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Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday September 11, 1900
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Working with Mine Workers Union
From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 5, 1900:
A WOMAN’S WILL SWAYS THOUSANDS
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“Mother” Mary Jones, of Chicago, Now Working
Hand in Hand With Mine Workers’ Union,
at Wilkes-Barre
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Special to The Inquirer.
WILKES-BARRE, Sept. 4.-The United Mine Workers’ Union here seems to be dominated by “Mother” Mary Jones, of Chicago, and she has full sway in dictating the policy of the union in the labor situation here.
She has not only every member of the United Mine Workers’ Union ready to strike, but her eloquent presentation of the wrongs suffered at the hands of the operator has made many new members, while an equal number are ready to follow the union men out without formally joining the organization.
Mrs. Jones has been working among the soft coal miners of the Meyersdale (Md.) and Central Pennsylvania districts since helping those in Tioga county to win their strike last winter.
Fifty-six years of age, she is bright and active. Her white hair commands respect, while her cheery face and manner hearten up the most morose assemblage.
[She said:]
The condition of the miner is most deplorable. He is the butt of a system of robbery. Of course, there are some good operators-men who would correct the grievances if they dared, but who are governed by others. In New Zealand the operators urge the men to organize, but in this country they shoot them down or get out an injunction and throw them into jail.
In this crisis if the operators don’t make concessions I believe that a strike is inevitable. The law says 2240 pounds make a ton. The operator expects 3300 from the miner. The miners are publicly robbed.
The company doctor is an imposition and ought to be driven out. The company store should not be tolerated. I don’t believe the men want to strike, but if it is their only alternative, I say strike.
I do not approve of strikes, but at times they are necessary and if the operators do not grant the just and equitable demands of the men there is but one thing for them to do-strike, and continue to strike until they gain fair treatment.
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PRIEST MAKES PLEA TO MINERS
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By His Personality and Earnestness Father Phillips
Induced the Mine Workers’ Union to Confer
Further With Operators for Settlement
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Special to The Inquirer.
HAZLETON, Sept. 4.-Father Phillips, of this place, a Catholic priest, prevented an immediate declaration of a strike by appearing in last week’s convention of the mine workers and appealing to the men for peace. He fears, however, that if the operators do not meet their men a strike will be the result. In a statement issued to The Inquirer he says:
My sole object since the convention is to pave the way for a friendly meeting, and with this in view I personally called upon several operators and mine workers in different parts of the anthracite coal fields. I would suggest to the miners and others the advisability of suspending as far as possible, the discussion of strikes and their causes until the Executive Board shall have exhausted every effort to bring about the desired end of the agitation.
This end is not a strike, but the amicable adjustment of the differences between the mine workers and their employers. On the other hand, should our labors prove in vain owing to a final refusal on the part of the operators to make concessions or at least give the miners the hearing they ask, I see no possible means of preventing the declaration of a strike with all its deplorable evils.
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[Emphasis added.]
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SOURCES & IMAGES
Quote Mother Jones, Shamokin Sep 8, Phl Iq p2, Sept 9, 1900
https://www.newspapers.com/image/167217933/
The Philadelphia Inquirer
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
-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/
The New York Times, Sept 2, 1900
-Mother Jones Speaks to Miners at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept 7, 1900
-Mother Jones Incites Miners, Ready to Strike
Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept 8, 1900
-Mother Jones Agitates, Strike Fever in the Air
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept 9, 1900
-Mother Jones: “If war there must be…”
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They’ll Never Beat the Miners
-Wilden Brothers and Durham Miners Wives
Lyrics by Ed Pickford