(CONTINUED FROM SECOND PAOE,} now , when well advanced in lile, he finds the accumulated earnings of long tyears of oil hreatened With destrde• n, and himself held up to Ignominy and reproach, because in this free coun try lie has had the courage to resist the fi erc e tide ol agrarianism that has t h re atened to, reduce, him - to beggary, and to run riot with the property which his min patient industry and toil have enabled hiin to lay up for old age, you must remember, gentlemen, that in the effect ol these suspensions upon die two classes of men, employer and e mployed, there is a wide differ ence, The miner or laborer) if lie Joss not choose to work, can pack up his effects and move to another local. ay; but the employer is bound to his colliery, all his property is' there in-- vested, and upon the Success of the en• terprise depends not only his subsie tepee, but that which to some men is dearer than life—his - character for co mmercial integrity. The miner has no money invested ID the coal business. The operator may have two hundred thousand dollars expended at one cob f a iry, lie may have notes to pay, and contracts for thedelivery of coal to com ply with ; all of these he can meet if lie is permitted to work his mines.— fla e mployees may be,anxious to work for him, and may be entirely satisfied with their wages; but the grasp of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association is around their throats; the decree goes forth that there must he a general sue •pen,ion. The poor laborer well knows the g hastly fate in store for him if he disobeys this decree, and the result of he ,hoibeilience is the ruin and ditshon or of Ii employer. We have called many 01 theme coal operators before roe, and they have testified to the in jurious effect of their cootinued ens pensiona and strikes, and have stated that if the present conditon of affairs is not myroved, they will be glad to sell their property at one half or two thirds of its cost, and be thankful that they escape the wreck with even that little to call their own, Let me take the Reading Railroad Company as the illustration of the in Juriouil effect of management of the leaders of the Workingmen's Benevo lent Association upon railroad cotn• Mantes. We have three hundred loco motives, twenty thousand coal cars, an extent of railroad amounting to about twelve hundred miles of single tract, and a canal one hundred and eight miles long. We employ about twelve thousand men, and are fully equiped and organized for a business of one hundred and eight thousand tons of eoal a week. When the districts which depend upon us for an ohtlet are all at work, they can supply us with this amount of trade; it becomes ne ceesary for us therefore, to be prepar ed to transport it : and we woald not he carrying cut the design of our char ter if we were unable to do the business which was offered. Mx equipment and organization, therefore, must at all times be kept up; {lt IM almost as expensive to 11R we are I,eng no coal business as .Inn ac 111 e traii.rorting 180,000 torts r serk. We cannot discharge our employees ; the railroad track must be constantly watchrd,repaired and guard ed , every superintendent and agent most be at his post, and receive his ealary or his wages; the only men whom we can tempurarily dispense with are the coal train hands. It iii greatly to our interest that the pike of coal should be low. because low prices increase consuniption,and_we make money more front a litegeiTnnage than from high rates of charges,.. You eau judirn of thrf effect nprin ellen a railroad company, when an imperative decree of the Workingmen s Benevolent Association suddenly deprives It of all Its coal tonoagr, when the receipts of the road from coal traffic are suddenly reduced from over a million dol lars per month to less; than two hundred thou sand dollars, w.tlle tbe expenses remain near ly the same, and yet to this extremity have we been reduced time and Will during the l two years, and all because of the Working men's Benevolent Association lon, determin ed that the public shall never purchase their fuel slimes than &l per ton at Port Carbon, or if, per ton at PA lestbethport Why, gentlemen, I eland here In ail sincerity, speaking for the several railroad companies that I represent, to say, that If this ar il is not libeled, we will he glad to have our charters forfeited and tak en from us, so that our stock holders may In vest their money in some other enterprise, and In some other country where the rights of property are reepectod, and the efttsert may appeal with confidence to the protection of the law, I trust I may not be ml.approhend od I speak the language of sober truth when say If this state of society Is continued for six months longer we will come before you as petitioners, ark tag you lo /oroko the aisle nee of the courts en that we may be permit ted to surrender our charters and obtain for our stock and bondholders the mone y they have invested Them let the Workingmen's Ben,olent Association take charge of our roads in name, as they have done in fact Better, far better for us all, that this should come to pass, than that we should continue the farce of pretending to control our own property, while the baleful Influence of this organisation it brooding like a dark shadow over the land. Let me now Warier attention to the coal trade itself, and *how you how loluthously It .$e been affected by the Insane action of the leaden of the workingmen. You know that anthracite coal vutert into towilpeAttlUa with bittnnthous coal and with wood a as fuel - - Whenever anthracite can be Introduced at a moderate peat It displace; both of the other fuels for domestic purposes and le generally preferred t hlrnmitome for ;deem and for many utanufamuting purposes. But It Is not only a moderate rafix,of prioodlut certainty and regularity of supply' that are necessary to en able It to malnutln Ile position. Ewen as a lower rate many manufacturers will discard anthracite and use Intent Inoue coal, If the sup ply of the former Is constantly Interrupted, and the latter oars at allatines be obtained. I think I speak within hounds whorl / say that there are contonnera now horning bltit m Mono coal at the rote of 130,00,000 tons pot mouth, who barn been driven to it by the high pricer and 1[1 , 4;101,61y of aupyly of anthracite caus ed by the repeated strikes and ausponslona of ale tact two year,.lf you go into the steeple of indeppfidepe Hall, end look out over the city of Phlhirt Oda, you will ace the thick black cloud o smoke of bituminous coal ris ing from the stacks of many manufactories at which nothing but anthracite had ever be fore been tturued ; and If you go to the bay of New York, end look over the shipping oon- Eeltated there, you wit h see that hundreds of rry - t.. , ,atemmboalii and steamships, which needy burned anthracite' are new using bituminous coal It fano exaggeretlon to say that in the year 1871 there will be burned at !emit 2,000,000 tone less of anthracite' coal than would have been conenmed had It not been (or the printingl folly of the managers and iellers of the Work ingnien'a Benevolent, Aa sec Won. 80 much for the coal trade. Now let us look et the lion trtule. Within the next ten years the question is to he decided whether the State cif Pennsylvania In to maintain liar supremacy in the iron tradei whether the val. leye of the Lehigh and tichuykiltdtro W trip till epee of furnaces and rolling-mills, or whether She manufactute of fray fin to be moved to the Southern States—to Kentucky, to Tennessee. and A labama—N here vent deposit!) of Iron ore have lately horn Inclight to notice. I know of many inmance, a lime nome of our largest Iron menu factprers have invested large amounts of money in lite Iron dintrlets et the South. If COO Van ion iiliniln lln Port ellehOil nt• from $2 25 to $2.,,r0t nod mintat:ll Chunk at from $2,75 tort, there can to n dmibt that the valley+ of the Sehtlykill and t Ile Lehigh a ill column,. to be the great ceil:lc.