The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1919-11-08
A CHALLENGE TO THE NATION

regarded ~ obvious. Thon u was hit-
terly opposed hy capital aud rccoE-
nised By lahori now II " dcricd Nv
labor and accepted by capital The
emergency rccalrcs that Tho prtnci-
pie should have It's completing dem
ouatfutlon-the public Interest h
paramount 10 thnt Of either group.
The first fact TO be Rfaspcd Il that
the bituminouH strike called Tor last
+ Friday az midnight y a violation OF
agreement reached through colicc-
ute bargaining. The miners aud op-
e%futols signed a contract early In
1918, The government. r~cprcsentinf
The public. being q party thereto. TN
dtf She terms OF that instrument the
wages OF the men we're increased to
correspond with the prevailing wal
scales. The working week consisting OF
six DAYS OF eight hours each. The
agreement was To run until April 1.
1890, unless peace had been estab-
lishcd sooner, In which caAc Il would
expire. As the president states. the
var itself IA aull n fact" Yet the
minors rcpudinte the contract and
have undertaken 10 enforce new de-
nands BY dcprivinE industry and h
public OF fuel.
At a national convention held last
month they prdered their officers 10
call a general strike OF bitumlnous
miners for November 1 unless the
operators would agree to cancel the
cNisting contract and pay wages 60
per cent higher. with "a reduction OF
working time from six eigh;-hour
days To- five uvc-hour days "a week.
Ostcnsibly the demand was for a SIN
hour day, but that was TO include the
time spent by the worker In going to
and from his place in the NINE.
Apart from the repudiation % con-
tfnct. '1e malignant purpose OF the
convention was revealed in the fact
that no discretion was LEFT to the Off
GERS OF the union. No power OF nego-
tintlon was given to them. They
were TO present the demands m an
ultimatuni, and In default OF full ac-
ccptancc were to call the strike. This
circumstance OF course. rCndeted the
discussion OF tho opctutorl' and min
eFs' representatives wholly sterile:
meeting IN Buffalo and In Phiiadcl-
uhia brought no result. The unioi
leaders had nothing { o offer except
tho revolutionary demands; the opor-
ators held that acceptance would be
ruinous. and that. moreover. they
had no right To- abrogntc a contract
20 which The public was a party. Dur
Ing these ominouH proceedings the
federal government remained inert;
Il did not even seek representation In
~ ANNNNaNA WI O. AANNNNANA
In which II was directly interested.
II wns due TO the Initiative OF Sec
Rotary William -. Wilson that the
rights OF the public were finally AS
serted. After consulting the cabinet
on October IL he undertook u act
MS mcdintor. under the law creating
the department Of labor. and invited
to q conference John J.. Lewis. acting
president OF tho minors union. and
rhonins 7, Brewster. chairman Of the
operutOrH' committee. Both accepted,
but the mex day, before going to
Washington. Lewis issued his call for
a strike. the greatest enterprise ever
undertaken he declared, in the
history Of the labor union owe
ment."
Tho msctings In Secretary Wilson's
office failed for the same reasons as
ala those previously hcld-becausc
the miners would Discuss nothing but
fun ucquicsccuce in their demands.
Their position was that the contract.
20 run until the end OF the wur or un-
a. April I nest expired with the
signing of the annlatice last NoVem-
Der. The operators, insisting that n
was still iu effect. stOod ready TO me-
rutlutC "a new contract Tor the sue
cecding period. submitting the wage
question TO arbitration. but they held
tnut the arbitrary cutting Of working
hours would fatally reduce produc-
ton rcturd industry and inflict ST.
we're hurdships on the public. To
grant the miners demands would add
% billion dollars nnnusliy 10 The cost
OF the nations coal.
Despite repeated failures to pro-
mote agreement. Secretary Wilson
p~crsevrrod. and brought together the
fuli committee OF miners ami opera
tors. ~thirty-tWo members In each.
hGt sim settlement was prevented hr-
cause the Union had nothing to neEo-
tate, when on suggestions 81 CONF
promise were rejected, the secretary
laid the ease before the president.
who sent last Friday an urgent APP
peal The public interest To- this mat
ter Is paramount" he wrote and
admits Of no other action thar that
OF Sc peaceful settlement" ana he de-
handed reference 20 the dispute a.
arbitration. The operators agreed IN
this proposal an itH entirety. the
miners pvrcmptorily rejected IL. ana
LOWS lot Tor indianapolis TO direct
the strike, 10 was In this situation that
President wilson OF Saturday issu ri
hrs statement declaring the strike
mot only u~nIuHunablc hut unlawful"
IA uruNr moral uWs legal WRONG