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O-®- 5UBSCRIPTION: $1.00 A YEAR. IN ADVANCE. Vol.9. No. 37. It The Labor World is in favor of the proposed amendment to the franchise of the Zenith City Telephone company, by which this company will be en titled to make some slight increase in its telephone rates. It probably will appear strange to some people that a labor paper should take such a position. Usually labor papers are opposed to every privilege granted to public .service corporations, and should the city have the right to acquire a plant, we would be found at this time fighting for a municipal telephone plant. But that is an im possible proposition at this time,— thanks to an unconcerned legislature —so the Labor World must chose the next best thing. We know some things about the telephone business that all of the people should know. We firmly believe that the very life of the Zenith City Telephone com pany depends upon the passage of the proposed amendment. Long ago the Bell company predicted the fail \re of the independent company unless it secured higher rates. Bell Company Is Unrestricted. 'I'he destruction of the independent company will mean the giving again ot a monopoly to the Bell company. This company, so the courts have de cided, have a perpetual right to op erate in this city. Very little, if any, municipal control can be exercised over it. Give the Bell people a mon opoly. and we will again enjoy the sweet pleasures of an inferior and out of date telephone service, at rates to suit the scruples of the company. ompetition in the telephone business has compelled both companies to maintain' the very best service. I nion labor should support the Zenith Teleph. Co. because its electrical workers work the eight hour day, while the Bell company is an open and avowed opponent of organized la bor. Its employes still work the long workday. The Bell company is on the unfair list of organized labor. Now is the time to support our frineds. The Zenith City Telephone company has been absolutely fair and open in its desire to secure higher rates. It made a complete disclosure to the city officials of its financial condition. It "was made apparent to every person thing1 must W pany that had the fearlessness to at tack the wealthy and arrogant Bell company, and give to the people cheaper and better telephones. This company is sending out letters to the people. The first is to the work ingman and reads as follows: Much More Work for Labor. At the February election/it will be our privilege to vote on an amendment to the franchise of the Zenith City Telephone Co. It is highly important to your Vnterests as a citizen and v.orkingman that the amendment should carry. If the rates of the Tele phone Co. for which the amendment provides are increased the Company will pay out during the next two years Iro.n $150,000.00 to $200,000.00 for la bor. $200,000.00 expended for labor means the employment of 200 men 500 !ays at $2.00 per day. This will be a highly important matter because in dications are that there will be far less work all over the country during the next two years than during the past two. While during the past two years there have been more jobs than men, it now looks as though there would be more men than jobs during the next two years. Even though you should not work for the Company many other men will who otherwise might be after your job, or might get jobs which otherwise would be open to you. At any rate it will result in many of your brother laboring men getting work at good wages. Every day of added employment tends to keep wages up to the proper standard. Service Not Restricted to Subscribers. Before the Zenith City Telephone Co. ame to Duluth no one, unless a sub scriber, was allowed to use a tele phone. The policy of the New Com pany has been to accomodate as far as possible every citizen of Duluth. We have never objected to anyone using our telephone whether a subscriber or not, so long as our customers were willing. True, since our Company adopted the policy the Bell Company has been obliged to do the same. There can be no question, though, that if our Company is forced to give up the business, which they must do if the rate schedule voted by our City Coun cil. is not sustained .Joy the people, ev ery person not a subscriber will be again forbidden the use of a telephone. Before the coming of the Zenith City Telephone Company the telephone was a convenience of the rich man or the privileged few only. We have been the means of its being placed within the reach of all. If it suddenly be comes necessary for you to talk to a friend in Duluth, Woodland, Lake side, West Duluth, New Duluth, Su perior, Old Superior, or South Super ior, you can do so without it costing you a~ cent. The Zenith City is tlie telephone company of the common peo ple, the Bell Company, that of the rich jnan. Zenith Is Poor Man's Company. Who ever heard of anybody