New-York tribune., 1919-11-01
MEMBER OF THE AssocNrrn rnr.s
The Laws Supremacy

on him John L. Lewis. acting presi-
dent Of the United Mine Workers,
appealed to the Constitution and the
laws for protection against what he
declared was a Presidential usurpa-
tion.
In his telegram to Secretary Will
son he said:
May point out to you that un-
der the laws of the United States,
beyond any Presidential amendment
or abrogation, it is not crime to
strike, it cannot be made a crime to
strike, and that an individual cannot
be punished for striking as for the
commission of a crime ."
Following the issuance Of the re-
straining order Nh Lewis said:
This Instrument Will not avert
the rke and Will not settle the
strike after it occurs"
Having appealed to the law, Mr..
Lewis and his associates are to be
jadged by the law. There is in
ferential admission that the law
1uies, something recently gravely
called in question. This is a gain,
snd by motion to dissolve the tenn
porary injunction there can be adj
judication of the questions of wheth-
er the President has usurped and
whether Mr. Lewis is engaged in
law defiance
What the answer of the courts
Will be is scarcely open to doubt.
Mr.. Lewis indicates, by his careful
misstatcmert of the issue. that he
is not ignorant of its ma. IRE. He
says that it is not a crime for a man
to quit work. AS to this he is, of
course, right. 1t is not even crime
to quit in violation of a contract
But the right to quit is not in issue
The issue is whether Mr.. Lewis
and his associates may conspire to
iniure the public. 1t is the law of
this land that men may not conspire
TO limit the facilities of transporta-
tion or the supply or distribution of
food and fuel
Not even Mr. Lewis will deny his
purrose. 1t is starllly revealed. He
Knows if coal should continue to be
mined that the strike would be lost
before begun. His whole hope of
placing coal consumers under forced
contribution is by locking up practi-
cally all the mines. The President
spoke accurately when he declared
that the proposed strike is illegal.
The owners and operators Of the
mines may individually lock up their
properties. But should an associa-
ton OF them concert to bring about
nationwide closing Mr.. Lewis
would be among the first to de-
nounce the illegality. He would say
there was q conspiracy against the
miners and the public He would
enlarge on the fraud and the mon
strous immortality Of trying to use
one claim Of right as club to beat
down other more important ones ;
that private ownership could not do
altogether as it selishly pleased; ;
that the rights Of miners to earn
their livelihoods and Of the public to
enjoy necessary of life were para
mount
The rule works both ways. What
coal operators may not do an or
ganization Of miners may not do.
Mr. Lewis may not give orders in
furtherance of his conspiracy and
collect and distribute strike benefits.
He must get back to obedience to
law-not only to law but to those
elementary principles of justice
which the law seeks to embody.
Attempts, of course. will be made
to msrepresent the governments
action and the principles on which it
Is based. The misstatement that IN
dividual liberty is interfered with
VIII DC repeated. | ilt tlGIltlllS WHO
plan and work to bring calamity to
this country in the hope that they
can get the ear of the people if they
are made miserable may be counted
on to be active in spreading false
hood. The best protection is to ap-
prehend and disseminate the truth.
The truth in the present instance
IS that the miners organization, de-
clining offers of arbitration and re-
fusing to rescind action that forbids
negotiation, asks the operators to
Join in conspiracy with them to
fleece the millions of America. The
operators are invited to raise coal
prices with the understanding that
the new collections are to be turned
over to the miners The operators
decline to enter into such an ar
rangement, and the result is Lewis
and his colleagues say, Then we'll