The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-31
READY FOR
FIGHT SAYS
JOHN LEWIS
Sought Every Honorable
Way to Get New Con
tracts He Declares.

Indianapolis, Ind, March al
(By The Associated Press The
last day of work under present
wage contracts was completed to-
day by the country's half million
union coal miners. Officially their
suspension of work was set to be-
gin tonight at midnight, but virtu-
ally it was to start six hours ahead
of schedule, for most of the miners
end their shift in the mines at that
hour The extent of the suspeu
sion, however, will not be an exact
certainty until tomorrow, the f1rst
day of the shutdown.
A complete tie-up of union fields
! in 20 states was predicted today
/ by officials of the United Mine
Workers of America, at the union
headquarters here, and they also
asserted that 100,0 900 non-uniOn
workers would lay down their
picks. President John L. Lewis,
said at least 100000 men would
/ join the walkout, his estimate in
Guiding the non-union participants.
| No final instructions to district
! leaders were planned to be issued
| today from union hearquarters and
officials declare any move averting
! the suspension was now impos-
sible.
BIames Operators.
I'VE are ready for fight, forced
on us by the operators" Mr.. Lewis
declared. I'VE have sought every
honorable way to get new contracts,
but the operators have persistenuy
refused to deal with us. Then,
too, the powerful non-union inter
ests have tried in every possible
way to persuade the union opera
] toESts- fight the United Mine Work
ers in order that the non-union in
terests may reap a financial har-
vest by operating during the
strike
The only union men expected TO
continue producing coal are i've
thousand workers in southwestern
Kentucky, whose contract with the
operators does not expire until
April l, 1928. In addition, forces
of union men will be left in the
mines to protect the property from
damage.
Pennsylvania will turn out the
largest number of men, and other
states to be affected are West FiT-
ginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ar
kansas, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan,
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado AMI
| Washington. Western Canada also
is expected to join the suspension,
but not the Nova Scotia district.
NOn-UniOn Men to Quite.
Sr nj
pected to send out the greatest
force of the union men, but also the
union officials anticipate an exodus
of the non-union miners in t1at
state The anthracite districts,
which are half unionized, are TX
pected to be shut down completely,
and in addition many bituminous
miners from the central part uf
that state have been called on to
join with the union men there.
West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama
and Washington also are expected
by the union officials to experience
idleness at the non-union mines of
those states, the most important of
these strikes being from the New
River and Winding Gulf fields Of
West Virginia.
The duration OF the suspension
in the union fields, as also the
strike at the non-uniOn mines, s
a matter of conjecture. The shut
down begins with warm weather
approa ching, and with stocks on
land the largest at any time for
the last several years. Government
reports placed the stocks at o.
000, 900 tons. a quantity as large ar
that which has been accumulated
at the end of the war-ArmistiCe
day, Nov Il, 1918. This supply,
government officials estimate, viii
meet every demand for As days
and the depletion of this reserve is
regarded by union officials as nee
essary before they expect the
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