Hellraisers Journal – Saturday October 25, 1902 Pennsylvania Anthracite Strikers Ordered to Resume Work, Part II
From the ScrantonTribune of October 22, 1902:
[Part II of II]
REJOICING AT SHENANDOAH. ———- Eighteenth Regiment Band Leads the Parade of Miners.
By Exclusive Wire from The Associated Press.
Shenandoah, Pa., Oct. 21.-News that the convention declared the strike off reached Shenandoah at 12 o’clock, and almost simultaneously every bell in the town was ringing and the whistles of every factory and breaker pealed joyous notes. There was a spontaneous outpouring of people and ten minutes after the good news reached town the streets were crowded.
At Mahanoy City and elsewhere in the anthracite field the news of the strike settlement was received with wild enthusiasm. There was blowing of whistles and ringing of bells, and almost the entire population of the towns assembled in the streets. In some localities there were impromptu parades, in which the fire departments and other organizations joined in some instances.
Pathetic scenes were enacted as the men, who have been idle and under great strain for nearly six months, rushed off to prepare for work.
Colonel Rutledge sent the Eighteenth Regiment band into town this afternoon to take part in the strike settlement celebration. The band marched through the streets at the head of a mine workers’ parade and was wildly cheered all along the line. Nearly every building in the town is decorated with flags, and the people in general appear almost insanely happy. Besides the soldiers’ band, two other bands took part in the demonstration.
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PRESIDENT ACTS PROMPTLY. ———- He Summons the Members of Commission to Meet on Friday.
By Exclusive Wire from The Associated Press.
Washington, Oct. 21.-Shortly before 3 o’clock this afternoon, President Roosevelt received a telegram from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., informing him that the convention of miners had declared off the anthracite coal strike. The telegram was signed by John Mitchell, chairman, and W. B. Wilson, secretary of the convention, and was identical with that made public at Wilkes-Barre before noon today.
Immediately on receipt of this Information, the following telegram was sent to Mr. Mitchell:
White House, Washington, Oct, 21, 1902
Mr. John Mitchell, Chairman of Convention, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.:
Upon receipt of your telegram of this date, the president summoned the commission to meet here on Friday next, the 24th instant, at 10 a. m.
Hellraisers Journal – Friday October 24, 1902 Pennsylvania Anthracite Strikers Ordered to Resume Work, Part I
From the Scranton Tribune of October 22, 1902:
[Part I of II]
By Exclusive Wire from The Associated Press.
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Oct. 21.-With a shout that fairly shook the convention building, the representatives of the 147,000 mine workers, who have been on strike since last May, officially declared off at noon today the greatest contest ever waged between capital and labor, and placed all the questions involved in the struggle into the hands of the arbitration commission appointed by the president of the United Slates. When the news was flashed to towns and villages down in the valley and on the mountains of the coal region, the strike-affected inhabitants heaved a sigh of relief.
Many days have gone by since more welcome news was received. Everywhere there was rejoicing, and in many places the end of the strike was the signal for impromptu town celebrations. The anthracite coal region, from its largest city-Scranton-down to the lowliest coal patch has suffered by the conflict, and everyone now looks for better times. While the large army of mine workers and their families, numbering approximately half a million persons, are grateful that work is to be resumed on Thursday, the strikers have still to learn what their reward will be. President Roosevelt having taken prompt action in calling the arbitrators together for their first meeting on Friday, the miners hope they will know by Thanksgiving day what practical gain they have made.
The vote to resume coal mining was a unanimous one and was reached only after a warm debate. The principal objection to accepting the arbitration proposition was that no provision was contained in the scheme to take care of those men who would fail to get back their old positions, or would be unable to get any work at all. The engineers and pumpmen get better pay than other classes of mine workers, and they did not wish to run the risk of losing altogether their old places and be compelled to dig coal for a living. This question came up yesterday, and was argued right up to the time the vote was taken. No one had a definite plan to offer to overcome the objection, and the report of the committee on resolutions, recommending that the strike be declared off and that all issues be placed in the hands of the arbitration commission for decision, was adopted without the question being settled. A few moments before adjournment, however, a partial solution was reached when a delegate in the farthest corner of the hall moved that the problem be placed in the hands of the three executive boards for solution, and his suggestion was adopted.
The principal speech of the day was made by National Secretary-Treasurer W. B. Wilson, who practically spoke for President Mitchell and the national organisation. In a strong argument he counselled the men to accept arbitration, the very plan the strikers themselves had offered, return to work and trust to the president’s tribunal to do them justice.
