Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1898 — INDIANA MINERS [ARTICLE]

INDIANA MINERS

legislation Passed By Democratic Legislature to Ameliorate Their Conditions. T® Protect the Miner From Weyter Heartlessness of Greedy Operator* the Democracy Passed Laws Providing for Mine Inspection, Check Weighman, Safety of Miners in Descending and Ascending in the Cage, the Proper Bracing and Ventilation of the Mine, the Abolishment of Child Labor in Mines, a* Well as the Wiping Out of the Infamous Pluck-Me Store*. One of Indiana’s great sources of wealth is her coal mines, and, strange to say, however paradoxical it may appear, this source of wealth has been fruitful of more poverty and hunger and their attendant ills, than has fallen to the lot of men employed in any other department of the state’s industries. Coal mining in Indiana of late years has been fruitful of the most deplorable conditions, the result in a large measure of the inordinate cupidity of mine owners and operators. With these men it was not sufficient that squalor resulted from a constant

depreciation of wages. The extreme hardships, which inadeqate wages imposed, afforded them opportunities to exploit their selfishness, until the only music that was heard : i aud around the mines was the auatliv-m i- of the men, the wailing of v - 1 the cries of children, an >ns of Indiana became . t ,;orable des-

titution, bordering upon : imine. It was not possible for legislation, not even Democratic legislation, though warmed into the greatest activity that humanity could urge, to relieve the victims of organized outrage. But what could be done for tne relief of men, the victims of Weyler heartlessness, was cheerfully attempted, as the records of Democratic legislation amply demonstrate. As early as 1883 the Democratic legislature, to guard against the injury and death of miners, provided that the rope used for “hoisting and lowering in every coal mine shall be a wire rope” and that it should be examined every morning. The legislature still further provided in case gas was known to exist in the mine, for a competent fire boss to investigate conditions to insure the safety of the miners,

The law also provided that the mine inspector should examine all mine scales used for weighing coal, to guard against fraud, and, to further protect the miners’ interests, the law provided for a “checkweighman” to inspect the weighing. In 1885 the coal miners of the state appealed to a Democratic legislature to still further afford them protection. And the law, in the interest of humanity, provided that not more than 10 persons should work in any mine, shaft, slope or draft in every 24 hours after 5,000 square yards have been excavated, until the second outlet shall have been made. The law also provided for breaks through or airways and all else required for the thorough ventilation of the mines. The law also provides for an ample supply of timber, so that the workmen could properly secure the works from caving in It also provided that miners’ bosses should visit these miners in their working places at least once a day. It is seen that this legislation had in ▼lew the protection of the health of the miners and sought to prevent their injury and death from avoidable conditions.

The Democratic legislature of 1891 was appealed to for further legislation to protect coal miners frpm the rapacity of owners and operators, and the response was prompt and emphatic, the purpose being; in so far as practicable, to relieve the coal miners of the state from exactions, which, with relentless persistency, forced them into deeper poverty and forbade their escape, The legislature of 1891 re-enacted, or made more binding, the regulations relating to scales and to weighing coal. It had been the practice first to screen the coal before weighing, by which the miners were defrauded of a large per cent of their just dues. This was prohibited and coal had to be weighed be. fore it was screened, and provided that 80 pounds of coal should constitute a bushel, and that 2,000 pounds of coal should constitute a toij. For the protection of miners, the law provided that “when two veins of coal are being mined in one shaft, two refloating lamps shall be kept lighted at all times” when the mine is in operation. The law provided for the safety of miners, that the cage descending and ascending tn the shaft should. be coVered with one-fourth inch toiler iron, and that signal bells should be sounded when the cage was ascending or descending the shaft. The act imposed upon the mining boss the imperative duty of examining every working place in the mine, at leas* every alternate day. The law further provides, Sections 13 and 14: “That for any injury to person or property occasioned by any violation of this act, or any willful failure to comply with any of its provisions, a right of action against operates agent or lessee shall accrue to the peaty _ injured for the direst injury thereby, and in ease of loss of life by re&snn of such violation, a right of aotfeu shall

