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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1902)
' The Commoner. 14 VoS. a, No. 43. II !. re ,-r4-" r (" JOHN MITCHELL. desc-Range Study of the Great Strike Leader. To no reador of newspapers, to no man with oars, is it necessary. to ex plain who John Mitchell is. , No man who has hold tightly tho reins upon 147,000 men for Ave months can bo'db nied tho publicity which is his clue. No man whoso word sways 400,000 men can bo ignored by tho public; no man of the abljity, ho 'energy, the power of John Mltcholl can be denied. Ho has. won his way to .the com mand of practically all tho coal miners of the United States, ho has won tho respect and the confidence of tho groat army of " workingmon of all conditions and classes who have poured into the treasury of the strikers thousands and thousands of dollars because John Mitchell asked thorn to do so, because John Mitchell led the 147,000 into a striko and kept them on strike and true to tho union despite tho most pow erful influences in the country to get them back to work. "If I have mado happy tho homes of tho laboring men who are now ill treated and in want, then I shall feel that I havo lived for something' he onco said. This was long ago, before his name Fhir front and gives him, at first glanco, tho appearance of a minister, which impression tho whole faco bears out. ' There aro incongruities about all men, and Mitchell wears a soft hat with those clothes, to tho horror, of tho tailor and tho amusement of men who think knowing how to dress in siyic is one of tho chief requirements of manliness. "Why do you not vary your dress somewhat?" his secretary asked one day. "Eh?" he said, startled by tho ques tion. "Eh?" he never makes an an swer without apparently thinking, it over several times "I've been dress ing this way for a long time; I guess I'll continue." Dress is nothing to Mr. Mitchell, and yet he is always neat and well dressed. It is not an easy thing to control 147,000 men who aro on strike, and especially 147,000 mine workers. Thero are foufteen different languages spoken by this forcefourteen different na tionalities tho fiery Italian, the phleg matic German, the torpid Slav, the energetic Irishman, the argumentative Welshman, tho unimaginative English man, the enterprising Polo and the was known outside a small circle. It ciose Hying Lithunian are in the ma was as if the words dedicated him to jority. These men, of different tastes, tho cause or laoor, tor ne-nas since De come its greatest and its most power ful leader. To the striking miners he had said, time and time again, before the strike was declared: "This union of ours is some day going to get tho little lads out of the mines and give them educa tion, which will raise them above the state where they are now, and I am go ing to fight for this for them, and you, their fathers, must fight with me." There was no bombast about the speech there never is about Mitchell's but it wa.s.the firm, decided asser tion of a -fact, quietly spoken and yet aimed so true at the very heart of the action that its shaft struck home. It is a, way with Mitchell that when he says things they do go liomo. He Is never loud. Ho is never the orator of arms and tongue, but what he says h&s weight- It hits, and his facts are blunt facts; his decisions are blunt decisions. He -knows that truth and simplicity of expression are greater than oratory; therefore ho tells the truth and hetalks right at a man at every man in hfa audience and when ho has ended ho has said something. His manner is symbolical of the whole naturp of the man. Quiet, re served, almost grave; the deep set eyes, the firm, straight mouth, the in voluntary clenching of tho jaw, the im pressive forehead, all speak for them solves, and speak of determination and depth. But there are other things that speak as well. His handshake means vol umes. He grasps the one given him as ho grasps a question, and, once over, a varied training, conflicting ideas, it was demanded, should be directed and governed and kept loyal to the cause, and it required a man among men, a general by nature, a manager, a power, to grasp these as John Mitchell has grasped them and held them and win them as he has won them. Today, throughout the coal region, his name is synonymous with loyalty, and at some of the locals the men first expressed their allegiance to John Mitchell and then to the union. John Mitchell has won tho respect of the operators. Baer, Olyphant, Thomas, Fowler, Wilcox, Marklo, and even Mor gan, recognize Mitchell as a man of power, and, as men of power them selves, they admire him. They do not admit it. Some of them call him names, abuse him, insinuate things which make men clench their fists, but they cannot help admiring him. He has won his. way to - the top of his class as they have to theirs and he has compelled their respect Mr. Mitchell came up from the mines. A poor farm boy, a poor, hard working, conscientious miner, "an am bitious organizer, a forceful labor lead er, he possessed that indomitable qual ity that would not let him stav down. He is the typo of men of whom one says wi'thout flattery, "He can do any thing well." He has it in him to be a great statesman. He would be a good diplomat .He would make a stalwart business man. As a military man he would be a wonderful disciplinarian and a loved leader. Thero have been some men to picture mm in an official government chair. know of what occurred there, of how the operators lost their tempers, of how one was perhaps too forceful in his words to President Roosevelt, tell how the quiet, direct, plain speaking John Mitchell, with his superabundant force, his intense sincerity, his honest directness, outshone tho others. If there is pride in the man it Is so well balanced that his heels cannot stand upon It He is always the same. Qtiiot, courteous, dignified, clear head ed John Mitchell, firm, forceful and free minded. Had he more humor ho would be better off. He laughs shortly, almost silently, and rather mirthlessly, as mqn do who laugh at another man tell ing their own stories. Mitchell would rather smile than laugh. There is more in that calm, thoughtful smile of his than in a book full of pictures. Vary ing emotions aro traced upon the bor ders of his lips by it, and if may mean many things. Ho likes good stories, but he never held his sides to ease the pain of laughter in his life. Such laughter is too much exertion to waste, and with tho same amount of mental and physi cal force he could do much work, much thinking, much planning. He seems to always be weighing himself in his