but a rich man having a telephone until our Company forced the Bell Company from their high horse down among the people? After five years from the date of the charter the Zenith City Telephone Co. is obliged to sell to the City, if the City then wishes to buy. If this amend-, ment fails to carry there will Je no telephone plant for the City to tijuy ,at toe ZENITH COMPANY MUST HAVE HIGHER RATES Zenith City Telephone Company Should Have Higher Rates If Must Survive. If Company Is Destroyed the BeU People Will Ag&in Have Monopoly in Duluth. amendment is a vcrte for increased em ployment of labor, for increased trade of our merchants, for your convenience of being able to talk to acquaintances anywhere about the head of the lakes without cast. It is a vote for the con tinuance of first-class telephone ser vice at reasonable rates. It is sub stantially a vote for municipal owner ship. Vote, yes, on the amendment. It will pay you to do so. ZENITH CITY TELEPHONE CO. Plain Statement of Facts, The second circular is to all citizens in general. It is a plain and honest state ments of facts. Read it carefully, and when the ti'me comes to vote, vote for the amendment. Support the inde pendent company over which we have control ,as against the Bell, the com pany, when it had the opportunity, that bled and abused the people in the most arrogant manner: "The telephone i*ates question. It con cerns you as a citizen and it concerns you as a business man. An important amendment to a public franchise is to be submitted to a vote of the people. It should be decided rightly. This can be done only by the citizens voting intelligently. Please allow us as business men, to talk to you in a plain, straight forward business manner, and kindly ^ive what we have to say the courtesy which a significant paper bearing on an import ant public question demands. You can fulfil your obligations as a citizen on ly by voting intelligently. Unless you already know all about the question, this paper will give you additional in formation. The impression seems to prevail that if the Zenith City Tele phone Co. were out of the field, a Bell Telephone could be had for $50.00 per year. This is a misapprehension. Do not be deceived. Note carefully the following facts and figures. Primitive Phones Driven Out. Up to the time the Zenith City Tele phone Co. announced its intention to enter the field Duluth had only the old style, primitive and antiquated outfit known as the grounded system, in which the cost of both construction and maintenance when compared to the present Central Energy system were i^ery~ low.iTa. system a single Wire Was run from thie exchange to the location of the tele phone where it passed into the ground. There was no return wire. In the present system a wire not only leads out to the telephone but returns to the switchboard, doubling the former amount of outside construction. Twice as many poles, twice as many cross arms, twice as much wire. The elec tric current for conveying the voice was then furnished by a battery cost ing but a few cents and located in the base of the telephone. The motive power is now furnished by a Central Energy system, the cost of which per telephone is many times greater than that of the former system. The cost of the present switchboard is many fold greater than that of the old sys tem. The expense of installing a tele phone is now far more than double that of the antiquated Bell system referred to. Bell Company would Raise Rates. What would be the probable cost of a telephone to you with the Zenith City Telephone Co. eliminated from the field? At our coming the price of a Bell telephone was $50.00 per year but since the Bell telephones is now furnished from a plant costing nearly three times as much for each tele phone installed as did the primitive outfit from which the $50.00 telephone was furnished, in order to make the same per cent on the investment it would be necessary to charge more than twice the $50.00. Provided the cost of labor and material were un changed and the number of telephones the same, the logical price would me erly be in excess of $100.00. There has, though, been a large increase in pric es. In the said $50.00 era, construction men were paid $2.00 per day or less for ten houps. Now they are paid $2.75 for an eight hour day. An in crease of 72 per cent. While not all telephone labor has increased so large ly, it is safe to say that there has been an average increase of 50 per cent on all the elements entering into the cost of furnishing a telephone. Accordingly we must add 50 per cent to the $100.00 making the present cost of a telephone, based upon the former price, in excess of $150.00 per year. While $150.00 per year may not be a high price for a telephone and actu ally is so, yet it would not be a high price here when compared with Bell prices elsewhere. Cost of Installing Phones. The average normal cost of instal ling, and