accrue to widow, children or adopted children, or to the parent or parents, or to any other person or persons who ware before such loss of life depentend ftor l support on the person or persons so killed, for fike. recovery for damages for the injury sustained by reason of suoh loss of life or lives.” “That whenever loss of life shall occur by reason of any accident whatsoever, in or about any coal min®, it shall be the duty of the person having charge of said coal mine to report tne facts thereof without delay to the mine inspector and the said mine inspector together with the coroner of said county shall immediately go to the scene of said accident. They shall investigate and ascertain the cause of such loss of life, and have power to compel the attendance of witnesses and administer oaths of affirmation to them, and the cost of such investigation shall be paid by the county in which the loss of life may have occurred, in the same manner as costs of coroner’s inquests are now paid. The inspector shall give testimony in any suit for damages for the violation. ”

The law seeks to insure prompt notice of the death of coal miners when engaged in mining coal and imposes a penalty of SSO upon the person in charge of such mine for failure to give notice of such death to the mine inspector. The legislation, with regard to proper ventilation, and fresh air, is of the most emphatic character, the supreme purpose being tp secure the miners against the perils of foul air. The act also provided that males under the age of 14 years should not ba employed in coal mines, nor females at any age.

The enforcement of all the provisions of the act in question, was provided for by wholesome penalties. It has been remarked that legislation, however drastic, could not mitigate all the ills to which Indiana coal miners were subjected, but the various Democratic legislatures, as the records demonstrate, responded to every prudent demand of the miners. But aside from proper equipment of the mines to protect life and health and guard against injuries, legislation was demanded by the miners to protect them from a species of piracies practiced by owners and operators of the mines, in the matter of payment for the coal they had mined. The purpose of these own- I ers and operators, to all human appeal - - | ai;ces, being to rob them through the I agency of* “pluck-me stores,” whereby the impoverished miners time and again were forced to the verge of starvation.

To put an end to this piracy, the Democratic legislature of 1887 provided that miners should be paid, if the demand was made, once every two weeks “in lawful money of the United States.” And the law further provided that if persons owning or operating mines should issue or circulate aay check, card or other paper, which is not commercial paper payable at a fixed time in any bank in Indiana at its full face value, as lawful money of the United States, with 8 per cent, interest, or by bank check or currency issued by authority of the United States Government, to any employe of such person, co-partnership, corporation ar association in payment for any work or labor done by such employe, or in payment of any labor contracted to be done by such employe, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not more than SIOO. Nor was this all of the protection that the Democratic legislature afforded the coal miners, but it prohibited mine owners and operators from selling any merchandise to miners at a higher prioe than they sell the same merchandise to others for cash. And the law imposed a penalty of not less than $5 nor more than SIOO, This somewhat extended reference to legislation relating to the interests and welfare of the coal miners of Indiana, if an apology were necessary, is found in the fact that no class of our fellow citizens engaged in any industrial pursuit have been so relentlessly outraged and plundered as coal miners. In the Democratic party, and only in the Democratic party, did they find friends who espoused their cause, sympathized with them in their misfortune* and distress and came to their rescue Dy enacting laws calculated to afford suoh relief as was possible by legislation,

If the “true cash value** of propeMg la not on honest basis for assessment as provided by the Democratic tax law, the lawyers who wag their jaws in the interest of tax dodging sharks before the tax commissioners, should tell them what is an honest basis. Governor Mount, after full investigation, approved the Republican antitrust law, and has failed to execute it, because it is totally valueless. If why did he not vete it instead of giving it his approval. If Emperor William of Germany wants to pick a quarrel with Uncle Bam, now is the right time for him to begin. We have got. through -with Spain, and another European job could be fiuirtied before Uhjistmas. Senator Fairbanks, in his convents# ■peech, advocated the tariff policy of the Bingley law, which confiscates the property of the poor in the interest of the rich. AJI of a sudden there is a deal of sympathy expressed for Spain, but the penalty she is paying for centuries of cruelties are not too severe. Let her squeal. The organs of the Republican party ■peak of the recent convention of the party as “harmonious,’’ which reminds one of Kilkenny cat fights. Having liked Spain dean out of her boot s, we must now lick revenue stamps Io pay tw the fun. The McKinley wave of prosperity struck the farmer’s wheat and knocked it down to 69 cents a bushel.