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 Church Association for the 
 Advancement of the 
 
 <T 
 
 Interests of Labor 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF 
 
 INVESTIGATION OF CONDITIONS 
 IN 
 
 WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PA. 
 
 OCTOBER, 1911. 
 
C. A. I. L. 
 
 Diocesan House, 416 1_a eav'et te Street 
 NEW VORK, N. V. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 RT. REV. DAVID HUMMEL GREER, D.D., L.L.D. 
 
 President. 
 
 RT. REV. CHAS. S. BURCH. D.D. 
 
 First Vice-President. 
 
 HARRIETTE A. KEYSER, 
 
 Second Vice-President. 
 
 MARGARET SCHUYLER LAWRANCE, 
 
 Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 LEONORA STOEPPLER, 
 
 Recording Secretary. 
 
 H. B. LIVINGSTON, Treasurer. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 The Officers, Chairmen Standing Committees, and 
 REV. JOSEPH REYNOLDS, Vermont. 
 
 REV. J. P. PETERS. Ph.D., New York. 
 
 REV. F. W. TOMPKINS, Philadelphia. Pa. 
 
 PROF. J. H. DILLARD, New Orleans. 
 
 REV. HENRY M. BARBOUR, New York. 
 
 MISS MARY LENTE, New York. 
 
 WALTER D. DAVIDGE. 
 
 MARY LENTE, 
 
 Chairman Ways and Means Committee. 
 GEORGE M. REED, 
 
 Chairman Organized Labor Committee. 
 ANNA S. DANIEL, M. D., 
 
 Chairman Tenement House Committee. 
 LILY F. FOSTER, 
 
 Chairman Legislative Committee. 
 HARRIETTE A. KEYSER, 
 
 Chairman Church and Stage Committee. 
 JOSIAH C. PUMPELLY, 
 
 Chairman Congestion Committee. 
 HARRIETTE A. KEYSER, 
 
 Chairman Press Committee. 
 
 1 
 
/ 
 
 
of August, 1911, the call came to the Church 
 Association for the Advancement of the Interests of Labor 
 through its sister society in the Church, the Companions 
 of the Holy Cross, to go to the help of the people in the 
 mining towns in Westmoreland Co., Pa., where a long 
 strike of sixteen months had just ended, leaving many in 
 sore distress. In answer to this appeal three members of 
 C. A. I. L, who were also members of the Society of the 
 Companiohs of the Holy Cross, went to this district to in¬ 
 vestigate and strive to ameliorate conditions there. 
 
 Letters of introduction to clergymen, labor leaders and 
 prominent citizens made it possible to study the situation 
 from many standpoints, and under the guidance of some 
 who had worked in this district during the strike, we came 
 into actual contact with those who had suffered from the 
 late industrial conflict, and saw for ourselves the condi¬ 
 tions which it had produced. We heard also the testimony 
 of others not connected with the mining industry in any 
 way, who, living in the mining towns or their vicinity, 
 were well informed as to the history of those sixteen 
 months, and told us of many incidents they had personally 
 witnessed. 
 
 The greatest courtesy was shown by Mr. Francis Feehan, 
 the wise and able president of the Pittsburg District No. 5, 
 United Mine Workers, and by other members of that 
 Union. We were especially indebted to Mr. Joseph Little- 
 wood, of the Greensburgh Local, who spared no trouble to 
 render our stay in that town pleasant and comfortable. 
 
 Wishing to obtain the views of the employers as well as 
 the employees as to the questions at issue between them, 
 application was also made to the three coal companies 
 which have their headquarters in Pittsburg. A very courte¬ 
 ous reply was received from the President of one of these 
 companies, appointing a time for the suggested interview, 
 but unfortunately, the time set was already booked for 
 
 ft ! 
 
 3 
 
an important engagement, and further efforts, on our part 
 to obtain interviews or written information were unsuc¬ 
 cessful. This is to be regretted, but fortunately we were 
 able to reinforce our observations by the article in the 
 “Survey” of Dec. 3d, 1910, written by Paul Kellogg, and 
 another in the “American” for July, 1911, by Algernon 
 Crapsey. Both of these writers in the course of a more 
 extensive investigation, saw both the operators and their 
 employees, and in their articles give the opinions of 
 each side. 
 
