The Survey, Volume 30, Number 1, April 5, 1913Various
History
The Survey, Volume 30, Number 1, April 5, 1913
Various
Charities -- Periodicals; Social problems -- Periodicals; United States -- Social conditions -- Periodicals
As a matter of fact the men do not care to leave the region. They are
engaged in a fight to unionize it and are as anxious to succeed as are
the operators to prevent them from doing so. "Stay where you are and
unionize your district but do not crowd into organized operations," is
the advice given by the union organizers. That is why the unions in the
other districts are supporting the strikers and have been doing so for a
year.
_The Glasscock Commission_
Last summer after the mine companies refused point blank to be a party
to the appointment of a commission by the governor for the investigation
of the situation in the mines, Governor Glasscock appointed one anyway.
Bishop Donahue, the Catholic bishop of Wheeling, S. L. Walker, and Fred
O. Blue were appointed as commissioners. Extracts from the report of
this commission are interesting:
"From the cloud of witnesses and mass of testimony figuring in the
hearings, there emerges clearly and unmistakably the fact that
these guards [the mine guards referred to heretofore] recklessly
and flagrantly violated in respect to the miners on Paint Creek and
Cabin Creek, the rights guaranteed by natural justice and the
constitution to every citizen howsoever lowly his condition and
state.... Many crimes and outrages laid to their charge were found
upon careful sifting to have no foundation in fact, but the denial
of the right of peaceable assembly and of freedom of speech, many
and grievous assaults on unarmed miners show that their main
purpose was to overawe the miners and their adherents and, if
necessary to beat and cudgel them into submission. We find that the
system employed was vicious, strife prompting and un-American. No
man, worthy of the name, likes to be guarded by others, armed with
black jacks, revolvers and Winchesters whilst he is endeavoring to
earn his daily bread.... We are unanimously of the opinion that the
guard system as at present constituted should be abolished
forthwith."
The commission also found that the company stores overcharged the
miners, that the system of docking was unfair to the miner, and that a
system of blacklisting of miners prevailed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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