of the union, however, was mistaken for weakness and cowardice, and each attempt at conciliation increased the obduracy of the railway presidents. Up to the final moment, the mineworkers made every reasonable effort to avert hostilities. The justice of the men's demands was subsequently conceded, at least in part, by the United States Commissioner of Labor, by the Award of the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission, and even by the President of the Reading Coal and Iron Company, by Mr. Baer himself. During the negotiations, however, the opcrators refused to concede a single point and insisted upon the men surrendering their whole position. The president of the miners' union in conjunction with the district presidents had been empowered to call a strike, but it was felt that no step should be taken without the consent of the men, expressly given in convention, and without the fullest opportunity being afforded to the operators to arrange matters upon a satisfactory basis. On the 8th of May the representatives of the Mine Workers, with a lingering hope of averting the impending strike, sent a telegram to the railroad presidents, offering to submit their demands to the arbitration of a committee of five persons selected by the Industrial Branch of the National Civic Federation, or, if that proposition were unacceptable, to a committee composed of Archbishop Ireland, Bishop Potter, and one other person whom these two might select. This offer of arbitration was also unanimously refused, President Baer of the Reading Coal and Iron Company declaring that "anthracite mining is a business, and not a religious, sentimental, or academic proposition," adding, "I could not, if I would, delegate this business management to even so highly a respectable body as the Civic Federation, nor can I call to my aid as experts in the mixed problem of business and philanthropy the eminent prelates you have named." But neither Mr. Baer nor any of the other railway presidents suggested arbitrators more acceptable to them. On the 9th day of May, the District Executive Committee of the United Mine Workers, assembled at Scranton, after having exhausted all efforts to bring about an amicable settlement with the operators, ordered a temporary suspension of mining to take place on May 12th, and called a convention of delegates to meet in Hazleton on the 14th of May to determine whether the suspension should be made permanent. In the call for the convention it was specifically requested that the delegates, when elected by the various locals, be instructed to vote either for or against a strike. It was important, as it always should be, that the strike if declared, should represent the true and actual attitude of the men who were to bear the brunt and burden of the conflict. Even after the convention met on May 14th, hope was not entirely abandoned that a strike could be averted. The National Civic Federation, as well as a number of men acting in the public interest, made noble efforts to avert the threatened calamity, but no word came from the operators and no concessions were made by them. On the eve of the conflict, one of the railway presidents predicted that, come what might, the men would not strike, but would submit to any rebuff. For my part, I was still opposed to the declaration of a strike at this time if it could possibly be avoided, despite the provocation which the miners had received from the operators. I foresaw that the confiict would be long and severe, and I hoped that it might be averted until the late fall, when the men could have struck more effectively. I was even in hopes that by that time the operators would see the folly of their course and make concessions, which would have preserved the mineworkers and their families, as well as the general public, from the hardships and horrors of a protracted conflict. More important, however, than the question of strike or no strike was that of the control of the union by its own members. I made as strong a plea as possible for the maintenance of peace at least until the fall, but I insisted even more strenuously that the men remain bound by their instructions and vote against me, if they had been instructed by the vote of their local body to favor an immediate strike. A large number of delegates adopted my view of the advisability of postponing the conflict, but the majority were bound by instructions from their locals and remained true to the promises which had been made to their constituents. By a vote of 461 to 349, it was decided, on May 15th, to continue the suspension, and the greatest strike in American history was declared. CHAPTER XLIII THE INDIANAPOLIS CONVENTION. The Early Days of the Strike. Peaceable Conduct. The Strike of the Steam Men. Attempts at Conciliation. The Investigation of the Commissioner of Labor. Distress in the Anthracite Region. The Indianapolis Convention. The Preservation of the Union and The Sanctity of Contracts. The Miners Maintain Faith. THE HE news of the declaration of the strike came as a shock to the country, although a labor conflict had seemed inevitable in view of the unyielding and uncompromising attitude assumed by the operators. The public had hoped against hope that some general arrangement could be reached by which the strike might be averted. At the time of the calling of the strike, it was confidently predicted on many sides that the contest would be of short duration. The union was known to be without large funds, and the ability of the miners to hold out was greatly underestimated. Many of the papers opposed to the organization stated that the strike would not last for more than five or six weeks and that by the first of July, at the latest, it would begin to disintegrate. These hopes were doomed to be shattered. The strike, like all great movements, began in a quiet, noiseless manner and continued for many weeks without incidents of note. The anticipations of violence were not realized, and the men showed great wisdom in maintaining unbroken peace. The officials of the union urged the members to exercise absolute caution, to abstain from contests or contact of any sort with the coal and iron police, and to refrain entirely from drunkenness or street brawls. Thousands of members took the pledge of total abstinence during the strike, and peace reigned throughout the region. There was nothing to indicate that a great struggle was going on. The men remained quietly at their homes, cultivating sometimes a little garden patch, making necessary repairs about the |