• fol the mainlinctut c of Iron. c00t.ir0,,,T, ,, ,,.., ,it the Work inguom .. Benevolent Association it to be enter, ed —if coal to to be kepi of SPy conk a ton higher than it should be, and l'ic regularity nut the supply be constmoly interrupted by strikes and simpercdonn —there call tin Tin doubt that Pollllllylinillin will IMO to bid farewell to Its great Iron mattofactuten, and lie content to age other Staten that are free from the tyran nical rule of trade-unions, prosper In en in dustry which, byproper rare, she could have retained forever for hernelfe A very expel.- Itmend iron manufacturer lately stated that the flnglish Iron trade required no better pro tection for Its prodirota in America than has been afforded by an active co-operation of Um Workingmen's Benevolent Association in Pennsylvania; and within the last sixty days It is believed that more orders for Scotch pig iron have left the United Stales, titan under other circumstances would have boon sent In a Upon year . the general prosper it of the Slate the results of the course which I Y have been siCon demning are but too apparent Since tile rat of January wo bravo fallen behind last y Cs ie trade to the extant of about one and tall' millions tone of cool Of thin, two-tin rile would braes gone beyond the Mate If It had been mim ed, and would have been worth- at the Mate 11110, at leant four dollars a ton , so that four millions of dollars, which In the space of three months would have born sent Into the Conic monwealth by foreign consumers of our pro ducts, are now 10,1 forever. nut lot me rail your attention to the effects of thin airaoelatem upon its own members I speak now in Ilehallo( the rights of labor—not of the rights of the sleek, well-fed And well dressed lenders of the organivallon that poll tree around stn here, l obof the - thirty ti - amend outliving men who tire anxiously awaiting the decree of their soe•lety to know whether they have a right to make one of their hands to labor for the support of their families Capi tal loss its rights property is entitled to the pro tection of laws, lout higher and dearer than the rights of cakital. or the claims of proper ty, Is the righfro of the laboring man—com deMned to earn his Mead by the sweat of his brow—to make I.lSli of tire strength which tied lets }then him, without hindrance or moles tation from env one Ilia do these men pos sess thin right, or, rather, dare they exercise it ? Is hint it a notorious fact, that the decrees of a irilinnal I died Ole rinneral Connell of the Werkinvnon's lieeevolent Association have condemned to idleness thousands of men who were(mitirely saiodio,ol with their wages, and wine worth! now gladly return to work if they felt certain that the Slate to which they owe allegiance had the power to protect them from outrage 1 Will the hunters of lire Working men's Benevolent Asa/relation agree that the question of resuming work at the 112,50 basis may be nulanitted direst to the men, to he voted upon by secret ballot? It they will. I can venture to predict that eight out of ten would gladly embrace the (opportunity of go. in to work In all the history of the coal trade I do not believe there have ever been two such disas trous years to the laboring rla•ses an have been the last ten under the domination "r their society I think I have shown how in )iarionaly the. Orsllllll4lloti 1111. n affected the best Interests of the Stale , but it has affected no one an Injuriously an its own members - Think of an organization, entered into for the purpose Of MIAOW protection being so per verted and minmanitgeol as almost to reduce its members to starvation. They Bak for work; it has permitted them to work in Schuykill county but five months out of the past twelve. They want clearly wages and regular employ moot, and when they have both it compels them to stop, In order that the men of some other region may be assisted In a strike and brought under the control of the society.— They pay their dues to the association under the belief that it will shield them from dis tress ; It barely permits them to work long enough to earn money to pay tiro duos that have accumulated (luring, their Idleness.— They have asked for bread , it has given them a stone Let me stop here to invite whet thin socie ty might have been if properly teenaged, with no other view than the benefit of Its own mem bers , let me suppose that, instead of being blinded by preJuilie• and pension, its leaders haii•opened their eyes to the reel want, of the working el , and had earneritly net about to supply them, that, instead of acting upon the principle that what they did not know was not worth knowing, they had listened to the advice of real friends, and sett rety co-operat ed with them to secure constant employment for those who depended upon them; then, In deed, thin ameonieslon might have been a blee ding instead of • aurae to its own members, IL might have secured them from oppromaion, glee!, thorn regular employment at renumerie tine wage.; eared for them when nick or in jured, end provided fur their wine., and chil dren when illness ur acchleut had disabled them from work. Rid al is not only of what this association has done, but of the Means resorted to to ao inpllah it, that we complain Mr Hall has been very cOrerlt updel us Ateellll Pe the em• ployere ventured to meet together and decide upon the amount of wage. they could afford ro pay, wlthont first obtaining the permieelon of their workmen. But Mr. Ball's clients, the Workingmen's Benevolent Asnociation, never consulted and ono before resorting to the ar bitrary measures that have marked their away Before ordering the suspension of work, which now deprives thousands of men ot bread reduces the owners of collieries to bank ruptcy, and paralyses the Industry of a whole Stale, they obtained the consent of no one but the few leaders whose secret conclave In de nominated the General Omelet!. It la by brute free. alone that all their decrees have been serried into effect; it le by brute force that they have erimpelled • large proportion of their members to Join their organisation ; It is brute, fore. that now prevents thousands f rom leaving it; it Is by brute force that this pran ce suspension has been inaugurated, and It le by brute force alone that they hope to termi nate it For three weeka, gentlemen,. you have been Detentes to the teetiniony of wit nesses, revealing the existence of • state of society, in the coal regions of the Stele of Pennsylvania, the mere recital of which mind bring a blush to the cheek of every good citisen. Yon have hoard how often a large colliery ha, been eompelled tc tetnoto idle for weeks and month,.l.o of he I'OIIIIIAI 01 its owner to coiii i iii e o •11 , o.d,•r of the Work ingmen's Benet,. 