Hellraisers Journal – Saturday October 11, 1902 Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1902, Part II Found in Chicago, Illinois, Depicts the Misery of the Eastern Coal Region
From the Evansville Sunday Journal-News of September 28, 1902:
MISERY IS DEPICTED IN EASTERN COAL REGION “Mother” Jones Relates Woes of Miners and Declares a System of Slavery is Being Practiced by the Operators. ———-
CHICAGO, Sept. 27.-“Mother” Jones, friend and organizer of the eastern miners, arrived in Chicago yesterday direct from the fields of action where the seeds of independence she has been sowing for years are bearing fruit as they never bore before. Confident that the miners will win the great strike in Pennsylvania and West Virginia because the operators cannot afford to win, “Mother” Jones, fearless and determined as ever, discussed the problems and conditions of the present grave situation in the East. In spite of her snowy hair and sixty summers “Mother” Jones declared that she was as young to-day as she ever was.
[She said:]
The miners can now see the dawning of a brighter day and a new civilization. They are as hopeful of success as we are. John Mitchell was never so hopeful. The bituminous miners of West Virginia will win and the anthracite miners in the Pennsylvania fields will win. But no one can prophesy how long the strike will last.
“Mother” Jones said that the system of slavery that America’s blood poured out to abolish was never worse than a slave system conducted by the mine operators of West Virginia. She declared that miners are bought and sold for money, that bloodhounds are kept to trail fugitive slave miners and to avenge assaults on the “blackleg” agents of the operator.
She said that the immigration laws were being broken by the operators, whose agents go to Europe and import released convicts to work in American mines.
She proposed a congress of American labor to be held in Washington next winter when Congress is in session to investigate the rights of workingmen and get an expression from the government concerning the injunction cases of West Virginia and to seek legislation against injunction.
Concerning Commissioner of Labor Carroll D. Wright, who spoke at Minneapolis the other day, “Mother” Jones said:
Mr. Wright does not know the conditions concerning which he speaks. In the first place, I want to ask why he delayed making his report from the anthracite region until a week or two ago. I think it would pay the people to demand an investigation of the agents Mr. Wright sends out to gather his statistics. I found that one of them in the New River District has been dead for forty years and does not know it. He is incapable absolutely for the work he is assigned to do.
[Mother Jones continued:]
Herman Justi said at the Minneapolis convention, that arbitration is a failure. Arbitration is not a failure. The miners believe in arbitration and are willing to arbitrate. If the operators would ask for arbitration or would submit to arbitration of the present troubles the miners would abide by the decision. The whole trouble in this strike is because the operators do not want their schemes of robbery exposed.
[She continued:]
The operators buy their powder for 90 cents a keg and they sell it to the miners for $2.50 a keg. Is that robbery? The operators, against the laws of Pennsylvania, do not weigh the coal at the mines at all. The law says they should have scales and check weighmen. The miners demand these provisions. The miners want a nine-hour workday and they refuse to submit to discrimination against their organization.
The miners demand a semimonthly payday, which five of the operators have already agreed to. As it is now they are paid every sixty days. If a miner goes to work now he must wait sixty days before he can get any money. Then at the end of that time he finds that $1 a week has been deducted from his wages for doctor bills whether he has had the services of a doctor or not. He can go to the “pluck me” stores and get food, the price of which is deducted from his earnings, and in many of the districts the miners are forced to pay for the water they drink.
The wretchedness and misery “Mother” Jones described in detail.
[She said:]
I tell you that there are no words capable of portraying the misery and woe. If Christ himself should come to earth and investigate the mining camps he could not find words to tell adequately what he saw. Along the mines of Loop Creek, West Virginia, “man-catchers” are regularly sent out by the operators to bring in mountaineers on some false pretense. These men are actually sold off at so much a head to the various mine operators. The “man catchers” are called “blacklegs” and are protected by trained bloodhounds. These bloodhounds are set on the trail of escaped slave miner.
“Mother” Jones declared that the miners and their families are living on the highways, forbidden to step onto mining grounds by injunction. Two thousand families have been driven into the streets in West Virginia.
[Mrs. Jones said:]
I saw one poor woman, her mother and her babe driven from their corporation shack into the street, and within four hours the starved, sickly babe died in its grandmother’s arms on the roadside.Such misery is apparent on every hand.
