648 



STRIKE OP THE COAL-MINERS. 



isters were sustained on Nov. 21 by 161 votes to 

 118. The attacks were continued. The ministry 

 was forced to resign, and on Dec. 6 the Conserva- 

 tive leader formed a Cabinet as follows: Presi- 

 dent of the Council, Senor Silvela; Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, Senor Abarzuza; Minister of 

 Justice, Senor Data; Minister of Finance, Senor 

 Villaverde; Minister of the Interior, Senor Maura; 

 Minister of War, Gen. Linares; Minister of Marine, 

 Sanchez Toca ; Minister of Public Instruction, Al- 

 lende Salazar; Minister of Public Works, Marquis 

 Vadillo. The sittings of the Cortes were sus- 

 pended and afterward the Cortes was dissolved. 



STRIKE OF THE COAL-MINERS. With 

 the organization of the anthracite miners in 

 Pennsylvania by the United Mine-Workers of 

 America, in 1899, began a situation that led to 

 the strike of 1900. Through the intervention of 

 Senator Marcus A. Hanna and others, the oper- 

 ators made concessions, and trouble for a while 

 subsided. A wage increase of 10 per cent, was 

 continued until April, 1902. A request by the 

 United Mine- Workers for a joint conference for 

 settling a wage scale for the year ending March 

 31, 1903, was declined by the operators. At 

 Shamokin, March 24, the miners in convention 

 demanded a shorter work-day, a minimum day 

 wage-scale, uniform increase of wages, and the 

 weighing of coal for payments by the amounts 

 mined. They resolved to appeal to the National 

 Civic Federation, and that, in case of adjustment 

 not being made before April 1, only three days' 

 work a week should be allowed, except for keep- 

 ing the mines in repair. They also made a pro- 

 visional strike declaration. 



Senator Hanna, acting for the federation, vainly 

 endeavored to settle the difficulty, and on May 8 

 proposals of arbitration were made by John 

 Mitchell, president of the United Mine-Workers, 

 to the presidents of the coal companies, who 

 promptly rejected them and declined to negotiate 

 with Mr. Mitchell or to recognize the union. 

 The position of the operators on the general 

 question had already been indicated by one of 

 their number in the following statement: "There 

 is no reason why the miners should not be satis- 

 fied with present conditions. There is no reason 

 why we should make concessions to them. The 

 rank and file of the miners are perfectly satisfied 

 with matters as they are." 



On May 15 the strike was officially declared, 

 and about 145,000 men quitted the mines, of 

 whom nearly 120,000 were members of the union, 

 the remainder being ineligible to membership. 

 The most serious labor struggle in the history 

 of the country had now fairly begun. The 

 strikers demanded an increase of 20 per cent, in 

 the pay of miners working oy the ton, an eight- 

 hour day for per diem employees without change 

 of wages, payment by weight to be based on a 

 ton of 2,240 pounds, and recognition of their 

 union. The advantage of the strikers lay chiefly 

 in the Pennsylvania law that every miner in the 

 anthracite field must hold a certificate of com- 

 petence based on not less than two years' expe- 

 rience. Of these, nearly the whole 'number be- 

 longed to the union, and without them the mines 

 could not be worked. The miners had also been 

 saving their money since the previous strike, 

 in anticipation of the present contingency. A 

 proposition to order a sympathetic strike of the 

 bituminous miners was rejected by the conven- 

 tion of United Mine-Workers at Indianapolis, 

 June 18. 



Both parties to the controversy maintained a 

 stubborn attitude; and the public, divided in 

 opinion and sympathy, watched them with ordi- 



nary interest at first, little knowing how great its 

 own concern wo,uld become before the struggle 

 ended. For many weeks the country was tilled 

 with rumors of compromise and attempted settle- 

 ment, of overtures and conferences, which, if ever 

 made or held, led to no visible result. From the 

 first the operators had much to do to keep engi- 

 neers, firemen, and pumpmen at work. A large 

 number of these, obeying a union order, quitted 

 the mines on June 2 and the following days. In 

 most instances the companies were prepared for 

 such an emergency, and throughout the strike 

 they guarded against the dangers involved; but 

 early in August it was announced that several 

 flooded mines had been abandoned. Attempted 

 resumption of work was usually frustrated by 

 strikers, although some coal was constantly 

 mined. On June 8 the employees of the Dela- 

 ware, Susquehanna and Schuylkill Railroad re- 

 fused to handle trains carrying special officers, 

 deputies, or non-union mine-workers, and during 

 the entire strike the moving of coal was impeded 

 by obstruction of the railways. 



In June, by direction of President Roosevelt, 

 the Commissioner of Labor, Carroll D. Wright, 

 made a personal investigation, and three months 

 later published a report on the causes of the 

 strike, with suggestions of remedies for conditions 

 in the coal-field. On June 22 Mr. Mitchell re- 

 newed his appeal for arbitration. 



Many arrests were made for rioting, and pris- 

 oners were held for trial. Almost from the be- 

 ginning there were numerous reports of violence 

 in different localities, destruction of property, 

 dynamiting of colliery buildings and dwelling- 

 houses, beating of non-union miners and others; 

 and in the various conflicts many persons were shot 

 and some were killed. There was loud demand 

 for State protection, and in many quarters Gov. 

 Stone was severely censured for vacillation and 

 delay in calling out the militia. Finally, on July 

 30, he ordered two regiments to Shenandoah, 

 where rioting and bloodshed had occurred on the 

 29th. Then, as on other occasions, officials of 

 the United Mine-Workers publicly announced 

 that lawless acts were done in utter disregard of 

 the teachings and principles of their organization 

 and the explicit instruction of its leaders, and 

 called upon its members to do all in their power 

 to suppress lawlessness and to aid the officers to 

 maintain peace and order. The employment of 

 military force greatly irritated the strikers and 

 their sympathizers, many of whom were influ- 

 ential citizens, and their protests and open or 

 secret hostility to the troops made the main- 

 tenance of order almost as difficult for the Na- 

 tional Guard as it had been for the civil au- 

 thorities. Yet on the night of July 31 Gen. 

 Gobin, commander of the National Guard, re- 

 ported that the situation was very quiet. In 

 a few days, however, violence again began to 

 spread, the soldiers themselves in some cases 

 being attacked with stones, and orders were 

 given to them to defend themselves againsi ;i~ 

 sault. Similar instructions were afterward is- 

 sued, and what was called Gen. Gobin's " shoot- 

 to-kill order," which he declared was miscon- 

 ceived in some quarters, aroused discussion all 

 over the country. Sept. 23 a third regiment was 

 ordered by the Governor to join Gen. Gobin. At 

 this time it was declared on the authority of a 

 military officer that two-thirds of the strikers 

 were " ready and anxious to go back to work." 

 and were " only deterred by the odium which 

 would be heaped upon them by their fellows." 

 On the other hand, it was stoutly asserted by 

 Mr. Mitchell and other leaders, who still publicly 