operating a telephone in Du luth is probably greater than that of any other city in the country. It costs ten or more times as much to set a pole in our Duluth Gra'nite as in the soil of the average city. The same is true of excavating for underground work. We can learn of no other city where so many miles of wire are re quired to establish an equal number of telephones. In Minneapolis, where you will doubtless agree, a "phone could be furnished much cheaper than here, the price of the Bell Telephone furnished from the antiquated ground system, was prior to the present op position, $120.00 per year, with a 10 cents toll to St. Paul worth from $5.00 to $10.00 per telephone per annum. In Chicago, a compact city, with no rock or hills, the price with a service far inferior "tb what is rendered, here, is $175.00^ per tyear tfoy, business and I TROUBLES III STORE TOE STEEL TRUST THREATENED STRIKE OF THOU SANDS OF STEEJL MILL EMPLOYES. Caused By Wage Reduction. Men Own Their Homes and arc Prepared for a Battle of Five Months Duration. Steps -Being Taken to Organize a Union of Steel Workers In Historic Old Homestead. Pittsburg, Pa., Jan'y. 14.—Five thou sand m?n employed in the Carnegie steel mills at Homestead have inform ed Superintendent Hunt that if their wages are reduced as announced they will promptly declare a strike. Last Monday they took steps to form a un ion, and after this has been accom plished a general strike will result un less the company decides not to cut wages. The rollers and heaters, the highest paid men in the big mills, have been getting $3.75 per hundred tons. The company cut this to $1.75. The men in their schedule are willing to accept $2.00 The Carnegie Steel Company is now dealing with men who own homes, who have been prosperous since 1899 and who can order a strike of four or five months without dis tress. These facts worry the company offi cials more than the project of fighting the Amalgamated Association. The latter will throw its efforts in behalf of the Homestead millmen because it means a similar reduction to the union workmen. The executive committee of the Amalgamated Association of Steel Workers have ordered 3,000 men em ployed in two of the Steel Trust's fac tories to go out on strike. This action was taken because the men declared they would no longer work at reduced wages, while the Trust's profits remained unaffected. The men who were ordered out were employed in the plants of the Canons burg Sheet & Tin Company and the Glassport Hoop Mills, of the Pittsburg Steel Company. There is a generally expressed opin ion there that this is the beginning of a strike that will reach the propor tions attained by the steel strike of 1902. Steel officials profess to believe, however, that there is no danger of the strike spreading. KNOCKS OUT MINERS Labor Commissioner Decides in Favor of Coal Barons. Scranton, Jan. 14.—Carroll D. Wright, the umpire appointed by Judge Gray, chairman of the Anthracite Strike Commission, to decide the Saturday half-doliday question in the Schuylkill region, has decided against the men. The miners recent the decision. They say every point submitted to the La bor Commissioner has been invariably decided against them. For many years previous to the recent big strike they enjoyed the Saturday half, holiday, and they believe they should still be allowed it. When the matter was submitted to the Conciliation Board the miners' rep resentatives on the board voted in favor of the holiday, and the operat ors' representatives against it. There was a deadlock, and Wright was ap pointed umpire. There has been much dissatisfaction among the miners with Wright as um pire, and his latest decision is certain to make him more unpopular. The board is now deadlocked on five mat ters, and ^is about to ask Judge Gray for an umpire to decide them. If he reappoints Mr. Wright there will be a storm. FIRE DEPARTMENT TO WAR ON UNION LABOR Chicago, Jan. 14.—The Chicago fire department will compel union labor employes of the fire department to withdraw from unions or retire from the city's service. The fire chief will commence war against the organiza tions next week. Sufficient time will be given the firemen to withdraw from the unions in compliance with the rules of the organization, but if any employe has not withdrawn by Jan. 15. charges will be preferred against him for vio lation of orders. METAL MECHANICS AND MACHINISTS TO AMALGAMATE Indianapolis, Jan. 14.—Amalgamation of the members of the International Association of Allied Metal Mechanics with those of the International Associ ation of Machinists is practically as sured as a result of action taken at teh convention of the former organiza tion, when it was- decided to put the proposition of amalgamation to a refer endum vote of both organizations. JOHN MCNAMARA TO EDIT FIREMAN'S MAGAZINE Columbus, O., Jan 14.