STRIKE OP THE COAL-MINERS. 



649 



deprecated all violence, that the strikers re- 

 mained firm and united. One ofthe worst out- 

 rages of the strike was the killing of a miner 

 by a gang armed with clubs, because he, a former 

 secretary of his union, had gone back to work. 

 This was on Sept. 25. There were now 4 regi- 

 ments in the field ; on the 29th a fifth was ordered 

 out, and a week later the entire National Guard 

 of the State, with a maximum strength of 10,000 

 men. The last time the whole division had been 

 on such duty was during the Homestead troubles 

 in 1892. In the order, Oct. 6, calling out the full 

 National Guard the Governor said : " In certain 

 portions of the counties of Luzerne, Schuylkill, 

 Carbon, Lackawanna, Susquehanna, Northumber- 

 land, and Columbia tumults and riots frequently 

 occur and mob law reigns. Men who desire to 

 work have been beaten and driven away and 

 their families threatened. Railroad-trains have 

 been delayed, stoned, and the tracks torn up. 

 The civil authorities are unable to maintain order 

 and have called upon the Governor and com- 

 mander-in-chief of the National Guard for troops. 

 The situation grows more serious each day. 

 The territory involved is so extensive that the 

 troops now on duty are insufficient to prevent 

 all disorder. The presence of the entire division 

 of the National Guard of Pennsylvania is neces- 

 sary in these counties to maintain the public 

 peace." 



Meanwhile, repeated conferences were held 

 and appeals were made to individuals, presi- 

 dents of the coal and railway companies, strike 

 leaders, and public representatives and officials, 

 by citizens and organizations, with a view to 

 settlement. The operators, including " independ- 

 ents," refused to yield. " So far," said one of the 

 latter on Sept. 16, " as recent attempts at settle- 

 ment are concerned, every effort, from Senator 

 Hanna's down, has been futile." " The strike 

 will end," declared one of the railroad presidents, 

 " when the men come back of their own accord, 

 and on the terms on which they worked before 

 the strike. In no other manner can this strike 

 be ended." The strike leaders were not less un- 

 yielding. A conference on Sept. 13 between Gov. 

 Stone and John Mitchell was apparently fruitless, 

 as were also communications to the Governor 

 from the People's Alliance, which submitted 

 peace plans, and from the People's party of Penn- 

 sylvania and the Central Labor Union of Phila- 

 delphia, both asking that the State should take 

 and operate the anthracite mines. 



Direct appeals had likewise been made to Pres- 

 ident Roosevelt for his intervention, notably by 

 men representing the business interests of the 

 anthracite region, who addressed him through 

 the Public Alliance of Wilkesbarre. At the con- 

 clusion of a conference with the Cabinet, Oct. 1, 

 the President caused to be published copies of 

 the following telegram, which he had addressed 

 severally to George F. Baer, president of the Read- 

 ing Railway system; W. H. Truesdale, president 

 of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Rail- 

 road Company; E. B. Thomas, chairman of the 

 board, Erie Railroad Company; Thomas P. Fow- 

 ler, president of the New York, Ontario and 

 Western Railway Company; R. M. Olyphant, 

 president of the Delaware and Hudson Company, 

 and John Markle: 



" I should greatly like to see you on Friday 

 next, Oct. 3, at 11 o'clock A.M., here in Washing- 

 ton, in regard to the failure of the coal-supply, 

 which has become a matter of vital concern to 

 the whole nation. I have sent a similar despatch 

 to Mr. John Mitchell, president of the United 

 Mine- Workers of America." 





The conference was held, but nothing was di- 

 rectly effected by it.' Mr. Mitchell, in behalf of 

 the miners, offered to submit the questions in dis- 

 pute to arbitrators chosen by the President. This 

 proposition the operators rejected, refusing to 

 treat with the miners' organization. They called 

 upon the President to use the power of the Gov- 

 ernment to restore order, and declared that with 

 the protection of Federal troops they could oper- 

 ate the mines. They also offered, if the men 

 returned to work, to submit grievances of indi- 

 vidual collieries to judges of district courts of 

 common pleas. On Oct. 6 the Commissioner of 

 Labor, Mr. Wright, gave to John Mitchell the 

 following message: 



" If Mr. Mitchell will secure the immediate re- 

 turn to work of the miners in the anthracite re- 

 gions, the President will at once appoint a com- 

 mission to investigate thoroughly into all mat- 

 ters at issue between the operators and miners, 

 and will do all within his power to obtain a set- 

 tlement of those questions in accordance with the 

 report of the commission." 



To this proposal the miners did not accede, 

 and the situation became still more critical. A 

 few days later J. Pierpont Morgan, after con- 

 ferring with the Secretary of War, the mine- 

 operators, and President Roosevelt, offered, Oct. 

 13, in behalf of the coal companies, to submit 

 to arbitration by a commission to be appointed 

 by the President and to be composed of (1) an 

 engineer officer of the army or navy; (2) an .ex- 

 pert mining-engineer, not in any way connected 

 with coal-mining properties; (3) one of the 

 judges of the United States Court of the Eastern 

 District of Pennsylvania; (4) a man of promi-. 

 nence, eminent as a sociologist; (5) a man by 

 active participation in mining and selling coal 

 familiar with the physical and commercial features, 

 of the business. Mining was to be resumed im- 

 mediately upon the appointment of the commis- 

 sion, whose findings should govern the relations, 

 between the coal companies and their employees, 

 for at least three years. At Wilkesbarre, Oct. 

 21, the miners in convention unanimously voted 

 in favor of this plan, and declared the strike off. 

 On Oct. 23 mining was resumed at many places,, 

 and soon nearly the whole body of strikers were 

 at work. The troops were shortly recalled. Oct. 

 29 was observed by the miners as " Mitchell day." 



During the strike, which lasted more than five 

 months, the miners were enabled to hold out with 

 little suffering by the aid of union assessments 

 and contributions of money from organization* 

 and individuals. But in many parts of the 

 country the effects of the strike were severely 

 felt through scarcity and cost of coal. Even 

 before cold w r eather the price of anthracite some- 

 times rose to $20 a ton, and it was often difficult 

 to get at any price. Dealers in many instances 

 could only supply their customers from day to 

 day. Cities had to suspend ordinances prohibit- 

 ing the use of soft coal. Thousands of poor per- 

 sons were glad to buy coal by the pailful, and 

 in spite of the efforts of benevolent societies and 

 individuals to siipply them in this manner, when 

 regular dealers could not do so, many suffered at 

 times complete privation of fuel. In some places 

 coal was taken forcibly from railway-cars by 

 crowds of citizens, without interference of the 

 public authorities. Some quantities of coal were 

 imported from Great Britain. The famine con- 

 tinued through the greater part of the winter. 



The arbitration commission, promptly named 

 by the President, met in Washington, Oct. 24, 

 with the following membership: Judge George 

 Gray, United States Circuit Court, Carroll D. 



