"The use of guards in this state is not restricted to cases like these under investigation. They are used at some of the collieries to protect the property of owners, to prevent trespassing, and especially to prevent labor agitators and organizers of the miners' union from gaining access to the miners.... Many outrages have been committed by these guards, many of whom appear to be vicious and dare devil men who seem to aim to add to their viciousness by bulldozing and terrorizing people. It is submitted in all candor that it is not to the best interests of the owners of these collieries to employ such lawless men or to justify the outrageous acts committed by them.
"In certain parts of the state miners are oppressed and wronged. They are compelled to work in ill-ventilated and otherwise unfit mines. They are cheated in the payment of the compensation for their labor. They work on the condition that they receive so much per ton for the coal mined by them, the coal is not weighed but is calculated by the mine car. These cars, at least in some of the collieries, are rated at a capacity of two and one half tons, whereas they often have a capacity of four tons and in some cases even up to six tons, but the miner is paid for only two and a half tons, for all above that he mines, he gets no pay whatever. This is robbery of the poor and oppression of the weak. At some of the stores conducted by the collieries the miners are charged extortionate prices for merchandise. This is likewise robbery of the poor and oppression of the weak."
The developments of the winter have been under the regime of a third governor, who came to the state house at a season when part of the commonwealth was under martial law. In March came the trials of a number of the strikers and their sympathizers--approximately fifty--by a military court on charges of inciting to riot, conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to destroy property. Among those in prison is Mother Jones, the "Stormy Petrel of Labor" who is always present in big labor disturbances, especially those of the miners and the railroad men. She has given the best part of her life to the cause of laboring men and they adore her.
This old woman, more than 80 years of age, was in the mines when I went there and I got to know her well. She passed the word along to the men that I was "all right" and reticent as they are to strangers, they told me their side of the case without reservation.
