have been also used to deny strikers the rights which belonged to them, and to protect capitalists and their agents in breaking the laws. No one can read with anything like an impartial spirit the records of the miners' strike in the Cœur d'Alene mine, Idaho, or the labor disturbances in the state of Colorado from 1880 to 1905 and dispute this assertion. ”

“ A big coal miners’ strike has been averted in Missouri by both sides in the controversy conceding some minor points.
Like it is with the mine operators in this county, the steel magnates claim there is nothing to arbitrate. It is simply a question of who shall operate the works, a gang of agitators or men of sense and means who have investments trusted to their care.
The idle U.M.W. boys now employ a portion of their time jumping freight trains and stealing rides. They have ceased to work in the mines and have become violators of the law, another proof that idleness always begets crime. ”

“ It came to pass even as Harley had predicted. With the Consolidated mines closed, copper, jumped up—up—up. The trust could sit still and coin money without turning a hand, while its employees suffered in the long, bitter Northern winter. All the troubles usually pursuant on a long strike began to fall upon the families of the miners. ”

“ The strike in the southern fields dragged on and on. But from the moment the southern miners had been deserted by their northern brothers, I felt their strike was doomed. Bravely did those miners fight before giving in to the old peonage. The military had no regard for human life. They were sanctified cannibals. Is it any wonder that we have murders and holdups when the youth of the land is trained by the great industrialists to a belief in force; when they see that the possession of money puts one above law.
Men like President Howell and Secretary Simpson will live in history. ”

“ But those factors do not permit the conversion of the judicial process into a weapon for misapplying statutes according to the grave exigencies of the moment. That can have tragic consequences even more serious and lasting than a temporary dislocation of the nation's economy resulting from a strike of the miners. ”

“ Now that the threatened coal strike has ended in a tame surrender, and a two years’ scale at a reduction of wages has been virtually forced upon the miners by a coalition of their leaders with the operators, a certain small and obscure press dispatch—a mere word to the wise, yet sufficient at the time—takes on immense interest in its prophetic significance. ”

“ What is a good enough principle for an American citizen ought to be good enough for the working man to follow.”
The strike lasted four months, in which time there was complete lack of disorder. Though the striking miners had to go miles up the hills for their firewood, they did not touch a stick of the lumber that lay in piles about the mines, and was the property of the mine owners. ”

“ The miners' union is too strong. There would be a strike if we tried it. But it has got to come to that soon. The companies will have to join hands for a finish fight. They can't have men hoisted up from their work with a hundred dollars' worth of ore stowed away on them. ”

“ In the coal strike in England one finds the miners in the trades unions afraid to vote except in secret because they are afraid of one another. One finds the miners' leaders afraid of the men under them and of what they might do, so that they have no policy except to fight. One finds the miners' leaders afraid of the mine-managers and of what they might do, so that they have no policy except to fight. One finds the mine-managers afraid of one another, afraid of their stockholders, afraid of the miners' leaders, and afraid of the newspapers and afraid of the Government. ”

“ This great success could readily be gained in a few days, or a few weeks at the most, by a strike of the coal miners, who by experience are familiar with mass strikes, and certainly would have to be dealt with in the future struggle. The railroad employees are also an important factor in the Labour movement. They would certainly not wait to strike until all the coal was gone, but would join in at the beginning, if it were a matter of importance. ”

“ A ghost town should have ghosts but none walk at the present time. However in the past there were events that curdled the blood and made one tremble with fear. There was a strike at one of the Pacific mines, not for higher wages, but perhaps it could be called for better working conditions. Laborers refused to work in a certain stope or to push the tram cars through a long tunnel from the stope to the ore bins. In those days miners carried iron candle sticks, with sharp points that could be stuck in the ground where light was needed. ”

“ If, as now seems possible, the bituminous coal miners shall join in the movement, not less than 450,000 men will be directly involved. Besides these, such a vast number of women and children and other dependents would be affected by the strike that its supporters might easily reach into the millions. ”

“ Conditions were most unfavorable for the miners to make a successful fight alone. Many thousands of them had walked the streets for months, unemployed. Moreover the unions' funds were depleted from the strike of the year before. In this crisis, faced by a hostile Government and the militant employers, and with their own forces greatly weakened, the beleaguered miners called for assistance to their partners in the Triple Alliance the railwaymen and the transport workers. ”

“ Close to the mine was a prosperous little town occupied chiefly by the miners and their families, most of the houses being the property of the mining company, and the men continued to occupy the houses while the strike was in progress. Other miners were found who were ready to take their places, but the men in possession refused to move out, and threatened with violence any miners that should attempt to work the mine. ”