—John F. Mc Namee, of Columbus, O., chairman of the grand executive board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, has been elected editor of the Fire men's Magazine. ACCEPTS REDUCTION. Pittsburgh Jan. 14.—The 3,000 em ployes of the Edgar Thompson Steel works of Pittsburg, and eleven blast furnaces of the Carnegie Steel com pany at Braddock have accepted the reduction in wages offered them. There was little objection to the scale except in some ,of the smaller departments, where day wages and salaries are paid. The tannage men in the ,converting mills and bloom miller,of.tlie rail THE LABOR WOULD DEVOTED TO THE INDUSTRIAL WELFARE OF THE HEAD OF THE LAKES DULUTH AND SUPERIOR, SATURDAY, JAN. 16, LIVE UP TO US OF SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK DEFINES kIGHTS OF UNIONS. Important Decision for Union Labor Handed Down By Court In Which the Right of a Union to Compel Its Members to abide by Its Laws. Courts Cannot Interfere In Such Cases. Albany, N. Y., Jan'y 14.—A most important decision, settling finally the right of unions to compel strict com pliance with their constitutions and by-laws, and otherwise of great inter est to union labor, was handed down in a New York court recently. The case was that of two former union men against Stereotypers' Union No. 1. Supreme Court Justice Leventritt decided that Louis Quanchi and Chas. A. Bailes are not entitled to an injunc tion restraining the New York Stereo typers' Union No. 1 and its officers from interfering with their employ ment on the New York Herald or from demanding that the Herald discharge them. Quanchi has been superintend ent of the Herald's stereotyping de partment for seventeen years, and Bailes was his assistant. Some time ago thehy discharged James J. Freel, a sterecrtyper, on a charge of general incompetency, and Freel then made charges against them before the union, accusing them of malice and persecu tion and of having plotted to cause his discharge. Quanchi and Baily were notified to appear before the union, and their request for. an adjournment was overruled. They were summarily tried and expelled on the recommenda tion of the executive committee of the union. George G. Ailinger, president of the union, then called at the Herald office and demanded the discharge of the two men as non-union workers. In view of the fact that a strike would certainely be called in the Herald shop if the men continued to work, the Herald notified the men that they would ncrt be allowed to work, but that their pay would be continued until the legality of the union's action could be determined. Quanchi and Bailes got out a temporary injunction re straining the union from interfering with them, and Justice Leventritt was asked to make this injunction perma nent. In denying that application Jus tice Leventritt says: "It is not disputed that the rule in regard to voluntary-associations of this the relations between ,: thes £ssbbia$on and its members,'and that the courts cannot redress any action of the asso ciation expelling or punishing a mem ber when such actions has been taken in accordance with the express pro visions of the constitution and by-laws. Individuals who form themselves together in a voluntary association for a common object may agree to be governed 'by such rules as they thi'nk proper to adopt, if there is nothing in them to conflict with the law of the land, and those who become members of the body are presumed to know them, to have assented to them, and they are bound by them. In this case at bar every provision of the constitu tion and by-laws to which 'the plaintiffs subscribed was duly complied with, and, although the punishment of ex pulsion inflicted seems out of all pro portion to the offense charged, I am powerless to interfere. After their expulsion the notification to their em ployer that the members of the asso ciation of which the defendant is pres ident would not work with the non members was lawful. I am constrained to deny both motions, and have no alternative but to vacate the prelimi nary injunction." NO AGREEMENT WITH CARPENTERS Indianapolis Jan. 14.—Dennis Mull cahy and Thomas Kidd, President and Secretary of the Amalgamated Wood workers' International Union, have re turned to Chicago, having failed to reach any agreement with William D. Huber and Frank DuffjsrPresident and Secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, in regard to the recent ruling of the American Fed eration of Labor that all members of the United Brotherhood who are em ployed in the mills should be transfer red to the Amalgamated Woodworkers. About 35,000 men of the Brotherhood of Carpenters are directly concerned by the order of the Federation. An other meeting will be held in Chicago between January 1 anv. 18. A Year of Irregularities. New York, Jan. 14.