mind, carefully adjusting the scale to get the exact poise and then being right ' He is of the worker type of man. When there is anything to be done he does it There is no plunging in, no rush and hurry and flurry and excite ment But he steps forward for long, hard work like a man starting on a long walk. Ho has to reach the end and he does it Day after day, night after night, in all the worriments and struggles, and with tho thousands of details of tho strike to attend to, dis tressed, harassed, at one time seeing defeat ready to slap him in tho face, dreading" every minute a rush back to work by the strikers, but never show ing it in his face or manner that is the kind of man Jolm Mitchell is. During those anxious days care did not sit heavily on his brows; instead, endeavor lifted his eyes and hope smoothed his forehead, and confidence kept his lips straight Day by day, like a man dragging himself up a slip pery cliff, he climbed, getting a firmer and firmer hold upon the strikers, un til he had them where he has held them since, firmly in his grasp, obed ient to his command. He is accused of all sorts of things never was thero a man in his position who was not and chiefly of inciting and sanctioning the violence which has occurred. But time and time again he has counselled tho strikers, in strong, forceful speeches, to remain law-abiding and quiet, to stay at their homes and keep away from tho mines. Yet violence has occurred, as occur it would in any body of 147,000 idle men; .and despite the charges made against him, despite the operators' attempts to inveigle him into a tangle, he has re mained clear and straight, and true to the best interests of his organization. Perhaps there is no better indica tion of his character than this, that fair minded men who oppose him and the union and his labor interests yet admit that John Mitchell is the man he is. New York 'Herald. , I In the World of Industry. 'aaaMaBaaanaBBHaaMaHBaaaBaaaaB"''' Compiled by The Pittsburg Dispatch. handshake has occurred.. It is a firm, Perhaps some such dream has oven muea tnrough his mind. Who, having power, does not crave more? But if it has, it has been quickly dismissed to attend to the business inhand. Persons who did not know him might imagine that in tho conferoiin.nn hofnrn President Roosevelt in tho White house the clever, college bred business giants of operators would so far havo out shone Mitchell that he would have been quite overwhelmed. But no Mitchell himself had no such thought harbored no such fear. He went to the conference to faco men great In their business and the greatest executive of tho country, with a calm and simple assurance that he was In the right, that his sincerity would win the day, and people who large, strong, wholesome grasp, that talces hold and holds and says, "This is something, this is an occasion, this Is tho hand I havo been waiting to hold." But thero Js ho spontaneity about it Tho hand is advanced slowly, more slowly than the eyes, for while tho hand is coming the eyes have glanced, seen, considered and decided. It is Mr. Mitchell's silence that im presses as much as his speech. It is not possible for that head of his to hold aught but thoughts which com . xnand respect and attention. - There is something doing when he thinks. There Is no frivolity in his composi vpn. A glance at his dress proves that A Prince Albert coat a plain collar, a black tie which hides his Telegraphers at Milwaukee, Wis:, havo joined the federated trades coun cil. Four thousand tinplate workers at Llanelly Wales, are on strike for an eight-hour day. Striking molders at St. Catherines, Oht, have received concessions and have returned to work. New Haven (Conn.) tinners have won their strike, which included rec ognition of the union. Scotch miners are pressing for a minimum wage, much on the samo lines as the South Wales miners. Government employes in. Washing ton have started a movement to secure a 10 per cent increase in all salaries. Since its organization 50 years ago the amalgamated carpenters and join ers have paid out for benefits about $9,800,000.- The general assembly of the Knights of Labor meets. in annual convention at Niagara Falls, N. Y., on Novem ber li. The building trades council of Kings ton, Ont, is protesting against the sale by the penitentiary of cut and rough stone in competition with free labor. The American federation of labor has 1,377 federal unions, 406. central bodies, 27 state organizations and 95 national organizations. Its growth during the past year beats all records. State Labor Commissioner William Blackburn of Washington will rigidly enforce the female labor law of that state, forbidding tho employment of women over 10 hours a day. Prolonged idleness among Indiana tinplate workers has been productive of tho formation of a co-operative com pany by tin workers at Gas City, who will locate a plant near Los Angeles, Cal. The strike of foundrymen at New port, Monmouthshire, England, con tinues. It involves pipe bedmen, pit men, pipe testers, dressers, cupalo.men and general laborers. These struck for better wages and conditions of employ ment The men belong to the national ,v amalgamated laborers' union. Resolutions favoring and urging the movement for an eight-hour-day law were passed at the recent convention of tho national association of blast fur nace workers and smelters held at Buf falo, N. Y. Owing to the scarcity of boys for messenger service at St Louis, Mo., the district messenger companies have been experimenting with-men,. who are paid $1.25 a day and are not required to wear uniforms. The international 'longshoremen, marine and transportation workers' as sociatioa recently passed resolutions forbidding the members of. any craft or class of 'longshore workers to enter another craft in any but'his home port Justice O'Gorman of the New YOrk supreme court has given a decision upholding tho right of a trade union to withdraw its members from the work of ah employer who refuses to pay the wages or accept 'the rules adopted by tho labor organization.. ' The struggle between the employers' as&ociation and the teamsters! union at Santa Rosa, Cal., which has been in progress for many years, has ended. All the employers with the exception of. four signed the agreement arid schedule demanded by tho teamsters.- The jurisdiction of the master steam boilermakers' association has been ex tended, and branches will be estab lished in Europe.- The association al ready has branches In Canada and Mexico. Tho object of this extension is. to .secure tho enactment of uniform license laws. HEADACHE At M Aug tort. gS PTJ -''451 C -.,.. ,
