them something to talk about." At another time when he was informed that certain operators had attributed his interest in the matter to the beneficial effect of his interference on a supposed Presidential boom, he replied: "Go and tell the operators that if they will arbitrate their differences with the miners, I will make an affidavit that I will not only refuse to accept the nomination for the Presidency if tendered to me, but, if elected, I will refuse to qualify."

For many weeks after the strike was called, Mr. Hanna and his associates on the Committee were obliged to concentrate their forces upon beating off an attack from another quarter rather than upon the settlement of the strike itself. Some of the unionists were seriously advocating the idea of calling out the bituminous coal miners on a sympathetic strike, in spite of the fact that these miners were working under a satisfactory unexpired agreement with their own employers. Such a war measure would have been almost fatal to the whole program of the Federation, which proposed to bring about trade agreements by means of collective bargaining. If such bargains were not kept, there could be slight hope of comparative industrial peace along these lines. No effort was spared, consequently, to prevent the calling of the sympathetic strike. For six weeks hard and systematic missionary work was carried on throughout the coal regions, both bituminous and anthracite, to prevent what was regarded by all friends of the Federation as a suicidal act; and in this work they were assisted by every labor leader on the Committee. They were successful. The convention of the bituminous miners held at Indianapolis on July 17 voted against a sympathetic strike, and their fidelity to their contract under such a severe pressure made, as well it might, a deep and lasting impression on Senator Hanna.

In his speech of Aug. 9, 1902, delivered at Chatauqua, he said:

"If there ever was a situation which would tempt men of any class to violate an agreement on the one side one hundred and fifty thousand idle men with hundreds of thousands of women and children depending upon them for their daily bread, approaching the verge of starvation, seeing, or believing they saw, the only remedy which would force their employers to a consideration of what they thought their rightful

claim would be through a strike; and on the other hand their solemn promise, given only by word of mouth to their employers, that they would mine coal for the year 1902 at a fixed price- if there ever was a test that could possibly solve that question, there it was. It is one of the proudest moments of my life, that I can state from this rostrum to such an audience as this, that the men stood by their word. [Great applause.] Ay, unanimously, when the matter came before the convention, they declined to sign for the strike. I say it is a proud moment of my life, because it is a ray of light that comes to us who are working honestly in this field of labor an encouragement which, had it been prophesied six months ago, would have been said to be impossible."

After the threat of a sympathetic strike had been averted, attempts were made to find some acceptable basis of settlement. I cannot trace the course of these negotiations in detail; but the plan, which was gaining ground, looked in the direction of submitting the whole dispute to the arbitration of a representative expert commission with full power and opportunity to make a careful investigation of the facts. In the meantime the summer had passed, and winter was near at hand. The coal-bins were empty. Public opinion was beginning to be alarmed at the prospect of the suffering which would result from an indefinite prolongation of the strike. The idea began to be expressed that industrial disputes should not be allowed to place the public welfare in such jeopardy. On September 27, President Roosevelt wrote to Mr. Hanna: "What gives me greatest concern at the moment is the coal famine. Of course we have nothing whatever to do with this coal strike and no earthly responsibility for it. But the public at large will tend to visit on our heads responsibility for the shortage in coal, precisely as Kansas and Nebraska visited upon our heads their failure to raise good crops in the arid belt eight, ten or a dozen years ago. I do not see what I can do, and I know the coal operators are especially distrustful of anything which they regard as in the nature of political interference. But I do most earnestly feel that from every consideration of public policy and good morals, they should make some slight concession."

Two days later Senator Hanna replied from Cleveland, as follows:

"MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:

"I am in receipt of yours of the 27th inst. and reply that I share with you the anxiety in regard to the coal situation. After leaving Oyster Bay, I spent the balance of the week in New York raising money for the Congressional Committee and trying to see what more could be done with the strike. Confidentially, I saw Mr. Morgan and I also saw Mr. Mitchell (the public knows nothing about that). I got from Mr. Morgan a proposition as to what he would do in the matter and I got Mitchell to agree to accept it if the operators would abide by the decision. I really felt encouraged to think that I was about to accomplish a settlement. I went to Philadelphia and saw Mr. Baer and to my surprise he absolutely refused to entertain it. You can see how determined they are. It looks as if it was only to be settled when the miners are starved to it, and that may be weeks ahead as they are getting abundant supplies from their fellow-workmen all over the country. I am not unmindful of the importance of this coal situation and will not miss an opportunity to help if I can, but the position of the operators from the beginning has put all efforts of mine in a false light before the public, so I am only able to hold the confidence of the men and serve them if I can."