—Bradstreet's in its annual review of 1904, says that it has been, a year of irregularities in the commercial and industrial worlds It declares too swift a pace had been struck up to middle of the year, when troubles began to pour in from labor dissensions and business depression. It says that unsatisfactory conditions certainly confront the opening of a new year, but hopes that these •will be dispelled as the year wears on. No Settlement Reached. Gloversville,, N. Y., Jan. 14.—No set telment has been reached between the glove manufacturers and the striking table-cutters. A protracted struggle is predicted. Unless some conclusion is reached early next month other glove workers will probably be called out, thus tying up the industry in that vi cinity. CREATES NEW PRECEDENT. Chicago, Jan. 14.—Judge Holden created a. precedent in. Chicago by fin ing a labor union as a corporation, this 4 GRIME TO RUSE WIGES HOLDS N. v. con jour FOUR UNION MEN INDICTED FOR ADOPTING WAGE SCALE. Strange Proceedings By a Rochester, N. Y., Grand Jury. Indictment Says That Defendants Conspired to Fraudulently Commit Acts Injurious to Trade and Commerce. Ancestor al Revived for a Cause. Rochester, N. Y., Jan'y. 14.—Aston ishing as it will doubtless seem to most people a grand jury here has in dieted Francis J. McFarlln, Wm. Chal lice, Michael O'Brien and T. M. Guerin for conspiracy to raise wages. The accused are members of the Carpen ters' Union of Rochester. Their offense was fixing a wage scale of not less than $2.25 a day, '"which price," says the indictment, "was far in excess of the fair market value of a day's work." It is set forth that the accused, with others unknown, elected officers and delegates and proceed to carry out their conspiracy. Perhaps it will be interesting to quote from the indictment. Here is a paragraph! "On the first day of May in the, year of our Lard. 1903, did unlaw fully, fraudulently, maliciously and corruptly, conspire, combine, confederate and agree together, to and among themselves, and with divers other persons whose names are to his grand jury un known, to commit acts injurious to trade and commerce and did then and there commit acts in jurious to commerce in the man ner following: The indictment proceeds to show that the accused also "destroyed al! competition among themselves" so that good money-making citizens of Rochester could no longer hire them for a song. The full text of the legal document would fill five colums of the L^bor World, but this give a fair idea of it. This is probably the first serious at tempt to prevent the rise of wages by indicting unionists for conspiracy, since the infancy of labor organiza tion in America in the early part of the last century. It reads much like a part of the legal history of our an cestors in the days when the Connecti cut blue laws were thought necessary to regulate human conduct. The idea is so entirely preposterous that it can result, in nothing but the extensive advertisement of the assininity of a 'of* ihe 'employing class" 4n that sectloi and makes it clear enough what they would do if they could. It ought to show workingmen, too, the urgent necessity of using their ballots right. MITCHELL TALKS ON IMMIGRATION QUESTION Pittsburg, Jan. 14.—jQhn Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers' Union, says on the immigration ques tion: "Immigration should be restrict ed much more than now. No matter how decent and self respecting and hard-working the aiens who are flood ing this country, may be, they are in vading the land of Americans, and whether they know it or not, are help ing to take the bread out of their mouths. America for Americans should be the motto of every citizen, whether he be a workingman or a capitalist. There are already too many aliens in this country. There is not enough work for the many millions of unskill ed laborers, and there is no need for the added millions who are pressing into our cities and towns to compete with the skilled American in his var ious trades and occupations. While the majority of the immigrants are not skilled workmen, they rapidly become so and their competition is not of stim ulating order. LABOR CONVENTIONS TO BE HELD IN 1904 Chicago, Jan. 14.—The following la bor conventions will be held in the Ohio Valley States in 1904: Cincinnati May 8, Amalgamated Meat Cutters' Union and Butcher Workmen of North America: Aug. 1, International Brotherhood of Teams ters. Jan.18, Indianapolik United Mine Workers of America May, Col umbus, O.. Tin Plate Workers Inter national Protective association: Sept. 12, Indianapolis, International Union of United Brewery Workers: Oct. 3, Paducah, Ky., International Union Shipwrights, Joiners and Caulkers of America: Oct. 4, Louisville, Journey men Barbers' International union: Oct. 10, Sa'ndusky, O., Coopers' Internation al union. SIX THOUSAND MEN .DEPEND ON 300 FOR WORK Chicago, Jan. 14.