 Much valuable information was also obtained from the 
 Summary Report of the Immigration Commission on “Im¬ 
 migrants in Manufactuiling and Mining,” and the Report 
 of the Hearings held before the Committee on Rules, 
 House of Representatives, on the resolution authorizing 
 the Committee on Labor to investigate conditions in the 
 Westmoreland Coal Fields of Pennsylvania. From these 
 various sources, supplemented by personal observation, 
 the following brief outline of a history which might fill 
 volumes is compiled : 
 
 The strike had been the result of long dissatisfaction of 
 workers in the Westmoreland coal field, which lies to the 
 east of Pittsburg as the Pittsburg field lies to the west. 
 The same vein of coal extends through both fields, and 
 mining conditions are very similar: but the conditions of 
 labor in the two fields are vastly different. The Pittsburg 
 field is organized, the men have voice in their contracts, 
 they w^ork only eight hours a day, they are paid at a regu¬ 
 lar rate for “dead work,” i. e., for removing slate and clay, 
 pumping water, and doing various other kinds of deficient 
 work connected with mining. Their wages are about 
 twenty per cent, higher than those of the men in the West¬ 
 moreland field who work ten hours a day and are seldom 
 paid for “dead work.” These latter workers are paid by 
 the w~agon load, or ton, lower rates being paid for mine-run 
 
 4 
 
coal, and higher for that which is too large to pass through 
 the screens, w^hich vary in size from three-quarters of an 
 inch to an inch and a quarter. The wagons also are of 
 different sizes, and it is claimed have been enlarged with¬ 
 out the pay per wagon being increased. The men w ho are 
 paid by the ton are seldom allowed to have their own 
 check weighman on the tipple, and thus have suspicions 
 that they are defrauded of their just dues. 
 
 In some mines the men are required to pay twenty-live 
 cents every two weeks for sharpening tools; and deductions 
 from wages are made for doctors’ fees, whether or not 
 there is illness. Five cents a day is charged each miner 
 for the use of the new safety lamps, which they are not 
 allowed to buy. It is claimed by the men that the dimmer 
 light given by these lamps is injurious to their eyesight 
 and renders them more liable to accidents, although the 
 danger from explosion is lessened. They contend that it 
 is unreasonable to require the use of safety lamps by the 
 men, while the use of electric cutting machines is unre¬ 
 stricted. In this opinion they are supported by the follow¬ 
 ing statement of the chief inspector of coal mines in 
 Pennsylvania, in an annual report: “In gaseous mines 
 electric cutting machines or other electric motors should 
 never be permitted in use, as otherwise sooner or later 
 they will be the cause of a great catastrophe.” This is 
 quoted by the Bureau of Labor Bulletin No. 90, which goes 
 on to say: “It is an entirely safe assumption that some of 
 the disastrous gas explosions have been due to dust or 
 gas ignited by electric sparks.” 
 
 The men are required to buy their owui powder, which 
 is quite an item. One man whom we met figured it as 
 ranging from $1.00 to $2.50 a week. Just previous to 
 the strike, a new and safer explosive w r as prescribed by 
 law to be used, and the greater expense of this, and the 
 fact that it broke the coal into smaller pieces were largely 
 responsible for the strike. The operators acknowledged 
 that the wages of the men w r ere reduced by the introduc- 
 
 5 
 
tion of the new lamps and explosives, and one company 
 made a slight advance in consequence, though not suffi¬ 
 cient to make up the actual loss. When one learns from 
 the Report of the Commission on Immigration that the 
 average yearly wage of all workmen in bituminous mines 
 is only $443.00 it is easy to see how seriously these reduc¬ 
 tions and deductions diminished the scanty earnings of 
 these men. If work were steady the yearly wage would 
 undoubtedly be considerably higher; bu,t there are often 
 slack times when the mines are closed down, while during 
 the period when business is good, men are required to 
 work seven days in the week, or lose their positions. 
 
