d even the general public sent the striking
miners financial aid. In Illinois Governor John R. Tanner refused the
requests for militia made by several sheriffs.

The general strike of 1897 ended in the central competitive field after
a twelve-weeks' struggle. The settlement was an unqualified victory for
the union. It conceded the miners a 20 percent increase in wages, the
establishment of the eight-hour day, the abolition of company stores,
semi-monthly payments, and a restoration of the system of fixing
Interstate wage rates in annual joint conferences with the operators,
which meant official recognition of the United Mine Workers. The
operators in West Virginia, however, refused to come in.

The first of these Interstate conferences was held in January, 1898, at
which the miners were conceded a further increase in wages. In addition,
the agreement, which was to run for two years, established for Illinois
the run-of-mine[53] system of payment, while the size of the screens of
other states was regulated; and it also conceded the miners the
check-off system[54] in every district, save that of Western
Pennsylvania.[55] Such a comprehensive victory would not have been
possible had it not been for the upward trend which coal prices had
taken.

But great as was the union's newly discovered power, it was spread most
unevenly over the central competitive field. Its firmest grip was in
Illinois. The well-filled treasury of the Illinois district has many
times been called upon for large contributions or loans, to enable the
union to establish itself in some other field. The weakest hold of the
United Mine Workers has been in West Virginia. At the end of the general
strike of 1897, the West Virginia membership was only about 4000.
Moreover, a further spread of the organization met with unusual
obstacles. A large percentage of the miners of West Virginia are Negroes
or white mountaineers. These have proven more difficult to organize than
recent Southern and Eastern European immigrants, who formed the majority
in the other districts. And yet West Virginia as a growing mining state
soon assumed a high strategic importance. A lower wage scale, the better
quality of its coal, and a comparative freedom from strikes have made
West Virginia a formidable competitor of the other districts in the
central competitive field. Consequently West Virginia operators have
been able to operate their mines more days during the year than
elsewhere