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Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday September 19, 1900
Locust Gap, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Speaks to Determined Miners
From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 14, 1900:
MINERS WAITING AND HOPING
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In the Shamokin Region They Do Not Want to Strike
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From a Staff Correspondent.
SHAMOKIN, Pa., Sept. 13.-“We are waiting now-waiting and hoping that the mine operators will change their minds and hold a conference with the mine workers.”
If John Fahy, president of the Ninth district of the United Mine Workers, had spent hours in thinking it over he could not have put into more epigrammatic form the sentiment of his fellow-officials and the men they represent. The hardest fighter is ever the man who is pushed into a corner and forced to fight against his will. He will fight to a finish. He will fight so long as he can stand. That is the condition of affairs in the anthracite coal region to-day. The men do not want to strike, and no one is more anxious to avoid a strike than President John Mitchell. But the silent determination written in large letters upon the faces of the men as they answer the query: “Will you go out on Monday if no settlement is arrived at?” tells the truth more plainly than any words…..
This evening Mother Jones was one of the speakers at a mass meeting at Locust Gap, about seven miles from here, where it is said the men are not so well organized as in other sections…..
T. L. R.
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INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 13.-In order to place before the public the conditions existing in the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, President John Mitchell and Secretary-Treasurer W. B. Wilson, of the United Mine Workers of America, issued to-day to the public a statement giving in detail the causes that have led up to the strike.
After the statement had been given out for publication President Mitchell said:
At this time I do not believe anything will transpire between now and Monday that will prevent the strike. All information coming to my office to-day predicates that the struggle is practically on.
I have been receiving messages all day from the anthracite region which indicate clearly that the indorsement of the strike and the issuance of the order has met with the approval of the miners. There are a few details to be arranged but the men are prepared for the fight. I have not received to-day any information direct or indirect to show that the operators have receded from their position.
Situation Reviewed
The statement is as follows:
Indianapolis, Ind., September 13, 1900.-The members of the National Executive Board of the United Mine Workers of America, realizing that the material welfare of a large number of the American people will be injuriously affected by a prolonged suspension of work in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, knowing the irresistible power of a concentrated public opinion, and having a profound respect for the opinions of their fellow men, have decided to make a general statement for the information of the public.
No one can have a greater appreciation of the far-reaching effect of a strike of the anthracite coal miners. The coal miners and their families, the coal companies and coal carrying railways are but a small portion of the vast multitude whose interests are so directly and indirectly connected with the coal trade that a conflict of such magnitude will affect their welfare…..
Reason for Counseling Strike
Having exhausted all other means of adjustment, we had reached the point where we must either advise the miners of the anthracite region to continue working under these unjust and tyrannical conditions or counsel a strike. We have chosen the latter, and having done so, we invite a thorough, impartial and public investigation of the conditions existing in the anthracite coal fields.
We believe that the great American heart throbs in sympathy for the downtrodden and oppressed, whether in this or any other land. We know the great power of the public press in molding public sentiment. With an abiding faith in the justice of our cause and a consciousness of the knowledge that whosoever else may vilify and abuse us, the great Jehovah knows and understands the rectitude of our purpose, we appeal to the American people and to the American press as the greatest arbiters on earth to assist us and sustain us in our hour of trial.
On behalf of the National Executive Board, United Mine Workers of America, we are, sincerely yours,
JOHN MITCHELL, President,
W. B. WILSON, Secretary-Treas.———-
[Drawing and emphasis added.]
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SOURCES
Quote Mother Jones, If war Shamokin Sep 8, Phl Iq p2, Sept 9, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/167217933/
The Philadelphia Inquirer
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
-Sept 14, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/167220424
IMAGE
Mother Jones Speaks to Miners in PA, Phl Iq p4, Sept 5, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/167216825/
See also:
Tag: Great Anthracite Strike of 1900
https://weneverforget.org/tag/great-anthracite-strike-of-1900/
They’ll Never Beat the Miners
-Wilden Brothers and Durham Miners Wives
Lyrics by Ed Pickford