Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/611

* MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA. J47 MTNGRELIANS. government of the iinion is tliiis liifjlily central- ized. In or^'anization the United -Mine Workers is an "industrial union,' aiming to unite not only miners, liut all ^killed and unskilled laborers working about coal mines, exce])t mine managers and top bosses. This policy of industrial organ- ization has brought the union into conflicts with the unions of the Stationary Firemen and of the Blacksmiths. In operation the United Mine Workers is a typical 'new union' of the aggressive type. It maintains no extensive system of fra- ternal benefits, but devotes the greater part of its revenue to the support of strikes and the or- ganization of new unions. Thus, out of the total expenditures of .$2,080,805 in 1902, .$109,017 was devoted to salaries and expenses of organizers and ~I..S90.201 to the relief of strikers, leaving only -s 1,587, less than 15 per cent., for all other pur- poses. The control of local strikes rests partl,v with the national officers. Any local union may strike provided it obtains the consent of the dis- trict officers and the national president, but in case either disapprove, an appeal for the per- mission "to strike may be made to the executive board. Any local union striking in violation of the above provisions shall not be sustained or recognized by the national officers." This seems to constitute the only penalty for unauthorized strikes. In the bituminous districts of Illinois, Indiana. Ohio, and Pennsylvania strikes have iieen practically eliminated by the annual joint i-onference. or collective bargaining, between the miners and operatives, in which a scale of prices for the following year is adopted and the settle- ment of further dift'erences provided for by local boards of arbitration. The United iline Workers was organized .January 25. 1890, but its member- ship decreased rather than increased until the great bituminous coal strike of 1897, during which year the average membership was only 9731. Since that time the membership has in- rreased by leaps and bounds, and in December, 1901. the' national union had 198.090 jniid uj) members, distributed among 25 districts and abovit 1200 local unions. The greatest gains were coincident with the anthracite strikes of 1900 and 1902, the latter of which, lasting more than five months and involving 147.000 workmen, is perhaps the most important strike in American history. Mr. John Mitchell was elected president of the union in 1898. and now (190.3) receives a salary- of $3000 per annum. The official journal is The Viiitrd Mine Worker, published weekly at Indianapolis. See Trade Umons. MINGHETTI, min-get'te. :M.rco (1818-80). . ItnliMU writer and statesman. He was born at Unlogna. Xovemlier 8. 1818, of a wealthy fam- ily, and after a university course in political science made a study of the institutions of France, rjermany. and Great Britain. On his re- turn to Italy he published an essay on the great commercial advantages of free trade, as existing in England, and espoused with warmth the eco- nomic views of Richard Colxlcn. for the assimila- tion of which he had been prepared by a knowl- edge of the teachings of the Tuscan economist Bandini. In 1846 'Minghetti began his political lareer by starting at Bologna a journal of liberal tendencies. II Fclsineo: by 1847 he had made such a name for himself that he was called to Rome bv Pius IX. to become a member of the ConsuUa (Ji'llr l-'iiia»:c, and in IStS he became ^linistcr of Public Works. After the Pai)al change of front, however. Minghetti withdrew from office and joined the army of Charles Albert in Lombardy, where he was warmly received by the King and appointed to the roj-al staff with the rank of captain. After the battle of Goito he was made a major, and distinguished himself in the engagement of Custozza (July 25, 1848). In the autumn of the same year Minghetti was invited to Rome by his friend Count Rossi as a member of the new con- stitutional Ministry. He arrived the day of Rossi's assassination, and after refusing the Pope's request that he take the place of the murdered ^Minister he returned to the Piedmont- ese army. On the disastrous conclusion of the war, Minghetti resumed his study of political economy, and gained the confidence of Cavour, by whom he was consulted during the conferences of Paris. In 1859 he became Secretary-General in the ilinistrv of Foreign Affairs, but resigned with Cavour upon the conclusion of the armis- tice of Villafranca. ^Minghetti became Minister of the Interior under Cavour in 1800, and after the death of Cavour held the portfolios of the Interior under Ricasoli and of Finance under Farini. In March, 18G3, he became Prime ilinister. He left office in 18G4. He went as Ambassador to London in 18G8, and was sub- sequently for a short time at the head of the agricultural and couuiicrcial department in the Menabrea Ministry (1809). He was Ambassador to Vienna in 1870-73. From 1873 to 1876 he was again at the head of the Cabinet, first as Minis- ter of Finance and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He spent the last years of his life in study and partial retirement, and died at Rome, December 10, 1886. Among his chief writings are: Delia ecoiiomia pubblica. etc. (1859); OpuscoH Ictterari ed economici (1872); Stnio c cliiesa ( 1878). He was also a student of the fine arts, and. besides lecturing on Raphael and Dante, he produced a work, Le doinie italiane nrUe belle arti (tl secnlo XV. e XVI. (1877), and a biog- raphy of Raphael (1885). His autobiography, I miei ricordi (Turin, 1888), appeared after his death. MINGRE'LIA. A former independent feudal State of the Caucasus, bordering on the Black Sea, now included in the Russian tiovernmcnt of Ku- tais (Map: Russia, F 6). It was a vas.sal State of Georgia until 1414, when it became inde- pendent under its own princes, although tribu- tary to Turkey and Persia. Russia obtained control over it in 1803, but the internal admin- istration was left in the hands of the native chiefs until 1867, when, as a result of a series of peasant uprisings begun in 1857, it was final- ly annexed by Russia. The inhabitants. 229.200 in 1897, are mostly Mingrelians. closely allied to the (Georgians. Mingrelia is the ancient Col- chis. MINGRE'LIANS. A tribe of the Kutais region belonging to the Georgian group of peo- ples of the Caucasus. (See Mingreli..) In stature they are above the average, and, like the Georgians proper, many of them are of great physical beauty. The Mingrelian lan- guage varies considerably from the Georgian prototype. Of the character of the Mingrelians many investigators have entertained no high opin-