—There are about 6,000 men in the Illinois Steel Compa ny's plant in Chicago who depend up on 300 skilled men in the rail, plate and converting departments. Their wages range from $6 to $30 a day, the latter figure being for the men who tell when the blast of the furnaces is ready for pouring. There are at least 1,000 helpers in these repartments who work for less than $2 a day. ASK CONGRESS TO PENSION OLD LABORERS Memphis. Jan. 14.—The Tennessee State Labor convention at Knoxville, recently passed a resolution asking congress to pass a law granting a pen sion of $12 a month to every worldng mjan who shall have reached the age sixty years and have earned less than $l,)00 a year. -Thex law^iaj'to^be +i«a llrTM Denver, Col., Jan. 14.—The injunc tion issued on Thursday night in Judge Seeds' Court in Cripple Creek against the officers in command of the National Guard and a number of mine owners, by counsel for the miners, re straining the militia from molesting members of the Western Federation of Labor with regard to the "vag" or der, seems to have had the desired effect in stopping the arbitrary ac tions of the soldiers in the district. Colonel Verdeckberg, commanding the troops, is between the devil and the deep sea* and is at a loss to know what move next to take. While offi cers continue to talk a la Bell, it is not believed they will ignore the writ of Judge Seeds. Governor Peabody, it is reported, has advised them to act carefully in the matter. Should the military authorities run counter to he injunction the case will then be taken to the Supreme Court to test the Governor's power in placing the district under military rule and de porting miners, and it is known that the administration is afraid of the de cision of that tribunal. The National Guard officers have refused service of the writ, but have made no move to disobey it. Several mine owners have agreed,to abide by the order. Attorney General Miller is of the opinion that the military cannot evade the injunction, and declares that so long as the military officials know of the existence ofrstfctt^Vfrit they are compelled by law to obey it, whether or not service has been accepted. A few minor arrests were made last night, the charges being other than vagrancy. With a State National Guard doing the bidding of a Governor unfriendly to organized labor and an association of multimillionaire mine owners who have taken $100,000,000 in gold out of the Cripple Creek District in the last ten years on one side and a mere hand ful of toiling miners on the other side, the strike which wtcs~*cailed by the Western Federation of Miners August 10 last is no nearer settlement today. Though the mine /owners, the Gov ernor and the military authorities have ng._ in their power ,to ]p)] mas JSJIWRa fdses tobfe-Mlled -The mine'-oWners' believed martial law would grind under its heel the miners in Cripple fj^eek, and martial law was declared ^0)l^U2S£eme power by the Governor iriorSg*iaEMiii a month ago. But in spite of martial law the Western Federation of Miners is keep ing up its unequal fight, and just as the mine owners felt they dealt the Federation its deathblojfr the spirit of unionism asserted itself in Telluride and Governor Peabody this week plac ed the ban of martial law on San Mi guel County. Press Is Pleased. With a press which is dominated by men who have accumulated fortunes opposing them/and only one organ on ther side, the miners have stuck brave ly by their organization. Despite military oppression they have dared to oppose the mine owner's plan to crush their organization out of existence. Already the strike has cost the State of Colorado $6,000,000. The output of gold from the state this year shows a decrease of $6,428,000, which Director of the Mint Roberts in his annual statement from Washington lays di rectly to the strike. 4,000 Were involved. One of he largest mine owners was unbiased enough to acknowledge that miners had some rights which employ ers must recognize, and before other members of the association could stop him James Burns, the owner of the Portland, signed the Federation agree ment. As a result his mine is working full time with a force of almost six hun dred men—all union workmen. In ad dition to this there are few smaller properties in which union men are em ployed—althogether probably 800 men. Four thousand men or more are out of work and stand idly by while mines operated by members of the Mine Owners' Association are manned by nonunion miners—strike breakers im ported to the district from other camps where they had shown their efficiency in that capacity. Charges Against Governor. .. Governor Peabody sent troops into the Cripple Creek district in spite of the protests of citizens and peace of ficers, including sheriff, district attor ney, county commissioner^, justices of the peace and city officials, who as sured the Governor they were fully able to preserve the peace. Declared martial law while all the courts were in opposition and business progressed undisturbed by strikers. Ordered the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus on December 5, 1903, in the case of Victor Paul, one of the miners under arrest. Refused to withdraw the troops de spite the numerous protests of repres entative citizens and officers of the law. Permitted mine owners ~o use the militia officers like puppets, ready to carry out all their whims. A representative of the Sunday Chi cago American, who visited the district, found that a month's reign of the mili tary authority had cowed' the striking miners Into silence.