Hellraisers Journal – Friday October 10, 1902 Mother Jones News Round-Up for September 1902, Part I Predicts Victory for Striking Coal Miners of Pennsylvania and West Virginia
From the Wilkes-Barre Daily News of September 3, 1902:
MITCHELL RETURNS ———-
MOTHER MARY JONES A VISITOR TO THIS CITY.
President John Mitchell, of the United Mine Workers, arrived in this city yesterday afternoon, from Philadelphia, and immediately repaired to strike headquarters. He was accompanied by Louis Hammerling, of this city…..
Mother Jones, the labor advocate also arrived in town yesterday afternoon. She talked very interestingly to a News reporter about the prospects of the miners. She believes that no matter how long the struggle continues, there can be but one thing, and that is success for the miners.
[She continues:]
I hope the struggle will soon be over because there is no reason why the people of the anthracite regions should not be enjoying peace and prosperity, like the other workmen throughout the country. The operators if they have the proper conception of the exact conditions will end the disastrous strike, because no matter how long it continues, it will mean defeat for them in the end.
I do not not know when I shall return to West Virginia, but there is a probability that I may depart for those fields in a few days.
She also believes that the West Virginia miners will be successful in their efforts for better conditions.
[Photograph added.]
From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 4, 1902:
“Mother” Mary Jones arrived here yesterday afternoon, confident that the mine workers would be victorious in their struggle.
[She said:]
There are 16,000 soft coal miners who are out on strike in the New River, Kanawha and Loop Creek districts of West Virginia. They are out to a man. The conditions in that region are appalling. It is far worse than the situation in the Pennsylvania coal fields.
“What do you think of the recent injunctions issued in West Virginia?” she was asked.
We are approaching a very dangerous crisis in the American nation. The American people are patient, but there will come a time when they will not tolerate such rule.
Disregarded the Injunction
Only last Saturday I was served with an injunction to prevent my speaking in Ohio. But it didn’t work. I have been served with enough injunctions to make a comfortable shroud to bury me in. In West Virginia they issue injunctions against everything. Injunctions are not laws. They are the work of one man. He makes it, issues it, serves it on us, tries us and then he sentences us. We disregard all of them because we know that none of them will stand the test.
“What is your idea of the termination of the strike?”
The miners are not weakening in the slightest degree. We are sure of victory and will accept no compromise. We are determined to right it out to the finish. There will probably be a settlement made before long. I cannot say when that will be. Public sentiment is growing. If it is necesary, I am sure that the American people will support the miners for another year, just as well as the operators have done. The public has never before realized what a big factor the miner is in civilization.
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday September 28, 1902 “The Anthracite Coal Strike” by Comrade William Mailly, Part II
From the International Socialist Review of August 1902:
The Anthracite Coal Strike.
[-by William Mailly] ———-
[Part II of II]
Socialist Spirit, July 1902 Comrade Mailly, now in field of great anthracite coal strike.
This somewhat lengthy and yet incomplete explanation of the strike situation has been necessary in order that outsiders can understand why the Socialist agitators received such a warm welcome in the strike region. We came with a new message to the strikers and they heard us gladly. Thrown into the position of fighting simply to save the union that had protected them for two years, harassed and antagonized by the business men whom they had formerly believed their friends, deserted and deceived by the politicians who had always proclaimed themselves their champions, misrepresented and discouraged by the papers they had always supported, they were ready to listen to those who came and spoke the truth. In my experience I have never seen men who listened so eagerly and with such unfeigned enthusiasm to the Socialist presentation of the situation as did these strikers.
But the way had been prepared for us. “Mother” Jones had not been through the region for nothing. Everywhere she had left a trail of Socialist books and papers behind her. Few of the officials but had subscribed for a paper, and many of the miners received one she had subscribed for for them. And “Mother” Jones’ name is a talisman that opens the hearts of the anthracite miners to any Socialist that comes to educate and not abuse.
Then National Secretary Greenbaum’s “strike bulletins,” following upon his messages of friendship to the miners’ conventions, had also familiarized the name of the Socialist Party. These bulletins were much appreciated and made a good impression.
It did not take long, therefore, for the Socialist agitators to secure a hearing. Nothing could more emphasize the different effect produced by the Socialist Labor Party [SLP] tactics and those of the Socialist Party [of America, SPA] than the treatment accorded our representatives. Wherever I went in the region I heard stories of how the S. L. P. agitators had made themselves obnoxious by their attacks upon the union and their efforts to disorganize the men. It sometimes became necessary to explain the difference in the parties to enquirers who classed all Socialists as “union wreckers.”