0. I—oetatlon, requiring him to dlamisa his sopertntetidant, or to re fuse to employ tomtit) man Rho wan obnoxious to the organisation. You have heard how notice@ have been served upon coal operators, containing a list of names of persons employ , ed by them who did not belong to tint union, in which It wen announced that It those whose names were given did not Join the association before a certain day no more work should be done at the colliery; and you hare heard how the colliery was compelled to remain idle for daya and weeks, and how at teat, the smartens ed minor. who refused to Join the society, were compelled to leave their homes, to en gage In new pursuits in other places where the rights of personal liberty and personal se curity were held to be something more than a mockery and a farce. Yon have been told by Mr. Markle how his men eefused to work for him beer use he complied with one of the pro vinions of the Ventilation bill . and you have learned from thaofflcen of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association themselves, that if one of their own members does not pay his due, to the society, his employer is punished by 'topples all work at him colliery until the delinquent member discharge. the amount.— We tool over a hundred witnensen to call upon this subioct ; but.mit of deference to the veer desire to cio e the inveatigatlon an quickly as possible, no called bet twelve or fifteen, and from these few you Is i arned enough to know that lo thin free Mate of Pennaylven la, within one hundred mllee of tile capital, the liberty and property of our citizen, are held at the mereyof the decrees of a secret tribOnal, above and beyond which there ht no law and no pnvier to which the oppressed people can apply for protection, or ronort to for redress. lbot us liow ask. Whose fault is it that the present auspennion still continues? I have shown you very clearly, I think—and, indeed, upon this question there is no ]depute—that the suspension was ordered by a decree of the Pelletal Connell of the Workingmen's Benet , olent Association, thatie at a time when there was not oralyy ho dispute about wages in either the Belinykill, the Lehigh, 9r the lower part of the Wyoming districts, but no design (It Intention on the part of the employers to re duce them, And that the sole "'Alecto 9f the Work ingoten's Benevolent Atotociattnn Were to Worms's the price of coal, and assist the men of the three large mining conipteneec— During the month of February the IneelfoB4 of tatitotot officials', coal operators and iron men, about which you have heard, so miteti, took placo,in Now York. and Pliiindelpbta.ii Tito object of those meetings was to adopt some equitable rate of sages to be paid in each of the three regiunit, no that thereafter dune should not be a repetition of the 0 Bperlences of the past two years, Snell as Jae lug hither wages In one region than in another, to clop. ping ono region to - bettofit the roan of another At these meetings it seemed to iris conceded ' Hint the rate 9f wages sitokiJl lao establbffied in the Hrhnykill region . nrffi that the others ,11 , 1.1.1....nf0ri1l In 11. I. oido,git, we adopt -1 n vrhnykul the veil 01 wow.. willeb 11i • eoMillittee of the \V.•II. mahout'. Benefit- I. 111 loti 111111 no . lecommeniled I, the year 11471 We 10..1, ill, or at their own cam attliough it we , it'll,,ol) at .01 'hat the pre, of couti.e9 0 011. at Inc $.: 5 1 1 b oh, wan entirely too high We tittered to ill., men precisely the same terms which they them selves In November last had mgt cod should lie paid to them during the Whole of the year 1871 We have heard it teitti that Bile NoVene her hardy was never ratified by the ameoelation. Two witnesses were yelled 10 prove that it has not been ; but, on the other side, we chow that Mr Shirty, the president, mold it had been accepted Ido not, however, propose to rest this point of the case Upon the tortoni accep tance of the tonna. The question is, are the terms offered fair? and upon that question, the fact that in the month of November last, when there Wiei no mat Ike and no quarrel, the regularly authorized committee of the Work• ingmen'a libnevolent Association, with John Hinny, Its president, at its bend, signed a pa ber recommending the adoption of the $2,50 ests for the year 1871, Omuta be oufficlent to convince any one that the $2 50 bask Is nowise unjust or unfair to the men if these hunters 0 the Workingmen's Benev olent Association could recommend thin $2.00 bailie In November, as entirely fair and Just to their conatitients, why iv the slime linfifir and 'anima in 18717 What had omit roil in the two month. to change their 'finds 1 Why, gentlemen, in December a Strike took place among the men or the three eollipanies , the Workingman's Benevolent Aesoehdlon was asked to Join it. Their enpidlty Wits ikroilSkal, and they believed that, by making the sit tine general, in January they t O OO , l so advent.e the price of Mal as to unilifiel their employers to give thorn melt more than they had then, selves demanded. It has been said that this $27,0 haats is ton low, that, tinder it, When emit sell, for $4 the outside laborer gets but al per eelt,— True , but whe.o coal Sells it it the Y/11111, In bnrir get. $lO 70 per week, old when it brings he gels per week Under the ..1 Myren Comprom loll " the 111011 were 111,01 p/1111 of 1,4 11181111 W $2 2:i rate mid oh, II void lalls to $4 at Port Carbon the operator is losing money he iv giving the void 'my mei Is supply run Ding 1114 eelliory for the benolit of his men -- When coal hrlnga ipd per ton It in sal. to inn sumo thikt the ayUu,l lotion' of prodileing It 01Its $1 rAI per ton I that is, the achial niter pall out by the eperidoi Ie 10, onil itad laborers will be $1.60 per toil In addition to this, there are expenses nol:alreeled by the basis price of labor. amounting to 100411,40 t hr par toll Those exposers are for rent. or royalties, lateral railroad freights, timber, lumber, Sheet Iron, horse and mule feed, innuranee, it.. Thos at a good colliery, with a good month's work, the wad that sells for Si willbost the operator $2 50, leaving it profit of fifty cents per ton, but out of this profit nurse bin deduCted the [ensue of 10 ettlidowns,strik en, susponsit ins and the driving of dead cork 4111 - ing the winter. bet en new look at the cost when veal is selling at $1 The wages will then be .1.1 per rent lens, or $1 a on Instead of $1 fru , the ate tlunikry roseate the name, $l, no tliikt the roan costs the operator s2—exn , fly what lie sells It for—leaving uu nurolus out of which to reimburse himself for kreak downs, strikes, ridiponsimin, and winter's dead work It most Its retpuribered that the 1114.11 410 not want a stead tate of Wages, but 11314• themselves adopted the eliding 'wale lased upon the price if coal. An they get the benefit of eery ad vance in price, they alioulti be willing to de cline as priemi recede. In other bus 1111,' , our /Mita, when n Iran 1tt , e0111,4 n partner in trade lie invests his own capital and agrees to give lila own labor for a specified time, he than lieraintea entitled to a participation nr a dear 1 billion of profits, but he must also mike tip his proportion of losses. Our friends, the members, at the Workingmen's Benevolent Ailataitetion, however, Clain) to 101 l partners, without Investing any money. without binding themselves to smelt.", day longer than Is agree able to themselves, and without being requir ed to bear any share of the tosses They say to their entployer, "You must pay us the three dollar basis as a minimum, at this rate we will get, at the worst, hotter wages than can be earned by any other similar class of labor In the world then, with thin secured as a minimum, whenever coal gets above three dollars, you mulct distribute amongst tin half of your profits " employer replies, "I Will do either one of two things , I will either give you regular wags. throughout the year, unaffected by the price of coal, or I will share my profits with you when coal Is above three dollars, provided you Will let me deduct from your wages, when coal goes below three dol lars, the same percentage I add lo them when It rises above:that price " "No," replies the workingmen, "we can never agree to that, we never will ermit you to oppress us and grind us.into the dusttin that way; you must give us all the profile, and you must beer all the les see; and If you Ifoll ' t eonvent to this before Monday next, we will strike" tin, the strike takes place, and the Work mimeo's benevo lent Society hurries off to Harrisburg to tell the dignltaritta there aseembled, that unless immediate relief is given them from the ra pacity and tyranny of their oniployera, the said dignitarl es will never again be elected to any piddle position In speaking of the amount of wages that ear, be earned under lire $2 :al basis, our friends on the other side are disingenons in referring Only:to the wages of the laborer.. YuU have seen Hutt the largest a ~,,, tint of wages paid at a enlilery, Is tin Miners who work by eontreet, and, Indeed . , all coal mining is dons by the Job. 'rim nailer is paid by the 'aril, or by the wag- Mt, and at the wages offered to them, every good miner can retold) , earn from Si to $s a Jay. Why, gentlemen, you bract, Mei the on tool check-rolls before you, and have seen that miners are earning from Don to ittlki per month, and wine even more than that, and you have had it proved, that the miner ant. dim works mare than six or seven hours a day You, gentlemen, are at llawyers. and I have no doubt that you remember liow: "—through lerigdaye of labor, And nights devoid of ease," you drove for years, by study god severe ap plication, to fit yourselves for the duties of a toilsome and laborious profession I have no doubt—fur It has been the experience of us all—that you were triad If, after two or three years of practice, yen could vomit upon an In come of file or eta hundred dollars • year.— How many, or rather how few of the lawyers, doctor' , sod clergymen of the United Atittaa have ail lacono, IT .110 per annilin 1 I am willing to accord to the !ninon all that Is his due. I think he should be well rewarded for Ills toll, an am glad when he Is prosperous and happyrbut those who labor With their hands shouldyield to those who labor with their mind.. There are those who toll long er and harder than the miner, and who are not paid ono-half ea muoh, and the favors of for are indeed distributed by a careless hand, when we find that the yearly earning, of • miger exceed the average Incomes of the three learned profesidons In the United filatee• fear, too, that, some of Ilheae work ingmen ate dial)01115d to take an agrarian view of this subject and their earnings. I talked to &num. ber is the lobby of the Semite today and, al. though f found most o, them exceedingly son. sible and well disposed toward au amicable ad. justment of our differences, there mune* Who said tome, "Mr. Gowen, in it not lair that you effibuld get so many thousand dollars • year, while we only get hundreds." I replied to him that I could /earn his bumbles, In six weeks, but that I feared that II would require I six years for him to learn mine. Tide was evidently to him • new view of the eerie, and, If did not satisfy him, I think it silenced him. Bat, says the counsel for the Working. men's Benevolent Association, my clients are entitled to large wages; their vocation is en exceedingly dangerous one; even If they meet with no accidents the effect- of working in the mines is so injurious that few live 10 be over 311) ears Of age, They are mere slaves, living In abject misery, And ruled with an Iron hand by their Imperious employers. And my friend Mr. Gall seemed so nitwit I 0 earn. est In tide belief, that during the examina tion he oecasionally asked the witnesses whether they owned their workingmen. Now, 1 don't intend to. deny that mining Is some times *dangerous occupation; bull do deny than Is as dangerous Its many others in which much leas wages are earnea. It is by no means as dangerous a life as that of a brake man on a railroad; and a good miner who works hut rd; oyeeten hours a day will earn twice as much money as a brakeman who works horn tea to twelve hour.. You have heeled a very, experienced gentle. man upon the witness stand say that, he his the Miaow of • miner was not more dengeroui M life thkn that of many me. ohattlettlpUrelits4.Pind U did Rut coare ~ ~r4 v orouly wll.ll that or a ,qprpenter. There Is one eery grtst peculiarity *bent Bib under ground. L speak from my own okulervation, anti I believe labs. been the experience of all who here given the' mutter much attention, wllOllO 111011 0111 . 11 1)0 , 0108 111010 , 0011101.1 to 0..r1c In the minor he never will work else .la a I 1101'0 0111'11 111 . 1 1 / 1 / 1 1 / 1 9 tomorted, and never heard it denied. Mr. Sharpie, when ex- Illallallalt the high wages paid during tho woo :mewled to Iliti lumen anon of all trade.. , "poke 111,k et' and fl inilor who had become miners. and who, through all the 11f 1101 pipit (WO` year., reinitosiol firmly olitiehod In tio•ir new prop ;0, 0//0/ ,11.1 1101 0,011,1011111 g 11, MO nntoh 101 the do t int 11 ,1 4 1. 