The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-11-10


54 the officers 10 proceed TO obtain
M r ssec1iation~ with the operators.
ss8&hx --orRtng conditions that The con-
&ention unanimously adopted.
There were almost 1900 delegates
N &eAted In the convention rrerrcsonf-
INK 500. geo orga nized miners. They
Il sfarther positively and explicitly IN
.sktructed their officers thst unless an
AGYecnnent was reached on or before
the first af November 1919, tlat the
areSeiation of the convention cs{tng
Tor a strike on NoverahcE nrst. ] ~,
4 should be coumHnieatei to fte
ysern hership. There Ea@ 10 e''Sef-
native except for the IN "yS, she
i are elected hy tho membership. 70
\ carry OF; the direct Instructions nf
\ the membership or resign from their
{ positions az officers In which event
chaos ard confusion would result.
Tho officers Of the mine workers
Z with their sea IL committee. entered
/. irfo conferences ana discussions
with tn operators ~ Tho ci,y 81
Buffalo. Thay SIatcd "a tho confer
cncs that they rad fuli rowcr To nc
Rotsste an agreement ia other
wertsS that they had thc power to
give ard take in thn conference.
( Tho employers refused To- make any
offer wns1e'.r t.ater cG ths miners
auswcred thc tuN of tho secretary
of labuv HN6 furihnr rnIr17orpd 10
reach ar aEre, mont iut called. The
+ officers fhcu aynC. o}c3 to carry out
the Instructions ~ their membership
ard communicated Tho results n tho
failure - negotiation. and hv order
of The convention the strike auto
materially took effect No-cnber /,
1879
The machinery which has cx~
tstcd for years and whjrh has been
Successful ~ bringing about agree
merits between The minors and the
operator rtiil exists and they as
representative - tho miners were
and are ready ana willing 10 enter
into negotiations without reserva-
ton To reach an agreement.
"at this time. our government in
ior1ected Itself and applied for an
injunction.
"A temporary restraining order
WAS granted by q federal Judge
which Restraints the officials Of the
miners from in any way advising
thclr membership on the situation
or contributing any of the moneys
of the mine workers TO the assist
ance Of tbr mcn on strike also re-
stratrine them from discussing
writing or entering into any kind
Of a conversation with their mem
hership on the strike situation
Most Mandatory Order
The government thcn proceeded
In further invade tho rights OF the
miners. not only nv restraining thu
miners their officers and mem bers
from furthering the purposes for
which the men contendcd but went
20 further lengths of demanding
from the court an order command
1ng the officers at the miners union
10 recall ana withdraw the strike
notification and the court COM
lacently complied and issued the
order
Never in the history OF our
country has any such mandatory
piled for by the government or by
any person, company or corpora
ton.
Both the restraining order and
the injunction. insofar as its pro-
hfbitory features are concerned. ARE
predicted upon the Lever act, a
L enacted by congress for the
purpose of preventing speculation
and profteering Of the food and
fuel supplies of the country.
There never was in the minds OF
the congress in enaeting that law
or In the mind OF the president
when he signed it. that the Lever
Act would be applied To workers in
cases of strikes or lockouts. The
food controller, Mr.. Hoover speci-
hcally so stated. Members of the
committee having the bill in charge
have in writing declared that 1t was
not In the minds of the committee
and the then attorney general, Mr..
Gregory, gave assurance that the
government would not apply that
law to the workers: effort to OBJ
tain improved working conditions.
Every assurance from the highest
authority of our government was
given that the law would not be SO
applied.
I'm the course of President Will
sons address to the Buffalo con-
a wantton. al the American Fedora ZION
OF Labor, NoFcfn bef TyrT, among
other things, he said
while we are fighting for free