 Meetings of the men to discuss their grievances led to 
 their dismissal from the mines, and refusal of the compan¬ 
 ies to consider their protests led to the general strike. 
 The United Mine Workers of America upheld the demands 
 of the men, and about eighteen thousand joined the union 
 and left the mines. 'Some of the companies would, it is 
 said, have gladly yielded to the demands of the men, but 
 were not permitted to break the ranks of the union of 
 employers, so they simply closed down their mines, per¬ 
 mitted their employees to continue in the company houses, 
 and when the strike ended took back all the men. But 
 the majority of the companies imported new men to work 
 the mines, numbers of whom afterwards escaped, and re¬ 
 ported that they had been detained against their will in 
 the stockades within the companies’ grounds. Affidavits 
 to this effect were presented at the hearing before the 
 Rules Committee already referred to. Claiming that the 
 local authorities did not make adequate efforts to pre¬ 
 serve order, the operators arranged for over four hundred 
 men to be sworn in as deputy sheriffs by the Sheriff of 
 Westmoreland County. These men were put on the pay¬ 
 rolls of the companies. They not only guarded the mines 
 and the new men, but patrolled the public roads, stopped 
 parades and ordered the American flag to be furled when 
 
 6 
 
carried by strikers, even at the funeral of a man who had 
 been a soldier in the Philippine war, this with the approval 
 of one of the mine owners. Persons were arrested by 
 these deputy sheriffs without the formality of a war¬ 
 rant, and even a commitment to jail was often not recorded. 
 The power vested in them was the more dangerous when, 
 as was too often the case, they were men of bad character, 
 who made the roads unsafe for the wives and daughters 
 of the farmers of the locality, as well as for the strikers 
 and their families. A petition for their banishment from 
 the public roads was signed by ninety-nine residents in one 
 town. Many sad conflicts resulted from this state of 
 things, and many were the charges of brutality and injus¬ 
 tice on both sides. 
 
 The Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce offered to arbi¬ 
 trate, but was refused by the operators, though wel¬ 
 comed by the men. 
 
 The majority of the miners had been living in company 
 houses, and were, of course, evicted, with the women and 
 children of their families. The Union rented land from 
 those who would allow r them to do so, and put up tents, 
 and the following winter erected shacks to shelter them; 
 but there was much overcrowding, and the suffering for 
 want of clothing, fuel and food which there were no wages 
 to buy, was very great. 
 
 During the sixteen months, six hundred babies were 
 born. During the same period two hundred persons died, 
 thirty-one of whom were adults, the balance being chil¬ 
 dren of all ages. 
 
 Aid was distributed by the Union from week to rweek, 
 according to its funds, the amounts ranging from 75 cents 
 to $2.50 a week for each man—'2-5 cents to $1.00 for each 
 woman, and 10 to 50 cents for each child—or an average 
 weekly allowance of $1.50 for a man, 60 cents for a woman, 
 30 cents for each child. 
 
 Private individuals learning of the extreme poverty and 
 
 7 
 
suffering also contributed, some giving much needed per¬ 
 sonal service as well. Prominent among these was the 
 Rev. D. L. Schultz, pastor of the Lorenz Avenue Baptist 
 church, Pittsburg, who. hearing of the need, investigated 
 and immediately began to work for relief, ministering to 
 both the souls and bodies of the many thousands in the 
 strikers’ camps. The United Mine Workers appreciated 
 his disinterested efforts and petitioned the Baptist Home 
 Mission Society to appoint him their Labor Evangelist; 
 which was done in December, 1910. 
 
 Another devoted worker was Mrs. Van Bittner, the 
 young wife of the Vice-President of the Pittsburg District 
 of the United Mine Workers, who before her marriage, 
 and during the strike, lived in the vicinity of the camps of 
 the evicted families. Hearing of the suffering among 
 them, she proffered her services and did unselfish and 
 heroic work in caring for the women and children, nursing 
 the sick, attending the hundreds of new-born babies, and 
 being at all times ready to assist the noble doctor who 
 gave his services in such cases. She also distributed re¬ 
 lief as the representative of the United Mine Workers. 
 
 In July, 1911, the strike was declared off, leaving its 
 terrible record of violence, privation and death, financial 
 loss to the operators, and on both sides loss of good will. 
 Many of the old men were refused work, but many were 
 taken back, these and the new men all working under the 
 same conditions as before the strike, as no concessions 
 were made. 
 
