Nothing is more dangerous than truth and error mixed. Mr. West says the operators have a larger number of men than they can make use of at each operation and that the reason of this is that they may have their houses filled. The real fact is that nearly every operation must have from 20 to 30 per cent more men than are needed in order to run the mine to the full capacity, as about that proportion will lay off work each day. I have tried to find the reason for this and have been told repeatedly by the miners themselves that since they could earn enough money in four or five days to support themselves for a week they could see no reason why they should work every day. The “guard system” is certainly not an ideal one. Neither are all of the men serving as guards ideal citizens. They certainly have been guilty of many of the abuses which might be expected from so much authority with so little responsibility to the state. But there must be some method of policing the mining districts. Thus far the state and county have failed to provide police facilities, and an “absentee” police system would make crime easy to commit in such a country. Thus far, there has been no improvement suggested by those who are leading this insurrection. In regard to the housing, if Mr. West or any one else could build one of the four room cottages at a labor expense of $40., or even twice that, he would be in great demand as a contractor for house building. Moreover, any operator would be glad to get his houses built at a net expense of twice the figures given by Mr. West. One needs only to visit the houses vacated by miners to convince himself that the 10 per cent income on the actual investment will hardly pay for repairs. The average miner is not at all careful as to where he collects his kindling wood. I have seen many houses with from one to four doors and perhaps a quarter of the ceiling missing, having been used for this domestic purpose. One real difficulty with the miners is a lack of constructive leadership. When they are taught such anarchistic ideas as that voiced by Mr. Houston at the investigation of the commission, it is no wonder that such men, under the leadership of individuals, whose past history will hardly bear the light of day, band themselves together for desperate purposes. Mr. Houston stated that the miner should be paid every cent that the coal brings in the market, except what the railroad gets for transportation, and there are many mine workers who actually believe this.