I think the members of the Socialist Party are justified in believing that the presence of their representatives in the field was beneficial to the strike and the miners’ union. We preached the necessity of Solidarity and explained the industrial situation so that the miners could not help but become imbued with an increased faith in themselves. They were not slow to acknowledge this, and to show their approval of what we said. It became a very easy matter to get up a meeting for a Socialist speaker and, in some cases, men were known to walk several miles to hear us. The Socialists presented the case with a force and clearness that went home and made, I am sure, a lasting impression, especially as the situation provided all the necessary features for Socialist arguments of unlimited length.
There was no antagonism to the Socialists exhibited by any of the officials. On the contrary, there was an evident desire to allow us to be heard, and local officials gave us much assistance. Personally I received a letter from President Mitchell introducing me to the locals, which, as representative of the “Worker,” was of great help to me. I did not have to use the letter to get up meetings. Just as soon as it was learned I was a Socialist and “all right,” meetings were arranged for me. There was no danger of not having anything to do.
Wherever Vail, Spargo, Geiger and Collins had spoken, the same encomiums of their work were heard. We had a clear field, for none of the capitalist party politicians were in sight, and the miners were in the mood for the truth. Collins couldn’t begin to organize locals fast enough, and he’ll probably never do harder or better work again. Fortunately, we had comrades at Carbondale and Wilkesbarre, who took advantage of every opportunity presented.
Two things are to be regretted. First, that more agitators could not be kept in the field, and second, that more literature and better facilities for handling it could not be provided. I was never more impressed with the necessity of a well-formed, efficiently conducted Socialist organization. The national and State officials of the party did their utmost, but their hands were tied for lack of funds. I am of the opinion that half a dozen good Socialist agitators, speaking different languages, following each other through the region, would do more toward winning the strike than all the money the Socialist Party can give to a strike relief fund. The demand for literature cannot begin to be filled. The miners are reading and discussing what they read as never before. Such an opportunity to reach a large number of workingmen so receptive and hungry for knowledge will seldom be presented again. As it is, we can feel that not only have we done our utmost to propagate Socialism, but we have also inculcated into the hearts and minds of thousands of workingmen the true spirit of the class struggle and some conception of the prevailing industrial phenomena.
A final word about the strike itself. That the conditions around the mines justify organization goes without saying. Nevertheless, I believe these conditions might have been endured a while longer if tyranny had not been exercised to such an extent. To be continually insulted and reviled when seeking redress, to be cursed by the boss and subjected to his open contempt, to be ignored by the employer when seeking recognition—this was more than the miners could stand forever. The union has offered them the only medium of expression for their grievances, the only form of protection from the domineering of under bosses and the larger tyranny of the operators they have ever had. The strike is the harvest of years of arbitrary and selfish corporate misrule.
Whatever the outcome may be, the fact that the fight is one to preserve the right to organize should be of encouragement to all Socialists. There is one thing also of which I am morally certain: that, even if the strike be lost, the union will not wholly be destroyed. It has the elements of permanency in it, for men like those to be found in the anthracite region are not conquered by one defeat. The union is there to stay, no matter how this strike may result or who the officers may be. The seed of Solidarity is too deeply planted to be uprooted and destroyed so easily as the mine owners wish. And if the Socialists have only succeeded in planting that seed a little deeper, this alone should recompense us for any money or energy expended during the strike.
Hellraisers Journal – Saturday September 27, 1902 “The Anthracite Coal Strike” by Comrade William Mailly, Part I
From the International Socialist Review of August 1902:
The Anthracite Coal Strike.
[-by William Mailly] ———-
[Part I of II]
Scranton Tribune September 26, 1902
There is only one issue in the present struggle between the anthracite coal miners and the mine and railroad owners. That issue is the right to organize. There were other issues when the strike began—wages, hours, dockage, weighing, etc., but they have all been subordinated to this one. The coal trust wants to get rid of the union; the miners want to preserve it. No other question will be settled, or will even be considered, until this one is disposed of: The right of the miners to organize—that is, the issue. The mine owners refuse to arbitrate because that will mean recognizing the union. This they will not do, unless forced to it. The miners, having exhausted every other means, say they will compel recognition.
