led with a somewhat larger degree of recognition,
but by no means a complete recognition. Nor was the check-off system
granted. Strangest of all, the agreement called for a four-year
contract, as against a one-year contract originally demanded by the
union. In spite of the opposition of local leaders, the miners accepted
the agreement. President White's chief plea for acceptance was the need
to rebuild the union before anything ambitious could be attempted.

After 1912 the union entered upon the work of organization in earnest.
In the following two years the membership was more than quadrupled. With
the stopping of immigration due to the European War, the power of the
union was greatly increased. Consequently, in 1916, when the agreement
was renewed, the miners were accorded not only a substantial wage
increase and the eight-hour day but also full recognition. The United
Mine Workers have thus at last succeeded in wresting a share of
industrial control from one of the strongest capitalistic powers of the
country; while demonstrating beyond doubt that, with intelligent
preparation and with sympathetic treatment, the polyglot immigrant
masses from Southern and Eastern Europe, long thought to be impervious
to the idea of labor organization, can be changed into reliable material
for unionism.

The growth of the union in general is shown by the following figures.
In 1898 it was 33,000; in 1900, 116,000; in 1903, 247,000; in 1908,
252,000; and in 1913, 378,000.[58]

(2) _The Railway Men_

The railway men are divided into three groups. One group comprises the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the Order of Railroad Conductors,
the Brotherhood of Firemen and Enginemen, and the Brotherhood of
Railroad Trainmen. These are the oldest and strongest railway men's
organizations and do not belong to the American Federation of Labor. A
second group are the shopmen, comprising the International Association
of Machinists; the International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop
Forgers, and Helpers; the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America; the
Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' International Alliance; the Brotherhood
of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America; the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; and the International
Brotherhood of Stationary Firemen and Oilers. A third and more
miscellaneous group are the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, the Order of
Railway Telegraphers, the Switchmen's Union of N