Evening star., 1919-10-30
Lever Act Violation.

violated by the strike order, accord
ing to the view of the Department
Of Justice, and no matter if the peace
treaty were ratified tomorrow and
the law were to be held as expired
the act of making an agreement such
ject to prosecution. Incidentally, the
congressional judiciary committees
have before them bills to pro7ong
the term Of the Lever food and fuel
control act for one year after the
war is officially declared at an end.
Thus is labor, by forcing the issue
in a strike that affects tha necessaries
of life and the vitality OF industry it.
self, slowly alternating Congress,
which is republican, and the executive
branch of the government, which is
democratic.
The same Wilson administration
which has been friendly to labor and
which sanctioned the passage of that
famous rider to a general appropria-
tion bill declaring labor unions i'm
mune from prosecution and later in
serted the same sort of provision in
the Clayton act is now planning to
fight with all it's power. a strike in the
coal fields. While disclaiming that the
right to strike itself has been in any
way abridged, it is nevertheless true
that the administration is being COM
pelled to draw distinction between
different kinds of strikes-something
it has hitherto not found it necessary
to do
Damage Already Done.
1t is difficult to give a true picture
of the damage already done by the
strike leaders, On the one hand. the
Department Of Justice has been carry.
ing on vigorous campaign against
profiteer1ng and against other factor:
that were keeping up the cost of liv.
ing. Introduce the strike and the fail
! price committees everywhere can have
no sound basis for calculation Much
! of the work of the last two months
may be undone by the industrial
chaos. Also there is no sure way te
determine whether prof1teering is be.
ing practiced. The revival Of the fue
administration is one measure con-
templated to bring about an equal dis
and to prevent prices from going sky
high. But it is recognized that ever
hat win bring little relief. though
to be sure. measures to reduce the
consun otion of coal in industries sc
as to stimulate. conservation every.
whore are being considered.
Memories of fuelless Mondays and the
curtailment of work and production in
private industry are revived as the cabi-
net meets and DR.. Harry A. Garfield
Iuel ADMINISTRATOR, enters Ine govern
ment's councils again.
Inauspicious Moment.
No more inauspicious moment for
labor's cause has been witnessed in the
National Capital for many years. Re-
fusal by the coal miners to heed the
residents request for a peaceful set
tiement has undermined the influence
OF those who have been arguing that
labor kept its contracts and was Willing
to negotiate differences in lieu of eco.
nomic warfare.
In the beautiful Pan-American n
Union building. where a week ago the
conference between employers and
employes came to an abrupt and un-
happy ending over the right of wage
earners to combine for strike pur-
poses. there sits another conference
now-.world-wide in Importance and
slsn1ncance. The United States gov
ernment fs not officially taking part,
put is conducting the conference as
most 70 all the other governments of
the world as provided in the peace
treaty OF Versailles. In the Senate
Ropert M La Toilette, friend of labor,
makes speech denouncing the in
ternational labor conference because
1t might impose foreign standards on
American labor. And on top of it all
is an out and out fight between the
government OF the United States and
the leaders OF the most serious strike
| that has raced the country in many
! years.
tCop1sight, 1897