In order to fully understand how much the preservation or the destruction of the miners’ union means to both sides, one has to be right on the ground and hear direct testimony. For twelve years, following upon the failure of the Hazleton and Panther Creek Valley strike in 1887, there were practically no unions in the anthracite region. Strikes broke out spasmodically, but were soon crushed. Lattimer became famous through one of these in 1897. The operators had everything their own way, and that way was simply one of extortion and oppression. There are no gentler names for it—and these are too mild. The miners were discouraged, cowed and spiritless. Those among them who tried, secretly or openly, to organize were “spotted” and blacklisted out of the region. I met several such men, who had returned after the strike of 1900. During this time the mine owners were organizing. Untrammeled by any resistance from their employes, they had free scope to fight one another in the market. Inevitably combination resulted. Small owners were wiped out or absorbed, until now the coal trust controls the anthracite output, the transportation facilities and dictates prices to the consumer. There are individual operators, but they are dependent, more or less, upon the trust, and their position makes them even harder task masters than the trust companies.
In 1899 the Vanticoke [Nanticoke] miners succeeded in organizing, and in winning a strike which lasted five months. Wages were increased, docking regulated, hours reduced and several minor grievances adjusted. This victory awoke the miners of the whole region. A clamor for organization arose from various quarters. President Mitchell answered the cry by sending “Mother” Jones and other organizers into the field. They worked all winter. Every corner of the region was invaded. The capitalists fought them tooth and nail. At some places the miners themselves, goaded on by their bosses, mobbed and jeered the agitators. There are exciting stories told of those time, but this is not the place to tell them.
Out of those feverish days and nights of dangerous and difficult work came the strike of 1900. Not all the miners responded immediately to the call. Persuasion was required to get some, exhibition of numbers to get others. After six stormy weeks the strike was settled. It was won, whether politics had anything to do with it or not. True, the union was not directly recognized, but it was established. And that was the main point.
From that time, organization spread and strengthened. Every mine in the region has its local and the districts are well organized. Last year, when the mine owners refused to consider the miners’ demands, a strike was avoided through the advice of President Mitchell. He counseled peace, told the men they were not ready to strike, the organization was not compact enough and that they lacked resources. They should accept the situation and prepare for decisive action later. The advice was taken. The men continued to organize and they did prepare. And the present strike is the result.
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday September 21, 1902 Scriptures for Mr. Baer, President of Reading Railroad by Divine Grace
From the Appeal to Reason of September 20, 1902:
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Scripture for Mr. Baer.
While Mr. Baer, president by divine grace of the Reading railroad, is diligently searching for a title to the life, liberty and happiness of his employes, he might get more light on the subject by reading the following selections from the bible.
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
And what will ye do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which shall come from afar? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
-Isaiah, chapter X., verses 1 to 4.
Go to, now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
-James chapter v, verses 1 to 6.
It might also be profitable for Mr. Baer, whose intimacy with the scriptures is unquestioned, to meditate upon the statement therein contained concerning the rich man, the camel and the needles’ eye.
[Emphasis added.]
The Appeal to Reason further opines regarding Divine Rights Baer:
At last we have one who speaks with authority. Mr. Baer announces that he holds the coal mines by Divine Authority. The preachers and other religionists will now have some definite intermediary with Deity. Send up your prayers to Baer. It is evident that the possession of money is not an evidence of intelligence.
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The Northwestern Christian Advocate does not support Mr. Baer in his claim to divine connection, but endorses the statement of a Chicago paper which says that he is a member of one of the most persistent and offensive law breaking organizations in the country.
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If Mr. Baer and God are in partnership in the railroad and mining business would it not be a good thing to place the better talent of the two in control of the business and let Mr. Baer get out among the hands and rustle with a pick and shovel?
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Standing Prosperity.
A wise man once said in response to the toast, “Prosperity;”
“Here’s to, your, prosperity, may you stand it like a man.”
“That’s a better sentiment than you think it is,” said he. “It takes a clever man to stand prosperity. Any fool can stand adversity; he has to.”
[…..]
Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad, andthis latter day madness for money that makes a slave of the laborer, an insatiable brute of the capitalist and a blasphemer of such as Mr. Baer, can result only in the total discomfiture of those who can not stand prosperity that has come to them through the machine-making genius and patient toil of labor.
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 11, 1902 Mother Jones News Round-Up for August 1902, Part III Found in Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania, Returns to West Virginia
From the Wilkes-Barre Daily News of August 11, 1902:
MOTHER JONES CONDEMNS ———- She Does Look With Favor on Certain Statements.
BELIEVES THAT IT IS ONLY A QUESTION OF A SHORT TIME UNTIL THE MINERS WIN-TRAINMEN UP IN ARMS. ———-
President Mitchell spent yesterday at Scranton, the guest of friends. His visit was one of pleasure and had no bearing on the strike situation. He returned last evening but had nothing of an interesting nature to disclose. He is still confident of the ultimate results.
