The Kern Resolution, sponsored by Sen.
John W. Kern
John Worth Kern (December 20, 1849 – August 17, 1917) was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana. While the title was not official, he is considered to be the first Senate majority leader (and in turn, the first Senate Democratic Leade ...
(D) of Indiana and adopted on May 27, 1913, called for an investigation into the then ongoing
Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike of 1912
The Paint Creek–Cabin Creek Strike, or the Paint Creek Mine War, was a confrontation between striking coal miners and coal operators in Kanawha County, West Virginia, centered on the area enclosed by two streams, Paint Creek and Cabin Creek ...
in West Virginia.
The resolution would "''seek to determine if a system of
peonage
Peon ( English , from the Spanish ''peón'' ) usually refers to a person subject to peonage: any form of wage labor, financial exploitation, coercive economic practice, or policy in which the victim or a laborer (peon) has little control over em ...
existed in the strike zone, if immigration or postal laws were being violated, if strikers were being prosecuted contrary to Federal law, and if certain other conditions existed.''"
1913 in law
Legal history of the United States
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