 On Oct. 12th, the representatives of the C. A. I. L. and 
 the S. C. H. C. arrived in Greensburg, the county seat, 
 and began the work of investigation. Under the escort 
 of the Rev. D. L Schulz, whose friendship was invaluable, 
 we saw much that might have escaped us with a less ex¬ 
 perienced guide. With him we visited a number of mining 
 towns, and found great difference in housing conditions. 
 Sometimes miners rent or own their own houses. Generally, 
 
 8 
 
however, they are obliged to live in company houses, of a 
 barren and dreary appearance. They seemed unnecessar¬ 
 ily close together when one saw the waste of hillside 
 above them. Tn some of these towns there was a system 
 of drainage; in others open channels leading nowhere in 
 particular. In one such town the houses were built on a 
 slope, in three tiers, one below another, with an uneven 
 road between them. On each tier were pumps, one sup¬ 
 plying three houses. Seeing how the drainage from the 
 houses on the tiers above them must contaminate the 
 water on the lower level, we did not wonder at the epi¬ 
 demics of typhoid and infantile paralysis of which we 
 heard. The houses were of different sizes, some desig¬ 
 nated as “shanties,” well deserving the name. Others 
 were about twenty-five feet wide, by thirty feet deep, 
 divided in the middle by a thin partition; each side being 
 rented to a family at a rent of about seven dollars per 
 month. Three or four rooms are the average allotment. 
 Children swarmed, with no playground but the dirty 
 streets. One town was visited on a day when the mines 
 were shut down and the men were at home. There seemed 
 no way for them to profitably employ their enforced 
 leisure. It seemed a pity that they were not encouraged 
 to plant gardens in the waste lands about them. Accord¬ 
 ing to the report of the United States Immigration Com¬ 
 mission most of these men came from southeastern 
 Europe where the majority were farmers, or farmers’ 
 helpers, and there seems great economic waste in their 
 being drafted into mining districts, instead of being en¬ 
 couraged to engage in agriculture. 
 
 Visits were made on families of some of the men who 
 since the strike are unable to obtain employment at any 
 of the mines of the large companies of Westmoreland Co. 
 Of these there are many hundreds. Such visits were sad, 
 even one to the bright and immaculate home of the Eng- 
 
 9 
 
lish miner who had worked many years in that vicinity. 
 Before the influx of Slavs, Polaks, etc., had reduced wages, 
 lie had saved sufficient to build a pretty house in a neat 
 garden where vegetables thrive and flowers are blooming 
 everywhere. It seems hard indeed that a man should be 
 an exile from such a home, but he can get no work nearer 
 than the Pittsburg field, so he can only return at intervals. 
 His daughter had been arrested by a deputy sheriff dur¬ 
 ing the strike for “trespass,” she having inadvertently 
 crossed a piece of company land on the common path on 
 her way to tlie house of a neighbor who had just died. 
 When she was brought before the “Squire,” or Justice of 
 the Peace, he pronounced that she was acquitted but moist 
 pay the cost. This we found a common sentence during the 
 strike. In the case of those unable to pay. a term of days 
 in jail was imposed on those just acquitted. 
 
 Two laws of the state were prominently brought for¬ 
 ward at this time. One against disorderly conduct pro¬ 
 vides a penalty for making a loud, boisterous, or unseemly 
 noise in the public highway; the other, a trespass law, 
 provides a penalty for trespassing on posted private prop¬ 
 erty. In respect to the enforcement of these laws the 
 Justices of the Peace are given absolute jurisdiction to 
 settle and determine these cases, and the only way they 
 can be appealed to a higher court is by special allowance 
 of the coufrt. When we learned that two of these Justices 
 had offices on company property, we were not surprised 
 at the decisions rendered. The trespass law was used by 
 deputy sheriffs to prevent men from getting their mail at 
 post offices, when these were situated, as was frequently 
 the case, in the company stores. 
 
 In one household visited, the mother and one of the 
 daughters were arrested ip their own yard by a deputy 
 sheriff during a parade of the wives and daughters of 
 
 10 
 
strikers, in which neither was taking part. With nine 
 other girls and women they were taken before a squire, 
 charged with disorderly conduct, and were not permitted 
 to testify in their own behalf. They were all sentenced 
 to a fine of ten dollars or twenty days in jail. Not being 
 able to pay they went to jail. 
 
 An attorney for the Union appealed to the court and 
 obtained a rehearing of the case, at which the younger 
 girls were declared innocent, but were sentenced to pay 
 the costs. On the occasion of another parade, a married 
 daughter in the same family was arrested, though she also 
 was not in the parade. She was fined fifteen dollars, or 
 thirty days in jail, to which she was taken, and where her 
 three months old baby was brought every day. The bad 
 air and the confinement made her ill, and after fifteen 
 days the Union paid the fine and costs, and she was re¬ 
 leased. But her health was permanently impaired, and 
 when we saw her she was in bed with the little white¬ 
 faced baby, both victims of this travesty of justice. 
 