-, ONLY LABOR PAPER IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA DEPORTATION FROM STATE LATEST THREAT OF MILITARY Governor Peabody and the National Guard of Colorado at the Command of Men of Millions. Liberty, Freedom— Every Constitutional Right Desthroyed by Military Authorities. FIVE CENTS. STATEMENT Bt J. C. COLE, 1 Deputy District Attorney. To the Editor: There was never a time prior to1 the calling of the National Guard' into the Cripple Creek district that the civil authorities were not am-1 ply able to enforce the laws of the state. Nor has there been any time' since. Governor Peabody sent the Na tional Guard without consulting the civil authorities and against their protests. Governor Peabody's commission' appointed to investigate the condi tions here prior to the order out1 of the militia arrived here at 9 o'clock in the evening and left the following morning at 4 o'clock. Their investigation was supposed' to have been carried on in the in tervening seven hours of the night,' and none of its members made an attempt to consult me. Since their arrival in the Cripple' Creek district the militia has vlo lated the rights guaranteed to citi zens of the United States by the' constitutions of the United States, and the State of Colorado. I am glad and thankful to the labor papers that they are investi gating the conditions in the Crip ple Creek district and give to the public an unbiased account. j. c. COLE, Deputy District Attorney., January 9, 1904. STATEMENT BY P. J. DEVAULT, Assessor Teller County, Colo. To the Editor: In my opinion the National Guard in the Cripple Creek district has gone beyond the law in arreesting men on pretexts and against whom they preferred no charges. It is evident from their actions that their purpose here was to break the strike, rather than maintain, or-, der when disorder did not exist. ^Peabody to withdraw:- the troops, because their presence here is not and was not needed. The fact that the militia has re leased prisoners rather than have the court pass on their right to hold them is a confession of guilt on the part of the military author ities P. J. DEVAULT. Assessor Teller County. January 9, 1904. "union" men as lawbreakers and crim inals. Charges of cruelty and violation of civil rights against the militia could be heard on every side. To the citizens of other states who know naught of what it means to be dominated by the military arm a sum mary statement of the accusations against the militia will prove a revela tion. Here are a few of the most glaring offenses. Before the Cripple Creek District was proclaimed to be under martial law the military authorities who were supposed to be merely policing the district and acting in conjunction with the civil authorities of Teller county, arrested men on pretexts without war rants. They raided the homes of citizens in the dead of night. They arrested schoolboy for taunt ing strike breateras^^g^^: They confined pri£tfft©|pMtethe "bull pen" in Camp GoldfielC and without preferring charges kept themi under ar rest for days. They maltreated the prisoners, threw them to the ground and poked their bayonets against their helpless bodies. The refused to release their prison ers until habeas corpus proceedings were begun. They took possession of Judge Seeds' court—intimidated the Judge by their presence and trained a gatt ling gun on the courthouse to show the supremacy of the military law. Though Judge Seeds ordered the re lease of the prisoners the military .au thorities rearrested them as soon as they stpped outside of the courthouse. They took these prisoners and kept them in the "bull pen" in Camp Gold field. The military authorities forestalled a decision of the Supreme Court of Co^ lorado by turning the prisoners over to the county authorities a few days prior to the time set for the hearing of the cases on writ of habeas corpus. In a letter which Mr. J. C. Cole, Dep uty District Attorney, wrote to the. Governor, condoning the acts of the' military authorities, he gave the chief executive his opinion as follows: "I will state to Your Excellency that it is the desire of this office, and es-* pecially myself, to enforce the law wherever I find it is being violated. The militia, in defying- legal process, such as warrants and capiases, in the hands of the proper officers, -is an un called for obstruction and violation of the laws of our state. "From the press I understand that it is your desire and purpose In send ing the state guard here to assist the