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lynching of Robert Prager, the United Mine Workers, and the problems of patriotism in 1918, The
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Winter 2003 by Schwartz, E A
If the report of St. Louis Labor, a weekly Socialist newspaper, can be trusted, Robert Paul Prager arrived in Collinsville at about this time and went to work at the Bruno Bakery. Oddly, if Luebke was right about Prager having been fired by the bakery, Mrs. Bruno would describe him as "the best workman we ever had in the many years we are in business." She said that Prager "could do the finest bakery work, or any other work he was asked to do. And he was a fast worker, although he was somewhat of a physical cripple." Although he was very intelligent, she said, "he had was a certain peculiarity in his makeup which, at times, made him quarrelsome with people who did not agree with his ideas on ways of doing things. But as a rule he would soon get over his excitement and, when seeing that he was wrong, he would not hesitate to apologize for his queer actions."24
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At least some miners in southern Illinois were showing signs of rebellion against their union in the middle of the summer of 1917. Frank Farrington, president of District 12 of the UMW, the Illinois district, issued an "official circular" on 20 July in Springfield that called upon miners in his district to keep labor peace in order to defeat "the monstrous infamies, the cruel barbarities, the disdain shown for all civilized ethics, the desecrations of everything good in human life" of the "military despotism" America had been forced to fight. Miners must cooperate in increasing production, Farrington said, because, "Men who are in a position to know tell us that a more plentiful supply of coal is necessary to success."
Cooperation did not mean disturbing "established standards" or failing to take advantage of "every legitimate opportunity to improve standards and increase wages," Farrington added. The union, however, would deal with standards and wages: "It is intended that it shall be made clear to you that the practice of shutting down mines in violation of our agreement to force some desired condition, and of suspending work under every conceivable pretext, must be stopped."25
A work stoppage that could and would be interpreted as fitting into the category Farrington had defined took place on 26 July at the Lumaghi Mine No. 2. According to the Herald, the strike had been caused by "a small group of malcontents-thought by some to be paid German agents or I.W.W. agitators." In the column next to the story about the strike, the Herald quoted a story from the St. Louis Republic claiming that "I.W.W. leaders are being supplied with German money to carry on a war against industry intended to cripple the United States Government and its Allies." Agitators making liberal use of German money were provoking strikes with "no real causes."
As the Herald described it, the strike had begun when "a dozen or more of the miners-some Italians, some Austrians-refused to work, saying the scales used to weight [sic] the coal at the mine to determine what each miner's pay shall be were inaccurate." Moses Johnson, UMW district board member, was called in, and both he and the county mine inspector certified the accuracy of the scale. Johnson declared the strike was unjustified and ordered it ended. "The only result was a near riot at the mine," the Herald reported. "Most of the men were afraid to go down because of possible violence."
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