 When we asked how such things could be allowed, the 
 answer was a shrug, and ‘'This is Westmoreland County.” 
 
 That seemed a good and sufficient answer to many such 
 questions. The s?ime feeling is expressed in a recent 
 letter from the mother of the family mentioned above: 
 “In Westmoreland County there is no law for the poor 
 .people; we will have to wait. 1 often think it will be a 
 treat to get up before a just • God that will give us jus¬ 
 tice.” 
 
 Many tragic cases could be cited of miners killed 
 by deputies with little or no provocation, and injuries 
 inflicted on both men and women—some under circum¬ 
 stances of peculiar brutality. All serve to show the forces 
 which control in this region. This collection of mining 
 towns seems to constitute a little state by itself, where 
 law, the press, railroads, the exercise of the franchise, 
 and public opinion, are all dominated by those in control 
 
 11 
 
of the chief industry. The connection of the railroads 
 with the coal companies is an open secret. The claim 
 that, men are forced to vote before being naturalized is 
 made too often to be disregarded. It is said that only 
 8,737 men have been naturalized in the last 110 years in 
 this region where there is an immense foreign vote. These 
 foreigners are recognized as constituting a grave responsi¬ 
 bility by those who have studied the question of their em¬ 
 ployment. 
 
 The Bulletin of Labor No. 90 states that for the ten 
 years from 1899 to 1908 inclusive, the number of fatal 
 accidents among the employees in the bituminous fields 
 of Pennsylvania alone was 4,552, “to say nothing of the 
 vast amount of bodily injury through accidents not imme¬ 
 diately fatal,” and again, “compared with other important 
 coal mining countries of the world, the fatality rate in 
 North America is decidedly higher.” 
 
 In the report of the Immigration Commission we read: 
 “There seems a direct causal effect between the extensive 
 employment of recent immigrants in American mines and 
 the extraordinary increase within recent years in the 
 number of mining accidents.” “Before coming to the 
 United States the greater proportion were engaged in 
 farming or unskilled labor, and had no experience in 
 mining. As a consequence their employment in the 
 mines has been made possible only by the invention of 
 mechanical devices.... In bituminous coal mining the pick 
 or the hand miner was formerly an employee of skill and 
 experience. ... By the invention of the mining machine 
 his work has been reduced to unskilled labor, and given to 
 recent immigrants.” We were told by one of the men 
 that by the use of electric cutting machines thei cost of 
 mining a ton of coal was reduced nearly one-half. But 
 what of (he cost in life ? What of the ^conditions under 
 which these recent immigrants are working at this dan¬ 
 gerous occupation which their presence renders more 
 
 12 
 
dangerous? Under such conditions how are they to 
 'become enlightened American citizens and kept from 
 being a menace to working men with higher ideals ? In 
 this connection the opposition to labor organizations is to 
 oe much regretted. It is stated in tlie “Report on Immi¬ 
 grants in Manufacturing and Mining” that when the influx 
 of immigrants became greater and greater in the bitumin¬ 
 ous mining districts labor organizations were formed 
 through “the realization by the pioneer mine workers that 
 if they wished to perpetuate the existing standards of 
 workmanship, the working conditions to which they were 
 accustomed, and if they were to hope for better condi¬ 
 tions and higher wages in the future, they must control 
 the incoming thousands and eduucate them as to what 
 they considered proper conditions of employment, 
 standards of living, and rates of compensation.” If the 
 employers had co-operated with this effort of the em¬ 
 ployees here, as in some other fields, what a different 
 story could be told of Westmoreland County ! As it is t 
 the natural order of events will be that the men now work¬ 
 ing will in their turn realize the' small purchasing power 
 of their wages, and the many ways in which these are re¬ 
 duced, and other accompanying grievances, and will strike 
 as did those whose places they are now talking. From 
 representatives of different classes in the community we 
 heard the same ominous forecast of industrial w r ar, 
 April, 1912, when the new contracts are made in the or¬ 
 ganized held, will be the critical time. 
 
 The influence of the unorganized held upon the organ¬ 
 ized should be fully realized. The lower wages, longer 
 hours, non-payment for “dead work,” etc., make it possi¬ 
 ble for the operators in Westmoreland County constantly 
 to underbid those in the Pittsburg field. 
 