Mother Jones still remains in the city and unless the present plans are changed she will deliver an address this afternoon at Nanticoke.Mother Jones has no particular love for Father O’Reilly and believes the latter to be unwise in his assertion about the miners and their organization. She believes that he will profit by his indiscretion. When told that he had delivered another address derogatory to the miners’ cause, she waxed warm, saying that if the occasion permitted; she would go to Shenandoah and tell the miners some pertinent facts.
[Declared Mother Jones:]
I know the miners are going to win this struggle, and every just man who is a competent observer of the prevailing conditions must be actuated by the same feeling. It is fallacy for even biased persons to harbor the idea that the miners are not steadfast. They show the same determined spirit, are practically speaking, of one mind and will never swerver the least iota from that course, they planned to take. The time is not far distant when the operators must mine coal or else lose their markets. In September the consumers will make an effort to get anthracite, and if they cannot they will look elsewhere and once the grates are changed it will take years, perhaps, before they resume the use of hard coal. If the operators permit it their business ability is not as great as credited. There may be an attempt made to operate the mines with non-union men, but the number will be so decidedly small and the work incompetently done, the effort will be given up with disgust. The operators will, after the trials, comprehend the determination of the men and will make the necessary concessions. The people of this country can rest assured that the miners are going to win this strike.
How about the one in West Virginia? asked the reporter.
[Mother Jones continued:]
We will not give up until the same results are achieved. Some of the places are completely tied up and victory is only a question of a short time. The collieries at Fairmont have not been reached, that I will admit, but do you know that there is a fence built around the town and no one in allowed to enter unless a permit is secured from some company agent. The men of West Virginia are partly paid in script, receive their money every month, sometimes every six weeks, deal in ‘”pluck me” stores and undergo other indignities. No American can or will endure such conditions.
Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday September 10, 1902 Mother Jones News Round-Up for August 1902, Part II Mother Jones Describes Judge Jackson; “Mother Jones” by O. L. Ford
From The Scranton Times of August 8, 1902:
POOR OLD MAN WITH OLD IDEAS ———-
SO “MOTHER” JONES SPEAKS WHEN REFERRING TO JUDGE JACKSON, OF WEST VIRGINIA. ———-
HE MEANS ALRIGHT BUT HE’S OLD FASHIONED ———-
The Distinguished Woman Arrived in the City at Noon Today to Address a Meeting in North Scranton-Will Leave for West Virginia Tomorrow, Where She is Positive Miners Will Score a Victory.
“Mother” Jones, probably the second strongest force in the United Mine Workers’ organisation, arrived in the city at noon today. “Mother” Jones came from West Virginia, where she has been a conspicuous figure in the labor troubles in that state. This afternoon she is making an address to a mass meeting of strikers in St. Mary’a hall, North Scranton.
John Fallon, of Wilkes-Barre, a member of the executive board of the Miners’ union, accompanied “Mother” Jones. He was also one of the speakers at the North End meeting this afternoon.
When seen at the Delaware & Hudson depot by a Times reporter “Mother” Jones expressed herself as greatly pleased to be in Scranton again. During the past sixteen months she has been working among the miners of West Virginia.
“Mother” Jones will return to West Virginia.
[She said in this interview:]
We have not given up the fight there. The majority of the residents of West Virginia never really knew what a laboring man’s organization was, and now we are attempting to enlighten them.
I am sure we will win out there. It cannot be denied that we have a very formidable obstacle in our path as regards the weapon the capitalists have found in the courts-injunction proceedings-but we have the grit and the determination, and we will win. They are good fighters in West Virginia, that is, the laboring men there are.
“Mother” Jones was asked what she thought of Judge Jackson, the West Virginia jurist who sentenced a number of miners to a lengthy period in jail.
[Said Mother Jones:]
Oh, Judge Jackson means all right. He is an old man, however, and he has old ideas. He never knew what a laboring organization was, and when he sentenced these men his old-fashioned ideas prevented him from viewing the matter in a just manner. As I said in Indianapolis, he means well, but the poor man has been asleep for 40 years. Some day he will awake.
“Mother” Jones called attention to the important admission made by a prosecuting attorney in one of the West Virginia courts. “We have had the militia and the iron and coal police here,” said this man in arguing an injunction proceeding, “but injunctions have proven to be the strongest aid to the coal operators.”
District President Nichols met “Mother” Jones and Board Member Fallon at the depot and accompanied her to her hotel.
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