The foregoing letter of Senator Hanna's was received in Washington on September 30, and it may have had something to do with the action immediately taken by the Presidentasking the operators to meet Mr. Mitchell in a conference at the White House. On October 2, Mr. Hanna telegraphed to the President wishing him every success in his undertaking; but success did not follow. The obstinacy of the operators only increased with every effort to break it down. On October 3 the President wrote the following letter:

"Well! I have tried and failed. I feel downhearted over the result, both because of the great misery ensuing for the mass of our people, and because the attitude of the operators will beyond a doubt double the burden on us, who stand between them and socialistic action. But I am glad I tried anyhow. I should have hated to feel that I had failed to make any effort. What my next move will be I cannot yet say. I feel most strongly that the attitude of the operators is one which accentuates the need of the government having some power to supervision and regulation over such corporations. I would like to make a fairly radical experiment on the anthracite coal business to start with.

"At the meeting to-day the operators assumed a fairly hopeless attitude. None of them appeared to such advantage as Mitchell, whom most of them denounced with such violence and rancor that I felt he did very well to keep his temper. Between times they insulted me for not preserving order (evidently ignoring such a trifling detail as the United States Constitution) and attacked Knox for not having brought suit against the miners' union, as violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. You have probably seen my statement and Mitchell's proposition. I regarded the latter as imminently fair and reasonable. Now it is over I may mention that if the operators had acceded to it, I intended to put you on the commission or board of arbitration. But the operators declined to accede to the proposition or to make any proposition that amounted to anything in return; and as I say I must now think very seriously of what the next move shall be. A coal famine in the winter is an ugly thing, and I fear we shall see terrible suffering and grave disaster."

The idea of a coal arbitration commission, once having been launched, found such support from public opinion that even the operators had to yield. During the negotiations which ensued, looking towards the appointment of the Commission and the return of the miners to work pending its report, President Roosevelt constantly consulted Mr. Hanna and the part which the latter played towards the end is indicated by the following letter:

"MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:

"CLEVELAND, OHIO, Oct. 15, 1902.

"I talked with Mitchell on the 'phone' yesterday, after my conversation with you, and I think he feels satisfied with the assurances given him, although, of course, he appreciates the unfairness in the proposition of the operators in not naming an experienced miner as a member of the Commission. At his request I sent him a telegram urging the acceptance of the proposition and giving him the assurance that the men could depend on absolute fairness at your hands. This, of course, was to show to influential men among the miners, for whatever effect my influence would have among them. I sincerely hope it will end the strike, and your interest in the matter will be appreciated."

It did end the strike, and the correspondence between the President and Senator over this critical matter may be closed with the following letter from the President:

"WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 1902.

"MY DEAR SENATOR:"Late last night when it became evident that we were going to get a Commission which would be accepted by both sides, I remarked, 'Well, Uncle Mark's work has borne fruit,' and everybody said, 'Yes.' The solution came because so many of us have for so long hammered at the matter until at last things got into shape which made the present outcome possible. I hardly suppose the miners will go back on Mitchell. If they do, they put themselves wholly in the wrong. I earnestly hope you are now in good shape physically."

While not attempting to tell the whole story of the anthracite coal strike, I have for several reasons dwelt in detail upon Senator Hanna's relation to it. The public scarcely realized at the time the amount of hard work which he devoted to the business, and the extent to which, as President Roosevelt's last letter indicates, he contributed to the settlement. The incident also provides an excellent illustration of the methods and policy pursued by the Conciliation Committee of the Civic Federation- an illustration which loses nothing because of the failure of Mr. Hanna's own efforts to effect a settlement. The experience convinced him that the Federation was working along the right lines, and that its unaided exertions in the present instance had proved abortive, chiefly because the operators had wofully misjudged the situation. They had underestimated the will and the ability of the Union to fight and to resist ; and they had failed to anticipate that, if the Union did resist, their own position on the approach of winter and in the face of public opinion would become untenable.

The anthracite coal strike is one of the very few industrial disputes in which Senator Hanna personally participated and in which he failed to effect a settlement. Up to November, 1903, about a hundred disagreements were amicably adjusted by the Conciliation Committee; and their good offices failed in only eighteen cases. Mr. Hanna's services were constantly at the call of the Committee. He took part in many important negotiations and he contributed liberally to expenses. All his associates testify that he was absorbed heart and soul in the work, and that it was coming to occupy as much of his time and attention as was his political career.