The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1919-11-13
MINERS WARNED
BY PALMER
THAT LAW WILL BE ENFORCED
AND GOVERNMENT AND ITS
PEOPLE PROTECTED


Monday night by Attorney General
Palmer that resolutions of conventions
and orders of officers of organizations
are not above law.
Formal and final declaration of the
governments policy of dealing with
the coal strike was announced by the
Attorney General while officers of the
organization at Indianapolis
were struggling with the question
how to answer the courts blunt and
peremptory command to sescind the
strike order.
Describing the strike as a plain
violation of a federal statute, Mr..
Palmer, speaking with full authority
of the government, announced that all
the power of the United States would
be exerted to enforce the mandate of
the court.
Although no reference was made
in the Attorney Generals statement
to the pronouncement of organized
labor, supporting the miners and de-
manding withdrawal of injunction
proceedings, it was evident that Mr..
Palmer had that document in mind
and officials in Washington accepted
his declaration to mean tlat refusal
of the miners to cancel their strike
order would mean a fight to the bit
ter end.
The statement of the Attorney
General, which was construed as a
reply to the position of organized la
Dor as set forth by the American Fed
Grafton of Labor's executive council
follows:
"The coal strike is a plain violation
of federal statute. This has been
the governments position from the
start. The President declared it to be
unlawful and the court, after full
hearing, has LOW declared it to be un-
lawful.
"All l can say is that the law will
be enforced. This same law has been
enforced many times and Department
of Justice has other cases now pend
ing which were brought under it. The
merits of the controversy between
the operators and the miners are not
involved in the court proceedings at
Indianapolis, neither is the right to
strike. Nothing that the government
has done is intended or designed to
have any effect upon the recognized
right of labor, to organize to bargain
collectively through its unions and
under ordinary industrial conditions
to walk out by concerted action.
"The proposal by the President of
a peaceful settlement of the matters
at issue between the operators and
the miners, through negotiations or
arbitration, was rejected and the gov
ernment, therefore, faced the alterna-
tive of submitting to the demands of
a single group, to the irreparable in
iury of the whole people, or of chal-
longing the assertion by that group
of power greater than that of the
itself.
Confronted with such choice, the
duty was perfectly
clear; it refused to surrender to the
dictation of a group and it proposes
to assert its power to protect itself
and the people, whom it is designed
to serve. The government is no re-
spector of persons in the enforcement
of the law. Those who conceive that
the resolutions of convention or the
orders of the officers of any organl-
cation in the country, whether labor
organizations or any other, are su-
perior in authority to the law OF the
land will find themselves mistaken.
81 assume that the order Of the
court will be obeyed. The Presidents
offer for peaceful settlement is still
open and | hope that the miners and
operators will now get together and
settle their controversy"
There was no attempt in official OF
labor circles to conceal the feeling
that the situation was extremely
grave and getting beyond the ques-
ton of coal strike. This was due to
the belief that the miners apparently
were not of one mind on the question
of making quick reply to the court
All day word from the lndianapo-
lis meeting was awaited with intense
interest and anxiety. Some labor lead
ers had predicted that the mandatory
orders would not be complied with
and that the strike order would stand
until passed upon by the same dele
gate convention which arbitrarily FIX
ed the date for the nationwide strike