1111110111 p01..111, /10.- grlldllt 1 , 11.111111 1110 atourioin "I u m early J, 118 01 the witrkinwoo, 11 and, I 10•11 Jll/el/1111e1.1 to 1/0 the united gl l llol . llllly 11104 at thirty-11V° years of ago, our eflell , k, out of regard to tine fit nose and propriety of the tilling, would call non I living within,. nivel thinly , and I expcn•l ad ting 401110 dramatic inflect on i Id Ina produe oil by the appearance of ; n wltinenin,• deal alibi with dremature ago , and In acing up on 1114 'nelson mid exhibiting in 111 manlier the utimistakablo marks of servitude and de gradation; I had looked that theta was Hit ting near WI, Miring innell of tho examina tion, and appal ently tinkling n gnat inlet est en tine procenolinign, it very respecialae, welt iiieased, elperly gentleman, 14110 had UM up 'martini., of 1011041 ant gyinmi, and I k nuppnnned him in be NOIIIO ninninner of the genre! whit WIIB alternated in Ilia solution of 801•1Pli (WOlllOlll that it n+ prennornal wilt be. solvent by this in ventigalion 'chin gentlemen, to my surprise, was called to the ntand Its a. WittlitH9 Ile crltH a miner, had twain all his line 11111 mei tilxty-nie yearn of ago, Miming in wind JIMA 111111,, 11111,1 Oa action, 11101111,Or of the %York illgttlein'n lienevelenl Annociation, it Was our friend Mr. lVlltinms , who now fills the respOnnible inanition of a ItlealtPer of lino Ilene° of itinpresentato es of the great State oP Ponninsylviiiina, and helps to walla the laws w hie!, all of its ?MOO 011.2 y. It in painlial, gen tlemen, 10 reflect on the 1011 g 00111,0 of mi4ery and dingrmiation Ito engin wlnich our ft hold Mr. Wll 11111114 1111141, hilt. , pu,181.1 before 110 was re fillf`eli to ill, present extremity Tlll list workmen call. 41 to the stand was far Hallman, from Danville ale Is n Week smith by trade, mid nn "'neer 01 the National Labot touten. Nature lead adorned 111111 with litilglitticent heard, reel art lend Mitred him person 111 it !Onto! 14'retioli broad...loth, lie eat rie.l a gold-headed eltil3, and, with all thrum unlwat .1 111111 k, of imetentieleitning ;winery and toll, he iFalhetioally deset abed how the clans to which he belonged lead led, and were null weltering, hunt the tyranny and °mires noon elgt , t••pen g the companies by, gentlemen, when I Ito 'red It these ittetnow., and 1 111 then duets with my OH 11, I wally felt some, 'net tednemed of my self, and If 1 hal a hotter sail. I sunlit hat 0 ittrpaltred 1h 11, until .10,41'011er-in ythilladSt, 111111 I t•gaid lot trio repillation al 0 0 4 •1144 0 14. Ilut It In not only opus the Witness stand that these eVidelletw 01 degradation and mis ery have presented theinselVey to you I mar,, 1/1.011 in Ilarrislairg the greater part of Meer, weeks, and as tair solndulis bast, boon hold 111 the afternoon anti evenings. I have had a great deal of leinure during the earlier part. of the flay, and have teeenslowilly ventured_ within thir eliatetbee when the Senate wee. in si salon, to hatch the lances, of taw Ili:11.111g rolitembor that, on one erevwnm my /IIII•III 1011 was attract...l to two or three genii m en gaged in earnest etentet once anti :Seliatora at their desks, and upp.ueully ie11,11,41111,11.1C or expostulating atilt them, I v 11,11111,1 who the gentlemen 1411itpit•I11g, ill course , tllllt they weremmulor. I 1,1410111 /hat they were not Senators, hut members of the Working men's 114411eValent Anweleilliell "What are they doing 4.11 the nom LIIII Senate t' I ex• claimed '‘,l by," replied illy 104,111:Int, they are instruct let); Senators how to vote 110011 cer tain bills, anti threatening them with defeat lit thereto-at uler Urn if they dare disobey -- And It Is these people-14110 browbeat :letilittern —who lire nicotine!, of 0111 lAIKITIIIIIII . O —who deeps in tine lermitlcloi le and earry goldlteaded raitiles—Wha 11104 i the 11111/lldelit e to appear be fore yen en forma p 111.1111.1 /A I have now shown, I hope, nureesnfeilly, that the amount of wagen they vas earn at our offer °keyed.. that realiaed by I ny other china of equal skill In the world, that the offer In Sehteyk ill enmity Is precisely thee Caine as a an m recompietied In November the very lead ers who appear In March he denonnee it as tin - Jnet, anti, therefore, that, by refusing to Recent it, the workingmen ale as much 111 tilt, wrong in protracting the suspension an they Wore In originating It I come new to the action of the railroad companies. On the 15th of February the Reading Railroad Cpmpany Increased its charges from 1k2.011 to $.1.08 between Port Car bon and Philadelphia Shortly afterwards the other compunies,nottle n Mintier advance , and again, idiom the Ist of March, an atltllllon. al advance of V was made by the Reading Railroad Company alone Ender thin elate of facie two questions arise for discussion. First Had these moversl railroad com panies the lawful right to make these charges? Second, have they exercised their power In much a manner as to amount to an abuse or minium of their eltarterai and subsidiary to this, Is the inquiry into the power of the I,eg• InhAttire to determine the qUeehell of abuse or teeelee Mr Brock way Mt, referred you to each psi licular clutrter.and my colleague has discussed the question et the rigll4l„ import, charges so fully as to leave little/hut inn to aid There are lint nye a imam of ntlitute., which revutre comitructlon First. Tns tenth and twentieth sections of theßailroad eliartern Stu, d. - The eighteen section of the blener al Railroad litre of laiJ Third and Fourth The seta of 1866 and 1883 rebating to the Delaware and Lackawana and Western Railroad l'Anupany Fifth The act of ISM, supplementary te the charter of the Lackawanna and Bloom!, burg ltailroad Company U trier the elia - ter of the itirding Railroad l'ompany, granted in 1.014, power wag given to Ole company to charge as tolls nut exerts:lir rig four emit, per ton per mile. ity the other part of the same charter the company wee authorised to furnish motive power. soil to transport paseengers and freight, though noth tug is said about the charge. for such trans portation. NOW, theopointa we make are these First, That the word tolls refers only to the charge fur the use of the roadway when the transportation is done by others FteOMM, 'Chat as power wan given to trans• pert, It follows, as a necessary consequence, that there Is to be implied • power to charge for such service; and as no limit to Imposed by the statute, the managers of the company have a dieleretlonary power to regu- I ate the charges. I do not propose to enter upon any elaborate argument upon these points. Fortunately for the ar Well MI yetintSlVOS, gentlemen we base an express authority In the case of 4ople vs, The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Corn• parry, 4l' F Smith, page 210, whet he very points raised by our friends upon the other