Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

THE FALSE and hypocritical argument indulged in by the "operators" of the coal-mines, as well as of other capitalists, is well typified by the argument put up in favor of wage reduction in the report of the Washington State Coal Commission of June 30, 1921. This is written by the government "expert," who incidentally also is president of a coal operators' association.

Rent, Interest, Profit and Wages—The Hours and Days Worked

THE FOLLOWING table was prepared by the U. S. Geological Survey, at the request of the operators. It was compiled for the purpose of ascertaining the strength of the miners' union in the 1919 strike. As will be seen, union coal is 71.6 per cent of the whole, while non-union coal is 28.4 per cent. These figures agree pretty closely with the estimate that about three-fourths of the 800,000 coal miners are organized, while the unorganized would be one-fourth or about 200,000.

THERE is in existence an International Miners' Federation which has, so far, held twenty-five international congresses. The last one was held in Geneva, Switzerland, August 2-6, 1921. The United Mine Workers of America belong to that Federation and were represented by one delegate in Geneva.

Representation at this congress was as follows :

THE COMPROMISE effected between the National Progressive Union and Trades Assembly No. 135 of the Knights of Labor at Indianapolis on January 25, 1890, when the United Mine Workers of America was formed, did not awaken the American coal-miners to a sense of national unity. The intelligence of the world's workers had not yet been sufficiently leavened by socialist and syndicalist agitation and education.

NO GREATER MISTAKE could be made than to consider the United Mine Workers of America as an artificial product, gotten together by orders from A. F. of L. headquarters or from United Mine Workers headquarters.

JUST as the American seamen have their "Seaman's Bill" (or Seaman's pill, as it is usually called) and have spent $40,000.00 up to date in a vain attempt to have its questionable benefits enforced, according to the financial reports of their decaying craft union, so the coal-miners also have their "coal-miners' bills," which also deserve the name of pills, bitter rather than sweet. There are such laws as the 8-hour law, the anti-script law, the company store law, the mine-sprinkling law, the check-weighman law, etc.

THE so-called "public," that is, the people who do not work in coal-mines, have the impression that, next to working in an ammunition or powder factory, there is no more dangerous calling than that of the coal-miner. And the public is right. At irregular intervals the whole world is shocked by the reports of mine explosions which have cost from 100 to 1,000 workers their lives. Such mine catastrophes are so common that explosions costing less than 100 lives attract little notice.

The following table shows the total number of tons of coal produced per year at different periods.

How Did the "Operators" Get the Coal Lands?