The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-12-10
!. S. ACTION N
|. ". VA URGED J
49,
Lauck Would Restore War Labor
Board to Settle Strike
Of Miners. -
BY HARRY L. ROGERS.
Istersaslsnsi Ncws service.

Istersaeteasa Ncws oervtce'
President Wilson should recon
vene the~War Labor Board and d.
rect it to make full Investigation
and finding in the West Virginia
coal strike unless the situation i'm
proves Immediately, w. Jet Lauck,
former secretary of the board, de-
clared here today. Lauck served as
consulting economist in the recent
hituminous and anthracite miners
wage arbitration.
~ FACE STARVATION.
Hundreds of women and children
will die of starvation and exposure
in Mingo county this winer. Lauck
said. unless the Federal Government
takes action. The power OF the.
President to reconvene the Labor
Board IL beyond dispute, he declared.
The War Labor Board, OF which
former President William II. TAFT
was chairman, was the court of last
resort in all labor disputes during
the Wer and rendered final decisions
in more than Zoo caess. As a result
OF It's rulings the Smith & Wesson
small arms plant at Springfield, Mass.
was comma ndeered, and the tele-
graph companies were taken over by
the Government when one sof them
refused its employees the right of col.
lective bargaining.
President Wilson's proclamation of
April, 1913. assures American
workmen the right Of collective bar-
gaining and protection against dis
elimination because of membership
in trade unions, and this decree Is
legally still in force. Lauck asserted.
Only the traditional opposition OF the
miners to use Of the injunction, he
the courts and compelling the mine
operators Of West Virginia to respect
the Presidential decree.
"If the War Labor Board were in
operation" Lauck continued. lit
would Immediately upon complaint
take up the West Virginia situation.
order the operators to cease discrimi-
nation. and require them to institute
collective bargaining. II would en-
free it's decision by appointing an ad-
ministrator for the Mingo district.
URGES PUBLIC PROBE.
A public investigation, preferably
by the Senate Committee on Labor, Of
which Senator Kenyon Is chairman
was urged by Lauck. Such an in
vestigntion was made by Senator
Borah into the Paint and Cabin
Creek strikes, in 1916.
'"The statement attributed to Gov
ernor Curnwell relative to the Mingo
county situation Is, indeed. deplor-
able" Lauck said. mot only does It
indicate that he has failed in main
tanning civil government In West
Virginia, but, what Is equally repre-
hensible, that he has not hesitated to
countenance violation of the pledges
given American workmen by Presi-
dent Wilson during the war. In q
legal sense, the war Is still on. as is
evidenced by the prosecution of the
mine workers at Indianapolis for
alleged conspiracy in striking and
curtaiiing production last fall.
Legally. and according to funda-
mental principles still sanctioned by
the Federal Government, the Mine
Workers, are undoubtedly right. The
public interest in this matter is OBJ
vious. The miners should be safe
guarded in their rights just as they
are prosecuted for violation of other
fundamental principles. Moreover,
the public cannot with equanimity see
women and children starve to death
or die fCOm exposure on the bleak
hills of West Virginia because GER
tain coal mine operators claim the
divine right to administer the law
automatically.
Greatest Of all, however, the situa-
ton constitutes a menace because the
continuance Of such conditions will do
more to encourage revolutionary agi-
tation and impair production, of
which the nation is in grieyous need.
than any other factor in industrial
activity"