aide were discussed and finally determined In our favor This decision of the highest Judi cial tribunal of the State, I am sure, will be considered an authority by you, notwithatand lag the attache which have been made upon it by Mr Rail. In the year 1833, whop the charter was obi/lined, railroad companies were not transporters They simply furnished • road-bed, kept it in repair, and oolleeted the toll from shone who put care upon it. °rte• riling, these cars were pulled by horse power, and afterwards by locomotives. I 01111111 very well remember when upon the Statetoad, be tweet Columbia and Philadelphia, theft' were • number of passenger and transportation lines owned by difTer‘ot individuals, who paid the State a toll for passing over the railroad. And it was exactly such a toil that was meant I Cothe Legislature when the nestling liteilerrad mpany was restricted to the charge or fon! ceate per ton per mile. The very fact that IS another part of the charter power la given to transport, is sufficient to show that the charge for tells did not include lb* coal of transpor tation and car service. I admit thereharters are to be oonstrued fa vorably to the State, and I admit, that a corpo ration takes nothing by implication ; but this last position in admitted with this qualifier tion, that where power Is given to a company to engage In tonsinesn,there Is necessarily to be implied a power to (Marge for trammeling it. Suppose • company was chartered with power to make gas and sell' It to the inhabl tanteof ilarrlsburgh, would It be pretended , that because no maniac power to charge for It was given the company would have no right to collect its gay bills / or if s lawyer was cre ated • oorporation sole, to practioe hie profes sion. would it not be a necessary implication that he had a right to collect fees for his ser vices 1 will it be pretended that • hotel cam pony, holding • chili-tea, which does not epee olOcally grant the power to charge idleror eard and lodging, bas not only power to imi net* in Its charms between theptioe of a mut ton-chop, but that stay impecunious guest could defeat an action for the price of his beard by asserting that it asso as &balsa o 4 tits charter of the company to attempt to make him pay ,what he halation I Sorely, then, both upon n and authority, I ant Justified husk. that the Radio' lea Ota. I peAy. hes Aq no, manner. 'Wi W liest ita.pharMr lq, Mitiddlith;4 or colle4ing its presedt rit for 411 and gr ow fv. The rights - or the other companies are all to be determined by the eighteenh section of the general) railroad law—for though some of their charters were obtained adore the passage of thai law, they ti ive consequently Iwo. placed %gleans provisions. 'dor the act of 1040, railroad companies "re rest rioted to the billowing eliarfren in cars of ether. Throe revs pet .01111 of per toile, nut additional Ohio go of two ciente ' poi Milo per ear—every lour wheels being roantrd as own ear. flow, (tire° cents per 1110t1 potinl. 11, mole ie timial to 1.1 , i void. , for 2:240 pounds per mile; two , 00tts pm mile each t e equals four rents per mile tor the ear; di rt le thin four rents by the cargo—five tone— and It will make eight mill+ per ton per mile, wldeh, added to the ado °outs, makom 4 11l cents per ton of 22M1 pounds per intle as the iiiaXIMCIM rate Wtilell ritiltOnti OOMplinies are permitted to charge, Miller the act of 1849, for transportation In ears of others. It Is always to bo borne in mind that, even under the net o' 18414 there is no /knit Imposed upon the charges whim the rallread companies fortitsl4 1 their own cars. lint it has riot been show that any one of the several railroad entripit. vies who IWO restricted by the net or 1049 has ever made a charge of more than 1 16 cents per ton per toile for transportation of freight In ears of others, and therefore not ono of them luau violated Its charter. Our friends upon the other subs have !tingled out the 0000 of a charge made by the Lacka wanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Company of $1.2.1 for transporting a four-wheeled cardond of ittnestenit mifea, and, drowning amid the envee of testimony which overwhelm them, seize upon it le save themselves. This limestone, it appears, was transported in the cars of the consignor, and hence the limit of lif cents per Rules applies. Thin charge per ton m1014{1041 by sin lotion would give 24-nn cents as the maximum charge per ton allowed by law. Assuming the Oar to linen contained S wetly ()VS itiv, the rime paid Was twenty five cents per tow, our-hutnirethe of a aunt more that wirotrictly lawful. I presume that with you, gentictnen, the maxim de mom nits non rural It..r will relieve us from the weight of this grievous offense, a n d if the Work mg- t=tl==3l=lCM fled, and want to get hold of this four-hon tirethe part of it rent, I will illiteharge the amount on behalf of the Larkan alias and Bloomsburg Railroad Company whenever I can tind In my pocket any change ninall enough lu moet the demand, But, if I recol lect the testimony It wan proved that each ear I'ollllllnel' II ye 111111 0110-11112trtOr tons MO that really, the railroad company bad the legal right to charge 81.al 4 low per car, instmual of 81 25, and uua ft lends take nothing by their motion I e 1111 l tot help however enpresning some aurprise that in this rolli investigation. in which exorbitant and illegal charges for the I ranitportation of coal were Made the lair den iircomplaint, and the wrongs of the our feting !Minna and label ern of the taial region were to he redressed, (Mr friends nhotilil have changed base en suddenly and brought up thin iiiiiteitono reserve to corer their retreat I=l and Ish‘i, relative to the Delaware Lack it minis and W extern Railroad Company By the former it wee, inter alio, enacted that the company should not have tip power to pur chase coal during such time as their charges for transportation were over two cent, per tot. per rode We 'Haim that (heart of lam repeals Oils provision of the act of 18511; but admitting for the purism, of argument, that it does not, x hit follows? not that the company can charge more than two cents per ton per mile, lint art ly drat when it does charge more it cannot purchase, coal, and where, I ask, to there any evidence that the company has purchased •ihotl when Its toils were more than two rents per ton per mile There is none and if there was, NW has the pOrelotso of oval to pen Wth the question to tee discussed before you The only remaining statute to the art of 1070, supplementary to the charter of the laekaantina and Bloomsburg Railroad Cont. patty, Thu, act provides that for any dietan- PPM under ten miles (ho company shall have the right to charge twenty Santa per ton, whenever, by the act of 11449, they would not hare had the right to charge twenty cents.