coal trade bulletin - Clpdigital.org

28 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
the organized fields, were indicted with us or even
named, directly or indirectly, in any of the
charges. The charges, as everyone knows, were
pieferred for the sole purpose of discrediting and
retarding our movement in the non-union fields.
We are neld under $1,000 bonds in West Virginia,
and $3,000 bonds in Colorado, to answer for our
appearance in court. The cases, as yet, have not
come to trial. We were indietsd in the Fedeial
Court in Pueblo, Co., on two counts; one for
securing an alleged "monopoly of labor," and the
otlier for organizing a so-called "conspiracy in
restrain* of trade" in violation of the Sherman
anti-trust law.
The fedeial grand jury that indicted your officials
in Colorado was forced, by the very nature of
things, to make some comment about the anarchistic
tactics pursued by the operators in that
state. It is interesting" to note, however, that no
indictments were returned against the operators,
although held to be law violators, and that they
escaped with a few words of criticism, wherein the
GRAND JURY IMPLORED
them to be good in the future. Their criticism
of the Colorado* coal operators in part is as follows:
"The operators appear to have been somewhat
remiss in endeavoring to secure and hold the good
will of their employes, and the grand jury deduced
from testimony that there existed reasonable
grounds for many of the grievances complained of
by the miners. We believe that many of these
complaints are substantial and have merit.
"The grand jury found that the state laws have
not been so enforced as to give to all persons concerned
the benefits which are derived therefrom.
Many camp marshals, whose appointments and
salaries are controlled by coal companies, have
exercised a system of espionage and have resorted
lo arbitrary powers of police control, acting in
capacity of judge and jury and passing sentence
upon miners who had incurred the enmity of the
superintendent or pit boss for having complained
of real grievances or for other causes.
"Many of the coal companies maintain camp
saloons and collect from the keepers of such saloons
a per capita sum of 25 to 40 cents per month
lor each person whose name appears upon the company
payroll. Many camp saloons are open after
midnight and on Sunday, contrary to the state
law."
This grand jury was made acquainted with the
fact that peonage existed in the
SOUTHERN COLORADO
coal mines, and that all the laws of the state and
nation had been violated for years, and yet. in the
face of all these facts which they, themselves admit,
they were not free enough nor fair enough
to return any indictments against the coal operators
in control of the invisible government of that
state. John D. Rockefeller, the head of one of
the largest trusts in America, is the controlling
factor in the largest coal company in the strike
field, and it is an interesting parody on the Sherman
anti-trust law that he and his subordinates
in that state escaped indictments under its provisions,
especially in view of the fact that his
coal company dominates the situation in Colorado,
regulates the price of coal, etc., stifling all
competition, violating laws of state and nation,
and yet escape with a few words of criticism. Verily
the law is not for the poor and rich alike, and
it is no wonder the people are losing respect for
tho courts of the land.
The Sherman anti-trust law. as everyone knows,
was only intended to apply to combinations of capital,
to the large trusts and gigantic corporations
that endeavor to corner and monopolize the products
of labor for tbe purpose of exacting excessive
prices from the people in their purchase of
the same. The Sherman anti-trust law was never
intended to apply to a voluntary organization of
the workers, but was framed for the purpose of
preventing the robbery of the poor by vicious combinations
of capital. Of course, as usual, there
was read into the act a meaning that was not
contemplated by the legislature and executive
branches of our government.
These courts hold that
LABOR POWER IS A COMMODITY
the same as any article of merchandise, and that
the employers of the country have a proprietary
interest in the same. In other words, if you
interfere with their right to control this labor
power in their own way you are interfering with
their proprietary rights and their assumed ownership
of the brain and sinew of the toiler.
In the Colorado indictments they accuse us of
having a "monopoly of labor" in the coa] mines of
that, state, and in another count they accuse us of
organizing a "conspiracy in restraint of trade."
In other words, they charge that the miners ot
Colorado are our chattels and that the ownership
of their commodity, i. e., labor power, is controlled
entirely by tbe officials of our union to the
detriment of trade and commerce. I would that
the indictment were true and that we did have a
monopoly of labor, because if we did the miners
would never return to work under non-union con
ditions, which they have a right to do today, if
they so desire.
Our union, as is well known, is nothing more
or less than a voluntary association of workers,
organized for the sole purpose of securing living
wages and fair conditions of employment, and it
depends for its success upon the faith of the men
enlisting under its banner. Under the funda-