Reports of the Inspectors of Mines of the anthracite and bituminous ...

452 Reports of the Inspectors of Mines. [Off. Doc .
applicable, but instead of which, all sanitary requirements and the ex-
penses connected therewith, seem to be reg-arded and treated as being a
useless and unprofitable investment; and almost invariably when we visit
these mines we find all the doors propped open and very little fire in the
furnaces, and the road beds buried beneath mud and water. It is not
possible at all times to keep some of our mines dry, but it is possible and
eminently practicable to employ attendants to open and close the doors
and to attend to the ventilating- apparatus, so as to propel a suflicient
volume of air through the workings to keep the mines in a healthy con-
dition, and money and time spent in so doing would be well spent, the
opinion which seems to be entertained in some quarters to the contrary
notwithstanding. This fact was recognized and provided for by a large
majority of the members of the commission appointed last year to revise
the present mining laws, but this, with several other necessary humane
provisions recommended by two-thirds of the said commission, did not
meet the approval of those of our honorable legislators elected to the
higher branch of our legislative body, probably that distinguished bodj''
of public servants, or those of them who held the matter under advise-
ment, considered that such a humane measure was too valuable to become
common property, which is the reason why they so carefully clothed
it with the veil of obscurity. We regret to say that the harmonious relations
which had existed between the operators and miners for a number
of years were not maintained during the past year, there being, as before
stated, a cessation of mining operations lasting a little more than oniB
month, caused by a dispute about the price of mining. Such disputes
are deplorable for several reasons, they invariably bear heavily upon the
miners and their families, for a month's wages lost during the busy part
of the season is hardly ever recovered, and business is disarranged by
the stoppage to such an extent, that short time and light production is
the rule for a considerable time after the resumption of operations, which
is caused by a part of the trade being withdrawn to other districts, and
perhaps the worst evil of all is, that during such disputes, efi'orts are
sometimes successfully made to obtain other labor to take the places of
the regular workmen, so that when the old workmen are ready to resume
work they find their places filled by others, and as a rule a large percentage
of the strangers who are attracted to the mines during these
periods, are by no means the most desirable class of people to associate
with, and are of value to the community only so far as a pecuniary profit
may be derived from their labor, they having no sympathy whatever with
American institutions, not being attracted hither with a view of becoming
part and parcel among us, but with the intention of making a few
hundred dollars to carry them back to their native country, existing
while here in a state of filth and squalor repugnant to free American citi-
zenship, and among whom a citizen Avitli the welfare of his family at heart
will nob reside. We would venture to express a hope that the time may