— 'f his art Iran been cited as restricting the emu pony to A charge of twenty cents for any dis tance under ten miles , but it only requires to see that Instead of restricting It enlarges the power of the company; it enables, them to charge more than they could bare done 'thus, for two miles they would have been re. strieted by the act of 1849 to a charge of 0 12 yenta per ton , but by the act of Me they can now charge twenty cents the privilege of charging twenty cents le to apply to ouch die tanees under ten miles fur which under the general law they would have had no power to charge that much hare thus atterripteti to show that, under the proper construction of the 'several matinee no illegal charge has been made by any of the several railroad companies Before tearing the question of violation ofehartera, 1 should probahly allude LO that part of Mr Brock stay's argument referring to the quantity of land held by the De/aware and Lackawanna Rail road Company. It la said this company has too much land, and that no authority ham been shown to hold ft. I really do not know what this has to do with the case now before you I do k now, however, that when General Itrision, of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, was a eu the eland, and an inquiry was motile as to the pow er so hold land, he offered to produce a mem orandum of the Aetenti statutes if they Ware rebuirest , and Mr. Hall Mated that, as it had nothing to do with the subject of the inveen gallon, he would not require them Wo are prepared, if necessary, to show that the c um [early has legal authority to hold all Ito fend , bet 1 apprehend that you will be obliged to us for not accumaatling a mass of testimony upon an entirely irrelevant sulktoct. And now as to the second question, -Hare any of these railroad companies misused or abused their franch•se I have Shown how large an equipment and organ tuition we are always obliged to keep up. I have shown that this equipment and organ isation are to all of us almost as expensive when we are doing nothing as when roads are taxed to their fullest capacity. We are all anxious for trade—have always been willing to do the largest possible amount of business at the lowest possible prises. But, when we are thus fully prepared for trade, an order of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association sud denly deprives us of our business. igpon the Reading Railroad the tonnage fails from ISO.- 000 tone a week to 10,(SX) tons, hut the expen ses remain nearly the same. The coal which cost us bull $1.40 to move when we were trans porting 150,000 tons a week sow costs $8 to $8 a ton Must we continue to carry it for 114 when it costs us VI or he it not ► perfectly reasonable exercise of the discretionary pow er vented In our Board of Managers to Inc mare the charges for transportation, so that the re ceipts of the road shall in domo measure ap proximate to Its expenses ? Can It be possi ble that we are so entirely subject to the do minion of the Workingmen's Benevolent As sociation, that we must tamely submit to bankruptcy and not strike one blow for the the defence of the property which is commit ted to our charge? TM laboring aliaselshk•e been reduced to starvation; the coal oparatots are trembling on the verge of Insolvency; the iron trade has been completely paralysed; and, looking over the ruin and havoc they have made, the lead ers of this association see one other interest which they have not completely subdued.— Because this interest which I now represent adopts means of self-defense, it is represented Si a limping monopoly whose existence Is injurious to the 'elate of society and dated, mental to the hest Interests of the State. Is It an abuse of our charter to attempt. by the legitimate exercise of a discretion vested in us by the Legislature, to preserve the com pany from destruction? have we misused Our power Shea we have only striven to pro• teat ourselves from bankruptcy? It was part of ate contrast between the State and thp com pany that La the managers of the latter should be vested the discretion of establish. lag the rate oftollaspd Otarges for filmgoer. talon. Why should we be coiled to account for the manner in which that discretion bas been eiercleed when we have acted only In obedience to the natural instincts of self-pree. Tallest I . I It le said our charges are prohibitory; but where is the evidence that one single ton but been prohibited Crom trarzcortation 1 Le not the *video's untentrover that the Anthra cite Board of Trade. compris ol ` newly all the goal operatore,. in the Bobuykill region, and representing a yearly tonnage of over four mil lions of tons refused to send one ton of coal at the exorb itant rate of wages demanded by the Work lostnen's Benevolent Association? and did not every operator belonging to that Board testify that the chervil upon the Reed ing Railroad had nothing whatever to do with the ceseatisn of his shipments t It is true that ono co il word probibi. tory, In awaking tit oaf present charges; but, as ha is about the only one who Noe kept his calderas constantly at work, it will readily be seen that the prohibition has in no manner CV:lan and all the others have testified m hp! rate of wages demanded by 'the wOrkingMen, they would not have started their eollieriet, nor sent one lon of ooat over the ntUroad, no matter bow low the (Merges for transportation might have been. liut It we hat u abused or oubsunod our pow ers, it must hgvo been to the injury of ',cone ono Aro the coal operators here to complain of on 1 Do the manufacturers who We cool say that our course he Injured them? Abets and haYond all is the great body of consumers of coal represented hero 'taking you for any relief against us? No I The coo I operators say that our course lea Justifiable one. The iron manufacturers have sent representative men hero to nay that we have in no manner injured them—that our course has their en tire approval. Who, then, complaint', Who is our prosecutor I Upon whoa., information and for whose benefit, have tin An proceedings been instituted, and the great expense o f this investigation Incurred? Why, solely upon the Information and for the benefit of the Work inginen'r Benevolent Association. And what injury have we done to them Why, they tell us that we have prevented them from adding forever hereafter filly cents a ton to the price of all the antbraelte coal that will be mined In Ponnsylvasia; that we have prevent ed them from taking an additional eight or toff millions of dollars per annum out of the pockets Of two tniAioas of people poorer than thoinselves, and dividing It amongst tile 30,- tnoinbors of their association, in addition to the oXoll,ltant wages they are now enabled to receive Well gentlemen, if this really has been the lesult of our action—if, while attempting to siren 011etielVeR from ruin, we have also saved to the consumers of Coal this enormous tax, equal at present to the Interest upon 51i50,000,- i5lO, then we should be mitisldered as public benefitetorn rather than as criminals. If a men should attempt to blow up a house with