“ Economists argue, to begin with, that the State has no right to interfere in the relations between miners and mine-owners. The mine-owner is at home on his own property. Certain securities for life and limb may be demanded, nothing more. But no sooner does a strike begin than the State, which five minutes ago had no right to interfere, is called upon to bring in horse, foot and artillery on the side of the coal-owners. ”

“ The miners fought back as savagely as they were fought. The strike was truly war with murders and assassinations, with dynamite and prisons. The mine owners brought in gunmen. The President of the Union urged the miners to arm to defend themselves, their wives and daughters. It was Hell!
In 1899 Bunker Hill Co. mine was blown up. The Governor called the troops which only made matters worse. The first troops were negroes. Men were arrested and thrown in jail without trial. One thousand men were herded in a bullpen.
One night a bomb, attached to his gate, killed Governor Steunenberg. ”

“ However, the British mine workers who were defeated took their revenge during the strike of the American coal miners. In 1922, 500,000 American coal miners were striking, This time the British workers did nothing to aid the American workers, and the coal dug by the British miners helped crush the American miners. We have such relations among the miners of all Europe. The German, Belgian, and French coal miners made no move during the strike of the British miners to help them for the simple reason that the British coal miners were indifferent during the strikes of the other European miners. ”

“ And now we have the unauthorized strike of the Railroad yard and road men; this is clearly an outbreak of workers exasperated on the one hand by a constantly increasing cost of living, and on the other by dilatory methods of affording relief. The orthodox tactics are being employed to break it. The Lever law, disinterred from the legislative graveyard to beat the miners, has been galvanized into life again and is being used to jail the strike leaders. ”

“ February 25.—C. Augustus Seton, who is under arrest in New York City, confesses to forging $4,300,000 worth of Norfolk and Western Railroad stock certificates.
Coal mine operators give out statements saying there will be a strike, as they will refuse to grant the miners’ requests. T. L. Lewis, vice-president of the United Mine Workers, declares there will be no strike and that the operators will grant the requests of the miners. ”

“ The federal committee of miners projected a general strike in all the French coal-fields, and to that end organized a referendum. But of 125,000 miners inscribed on their lists nearly 70,000 abstained from voting, and although the general strike was voted in October by a majority of 34,000, it was not put into effect. Another movement favoured by the Socialists was that of anti-militarism. ”

“ Naturally, the closing down of many large steel plants will cut the demand for coke and coal and the miners as well as every other industry will suffer during the strike.
The scarcity of U.M.W.’s at mining points the last week or two is quite noticeable. With the exception of Madisonville, where they can be found around the saloons building air castles, very few are seen. ”

“ The men there and at Hazleton hold a meeting to-night to decide whether or not they will strike in sympathy with the Carbon County miners, because of the shut-down.
"Now, we've got to strike the first blow! The men over at Pittsfield and at the Woodward mines will join the strikers if the Harleigh and Hazleton men go out. We must get an injunction to prevent the committee from the affected mines from visiting the other men. If they come it is for the sole purpose of inducing the men to strike. ”

“ This was the sequel to a strike on the part of the Kansas coal miners, which threatened to leave the people without fuel for the winter. When the strikers refused to return to work a call was sent out for volunteers and men of all occupations came forward to work in the mines. When the emergency was past the legislature decided that the rights of the public ought to be protected in the future against both employers and workmen. ”

“ Figures furnished us by the mine operators showed that about 1,900 mine workers went on a strike on Nov. 27, 1907. Although a number of strikes and minor difficulties had occurred during 1907, the only acute situation arising prior to the call for troops existed in the spring of 1907. This controversy involved not only a dispute between the mine owners and the miners at Goldfield, but also between the members of the miners' union and the members of other crafts in Goldfield affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. ”

“ Their light is the tiny lamp in their caps. It lights up only work. It lights but a few steps ahead. Their children will follow them down into these strange chambers after they have gone down into the earth forever. Cruel is the life of the [Pg 233] miners with the weight of the world upon their backs. And cruel are their strikes. Miners are accustomed to cruelty. They know no other law. They are like primitive men struggling in his ferocious jungle—for himself, for his children, for the race of men.
The miners of Logan County were again on strike in 1923. ”

“ Why I mean that we are going to strike this time, and that it will be the biggest fight the coal region has ever seen.
"We can't get the mine owners to arbitrate, but we can get the coal miners to unite. If one man is shut out to starve we will all go out."
"And our places will be filled by imported miners," interjects the foreman.
"Not this time. We will have our pickets out in all directions, and every train will be boarded. The men the mine owners bring on will be told to keep away."
As the men speak they are unconscious of the approach of the Sheriff of
Luzerne County. ”