 We heard of one of these latter who had been forced 
 out of business, and there is ever present danger that this 
 pressure may be strong enough seriously to affect the 
 drawing up of satisfactory contracts with the Union. 
 
 13 
 
Surely all thoughtful people should earnestly consider 
 this complicated situation in all its bearings, and pray that 
 grace and wisdom may he given to ail concerned. 
 
 In considering what immediate steps could be taken to 
 improve conditions in this region, it seemed to the 
 C. A. I. L. investigators that a great opportunity was pre¬ 
 sented for the work of a Social Settlement with skilled 
 workers who could start classes among men, women, and 
 children for physical and moral development, and give in¬ 
 struction in simple sanitation and hygiene. There is spe¬ 
 cial need for a nurse to minister to the sick, and as 
 these little towns are within a short distance of each other 
 and connected by a network of railroads and trolleys, 
 such a nurse could easily attend cases in many different 
 towns. We strove to interest representatives of social 
 and philanthropic societies in the condition of the miners 
 and their families, and in the idea of the proposed settle¬ 
 ment. Several accepted our invitations to accompany us 
 on our tours of investigation, among them Mr. Alien T. 
 Burns, Secretary of the Pittsburg Civic Commission, who 
 was most interested in our work and plans. To him we 
 were greatly indebted both for valuable counsel and prac¬ 
 tical aid, and when we left Pittsburg he consented to act 
 as the representative of the group of people in that city 
 who were most interested in the settlement plan. 
 
 We were invited to speak at several meetings of socie¬ 
 ties and organizations, giving an account of our investiga¬ 
 tions and plans. 
 
 We also arranged for Mrs. Raymond Robins, President 
 of the Woman’s Trade Union League, to come on from 
 Chicago and go with us on one of our trips, and to give 
 an address on “Present Conditions in Westmoreland 
 County/’ to which the general public was invited. At this 
 meeting a sympathetic letter from the Rt. Rev. Courtlandt 
 Whitehead, who was out of town, was read by Rev. E. H. 
 
 14 
 
Ward, D. D., Chairman of the Social Service Committee 
 of the Diocese, who himself made a strong speech in favor 
 of Social Service on the part of the Church, 
 
 A conference with representatives of the different social 
 agencies of the city was also held in which plans were dis¬ 
 cussed. It was there reported that in the town which 
 seemed to us the best location for thei settlement, a com¬ 
 mittee of representative citizens, chosen by a federation 
 of all churches, had been formed which would gladly co¬ 
 operate with any movement such as has here been out¬ 
 lined. 
 
 Since leaving Pittsburg, many efforts have been made 
 to awaken interest in influential quarters, and it is hoped 
 some of these may bear fruit. Such a rural settlement 
 whose influence would extend throughout so large a sec¬ 
 tion would be a new and most important departure in 
 Social Welfare work. W T hile the solving of the great 
 problem .of establishing Capital and Labor upon a basis 
 of mutual respect and helpfulness is the urgent need of 
 the hour, and one in which the Church should take an im¬ 
 portant part, this concrete effort to ameliorate present 
 conditions may draw attention to the more important 
 issue, and also act as a solvent of some of the existing 
 sources of friction. 
 
 It is earnestly hoped that many who are considering 
 “social questions of the day in the light of the Incarna¬ 
 tion/’ will wish not only to work towards the ultimate 
 setting up of Christ’s Kingdom of Justice on earth, but 
 to win the blessing—“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
 one of the least of these My brethren, ve have done it 
 unto Me.” 
 
 MARGARET SCHUYLER LAWRANCE. 
 
 LUCY CARLILE WATSON. 
 
 MARGARET HILLIS SHEARMAN. 
 
 15 
 
O God, at Whose word man goeth forth unto his work 
 and to his labor until the evening, be merciful to all those 
 whose duties are difficult or burdensome, and comfort 
 them concerning their toil. Shield from bodily accident 
 and harm the workmen at their work. Protect the efforts 
 of sober and honest industry, and suffer not the hire of 
 the laborers to be kept back by fraud. 
 
 Enlighten all employers of labor with the gift of thp 
 Holy Spirit, that they may consider, not what the world 
 would sanction, but what Thy law demands. Incline their 
 hearts, and the hearts of those whom they employ, to 
 mutual forbearance, fairness, and good will. 
 
 All which we ask through the name of Him Who glori¬ 
 fied all labor by His life of toil, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
 16