gunpowder for the meregratification of &taste fur pyroteelinies 1101.110111 d be treated either as a criminal or it, a lunatic ; but -If during a raging conflagration In a largo ally, the spread of the !Trues Is arrested and millions of dol len, worth of property saved by a Welttllroct -0,1 explosion which destroys some interven ing noose, then I apprehend that the man who applied the match to the powder would be en• titled to the thanks and admiration of the community. miners must be taught ono great lesson, viz that there are others who have rights as well as themselves. And It would is, well for those who profess such pro found sympathy for the Workingmen's Remy/- m o ot A.,sociation to remember that for every ono of it, month..., interested In keeping up the mice of void that there one hundred other people—moat of whom are poorer than, and in+ murk de.erVilltc as the nurser—who are J, amply loh•rented lit 11101111 K a supply of cheat, nut lint, fat the cake of argument, let me as smile that an abuse or misuse of corporate franell.es has Neon Plltt.t. to 11.114 DOOM it follow that the Legislature of Perinaylvema Lan the power to determine that giteetion. and having i 1 f , t 1,1111111.1 it, to enter Judgment ill it. i e (own favor against the company 7 l• n the Moslem vs braneli of the Government tas Judge and Jury to Its own comae 7 Th car ter of a company is • contract betwe n the corporation and the State, in Phial it is pro vided that for any abuse or mien". of power the bloodline can be rentlined by the Legisla ture But, to a dispute, as to whether there has Goan such abuse or misuse, can one of the parties to the contract undertake to eleelde lit. ease in its own favor 1 The Constitution provides thattheright of trial by Jury shall remain invillate; and the eitisen whose pro perty in represented by railroad shares or bonds le 111 s much entitled to the protection of the Constitution as he whose properly is in Nooses or lands The guention.of abuse or misuse can only be Investigated and determined by the courts, and according to the settled law of the kind; Rad I Phan say no mote upon this subject than simply to refer you to the Connellsvllle Bald road easel!, where—both id the ttate and Federal Courts—the doctrine for which I am now contending was fully sustained by all the Judges It would perhaps not be Courteous to my friend Mr.l3rockway, who opened this case for the Workingmen's Benevolent Association If I did not refer to two or three points made by him during the course of his ■rgument.— Ile been poring over the report of the Reading Railroad Company to the Auditor leneral, and he discovered, by mime unfath omable prom -eels of calculation, that the rail road company, out of Klima laitio,uno groan receipts upon coal, had earned over lia.a0104111) or not profit% Now, we all know, how valua ble to his clients are Mr Brockway's service. atl a lawyer, but If he can sneered In demon strating to the shareholders of our company that we made so much money, I think him Senn 141$ an a railroad ox pert would be worth at least hall a million of dollars per annum.— I fear, however, that no other onstration than the amnia dlatribution o the money would satisfy those of tit who have been ne "iitoined to believe that net profile are sim ply the deference between gross receipt. and actual expenditure. If thin six millions or doii.rs of net profits exist, the money should he somewhere. An Mr Brockway has disco•. void the existence of the profits. he must be held responsible fur the production of the nosey, !Vol, on behalf of our shareholderg must ask loin to show inn where I can lay my hands upon It, for it belongs to us Until he does that, I must continue to behove that he will rooooo 111010 celebrated as a lawyer than sewn accountant. 1 Irma the I will not l e considered egotia ties I when I pay that I believe I know more about this question of profits than Mr. Brock way doe• I know that last year we transport ed about 4,600,000 LIMN of 0044 and that we made but 31 0011t41 per toe, widclt In no more than could have been made If we had simply owned °crowd ears, and had hired them to other railroad companies. Thal is, In conse gunnee of the long suspension caused by the order of the Workingmen's Benevolent Asso ciation, we did not make any more money oat of acapital of IkOu,GlM,oigi invested in railroads, motive power, and mire, than we might have made out of IM,ouo,OW of capital inverted in cars alone When Mr. Brockway speaks of the enor mous profits realised by coal operator., I think he is still further from the real Note than he was when be announced his discovery of railroad profits Ido not believe that the aggro to capital Invested In mat intuits; operations since the year 1820 has realised an average Income of 234 per cent. to Its owner.. There have been, of course, some fortunate adventurers, but taking the good with the bad, very much doubt whether even 2% per cent. per annum has been realised upon at ' But in his examination of that se ductive volume, the railroad reports, Mr Brockway has found another mare's nest, and with great confidence he an tiouncedtkat he bad ascertained that the Doiaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company has actually cheated the State out of $BOO,OOO of taxes.— Now I khow something about those two Linda of persons, natural and artill cal —something about men and 5011114- thing about corporations. I know that all men must die, and that in Pennsyl vania all morporations must pay their taxes; and so long as my friend, Gen. Ilartranft, is Auditor General of the State, I believe that the doom of the corporation is as inevitable as the doom of man, and upon this subject 1 speak from painful experience. I was somewhat at • loss to know why evidence was given to show that a proportion of the Mock of the Reading Railroad was bald abroad, but hofere Mr. Brockway got through with his ar gument I was enlightened. You know that paret testimony is frequently given to lay ground fox the introduction. 01 some documentary evidence ; and thii testimony, It appears, was Offered to lay ground for the introduction of the rhst= orical flourish wiph which my friend closed his-argument, via..4-.-ALlbat Brit ish gold, which beatdriven hi* clients from the home of their ancestorariptill continued to persecute them' in the hind of their adoption.Y i Now, if my friend's clients %serer*. ly driven to this country by British gold, I don't think they have much dense to complain. I earcily think that my worthy friend, *tr... Williams, would have been a member of Parliament bat he remainedln Great Britain; ahlj feet confident that the average earning* of* blaeltsiniOi in .England, sreland i; Sootiand.4o Wales would net have 9.. atil*l my elegant friend itr; Hallman to array his person in Frilled bneadetatlF and to support the' dignity of his pearanee gold-beaded. (mann-% [ oo Mixtln.ttN4X.Vititiiii 1'40114
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