The labor world., 1922-09-09

gave him confidence In his ability to
exc out the all too slender resources
Of the unions treasury. It also hap
happened that a good many of the
strikers were able to find employ
ment on farms and in other indus
tries as common laborers, which
made it somewhat easier to carry on
prolonged strike.
Against the economic weakness Of
his own position. Mr.. Lewis knew
that the operators were not all
averse to having their mines shut
down. The coal market was stag
nant, prices were low, and a. huge
surplus had been acquired. It is said,
by those to whom he has talked
freely, that just before the strike
was declared. Mr.. Lewis was warned
by a prominent government official
that he had better make terms with
the operators as otherwise he would
surely meet with disaster and see his
union completely disorganized with
in month or six weeks.
It may be- that this opinion pre-
vailed throughout the administration
and was the reason why the presi-
dent did not take any definite steps
to bring about a settlement Of the
strike until the whole country was
on the verge of a paralyzing coal
famine. AS it was, Mr.. Lewis bore
the brunt of the miners refusal to
accept the presidents initial offer
of arbitration nor did he for a mo-
ment lose his poise even when it
seemed as If the whole country had
turned against him.
Mr.. Lewis was born to the ranks
of labor, yet he is an extremely we'll
educated man. In fact, his English
is so flawless that it savors more Of
books than Of ordinary conversation.
His father was miner and he him.
self entered the mines at the age
of 13.
Went Back to Mining.
For brief space of time in his
youth, he was freed from the terri
bic grind of toiling daily under
ground, but long before he had
reached mans estate he was back
again, and there he remained until
he was able to lift himself out by
sheer mental ability. He was al
ways studying, and still is.
Not so very long ago, he was stat
istician for the United Mine Work.
ers at salary Of $500 a year. Gov.
Lowden of Illinois offered him a
place in his cabinet, at salary more
than three times as large, but Mr..
Lewis declined it. To friend who
asked him why he had done so. he
replied that his father was a miner
and he felt that he ought to devote
whatever talents he had to his own
people. Even then he had an idea
that he would become the head Of
the United Mine Workers Of America.
Whenever Mr.. Lewis is engaged
in difficult negotiations or tasks his
wife is close by his side. She accom-
panied him to Washington and to
Cleveland and she is almost his only
confidant and, he says, his wisest
counselor. All his plans and prob
lens they discuss together. A rare
couple they make-he, large, robust,
a burly man but with a voice modu-
lated to conform to the conventions
of cultured society-she a small wo-
man, unobtrusive, sedate and with
a great capacity for silence. In the
working out of the problems Of the
coal industry, which is only just be-
ginning as the result of this strike,
John L. Lewis seems destined to
play an important part, and Mrs.
Lewis, though inconspicuous. will
surely WELD an influence, too. Both
Of them have gone very far in the
last five months.-G. T. o. in Chris
tian Science Monitor.