‘Labor’s Battle in Idaho—Past, Present and Future’ by a Miner from The People. Vol. 9 No. 7. May 14, 1899.

By Member West. Federation of Miners, Burke.

In 1889, the mine owners of the Northwest met in Helena, Montana, and organized what was known as the “Mire Owners’ Industrial Protective Association.” Every member of the Association paid one cent per ton royalty on each ton of ore shipped from his mine, which went into a sinking fund for the purpose of defraying expenses in an attempt to reduce wages to $3 and $2.50 per day. This reduction of the miners wages from $3.50 per day was intended to be general throughout the West.

The Coeur d’Alene District of Idaho was decided upon as the point where the attack should be made. Accordingly, on the 17th of January. 1892, every mine in the Coeur d’Alenes shut down. The mine owners alleged that the shut-down was caused by excessive freight rates and intimated that this suspension of operations would be indefinite unless the R.R. Co.’s reduced their charges. This, however, was only a blind, as many of them had a contract with the railroad for a period of two years and would not have been entered into by them unless their business would warrant the rate. The mine owners’ object became ap parent when they announced in April, 1892, that they were ready to resume to res operations with day’s wages at $3.00 and $2.50, and if the miners did not accept these wages they would never again be re-employed. In the meantime the mine owners had their agents in the mining centers of the East hiring men at their reduced scale to take the place of the Coeur d’Alene miners.

The unions refused to accept this scale or any scale which would be a reduction of underground wages.

Thus was forced upon the miners of the West their great battle with capitalism which resulted in flooding the Coeur d’Alenes with Pinkerton thugs and scabs at the beck and call of the capitalist class, and ultimately intended to force wages down in all mining districts west of the Mississippi.

This was desperately and heroically resisted by the miners and forced them nearer than hitherto to the necessity of class-conscious solidarity.

For, be it remembered, that to carry their nefarious schemes to victory it became necessary for the mine owners to have martial law declared here, and have 1,200 U. S. Regulars, supplemented by the State militia, to cower into submission the dauntless spirit of the West. Twenty-five union men were imprisoned and twelve were convicted for contempt of court.

Judge Beattie issued his injunction in the beginning of May, 1892, prohibiting union men from ever counciling with others not to take their places. This, I believe, is the first case on record where a Federal Judge issued an injunction against organized labor and imprisoned its members for contempt.

In September, 1892, four members of the miners’ union were sent to the Detroit Reformatory by Judge Beattie for terms ranging from 18 months to 21 years. The miners appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the month of February, 1893, that Court reversed the decision of venal Beattie and ordered the imprisoned men discharged. While martial law was in force here, scabs and non-union men destroyed miners halls, insulted women and assaulted men!!

General Carlin confiscated two cars of provisions consigned to miners who were in enforced idleness by the conspiracy of capitalist brigands. The U.S. Army. Federal Court, and police powers co-operated with the mine owners to destroy trade unions. As a result, political action for self-protection was resorted to by the wage workers. They flocked to the Populists. They now find that they were suckers. They find that the interior councils of the People’s party of the West were controlled by the men who met in Helena to perfect a conspiracy for their degradation. They, therefore, are now rallying to support their class interests which are enunciated and upheld by the Socialist Labor Party. Two strong Sections are now in existence and others ready to become dominant in the politics of Idaho and of the world.

In this way we prepare to meet at the hustings in 1900 the silver bug, gold bug populist-capitalists-the three chief political representatives of capitalism.

The Socialist Labor Party of Idaho, whose members are leading spirits in the Western Federation of Miners, the Western Labor Union (the K. of L. now defunct here) march to the conquest of the public powers the only working class political organization of Idaho.

New York Labor News Company was the publishing house of the Socialist Labor Party and their paper The People. The People was the official paper of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP), established in New York City in 1891 as a weekly. The New York SLP, and The People, were dominated Daniel De Leon and his supporters, the dominant ideological leader of the SLP from the 1890s until the time of his death. The People became a daily in 1900. It’s first editor was the French socialist Lucien Sanial who was quickly replaced by De Leon who held the position until his death in 1914. Morris Hillquit and Henry Slobodin, future leaders of the Socialist Party of America were writers before their split from the SLP in 1899. For a while there were two SLPs and two Peoples, requiring a legal case to determine ownership. Eventual the anti-De Leonist produced what would become the New York Call and became the Social Democratic, later Socialist, Party. The De Leonist The People continued publishing until 2008.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/the-people-slp/990514-thepeople-v09n07.pdf