The Washington herald., 1922-03-15
BLAMESCRISIS.
ON OPERATORS
Labor Expert Says Mine
Owners Refuse to
Enter Agreement.
APPEALS TO PUBLIC
James Lord Tells City Club
OF Conditions In Soft
Coal Industry.

IF the impending coal strike oc-
ours and the public suffers from IL,
u viii be only because the public
refuses to info-m itself Of the con-
ditions In the mining industry until
u is caught In a crisis" said James
director Of the mining Depart
ment OF the American Federation
OF Labor. at the City Clubs lunch
con yesterday.
The facts are available" Mr..
Lord said. "and they show conclu-
sively that the reason which Is
bringing on the strike In the re-
fusal OF the operators to carry out
their part OF the present wage
agreement. which calls for n joint
meeting to arrange n new schedule.
In spite of repeated offers of the
unions to meet the operators for
this purpose, up to this day the
operators have refused to enter
such a meeting. This Is the sltua-
tion and this Is the time for public
opinion to act.
sees Peace Method FIouted.
"Fo- twenty years this method of
joint agreement kept peace in the
soft coal Industry. and now, while
the public sits back. the operators
are allowed to fout this method
the only peaceful method-and to
tear op the agreement they have
made II the miners strike. II will
be only to enforce this method of
collective bargaining"
Attacking the operators plea for
restoration of Interstate competi-
tton as the reason fU- their refusal,
Mr.. Lord said that II was just such
competition which reduced oper
ators to bankruptcy and miners to
desperation in 1895 and thus led to
the FIRST joint agreement between
miners and owners.
They are going back to a method
which meant continual warfare"
he said. and IL they succeed they
viii bring only a new reign Of the
same sorry condition. both for
themselves. the miners and the gen.
eral public as we'll. The miners
have never got anything without
lighting for it-better wages. safety
laws. or abolition of child labor
We must fiCht to retain even our
present standing.
BIames Mine Operators.
The operators action. Mr.. Lord
said. was simply an extension OF
their attempt in 1919 to take adj
the same cation to make a new
wage agreement.
AT that time" he said. the op-
orators. for the first time in the
history OF the joint movement. re-
fused to put forward any offer. but
simply stood pat that they would
not meet the miners demands. In
other words. they refused to nego-
tiSte
Later events showed that they
really relied on the Lever act to
prevent the men striking. although
the men had been told repeatedly
by Messrs. Hoover. Lever and At
torney General Gregory that this
law could not be used in that way.
Therefore they followed their
standpat course. which they knew
could only result in the failure OF
negotiations. expecting that the
government would stop the miners
from exercising their economic
power-the only one they have left
when they are refused the peaceful
method Of negotiation. OF course
the strike ensued.
Then came the injunction. not
ordering the men not to do some
illegal thing. as had all previous
injunctions. but positively ordering
them to do somethinE-to go back
into involuntary labor. We do not
hear Of any injunction today. or
derinE the operators to meet the
miners according to their agree
ment.
And this refusal of the opera
tors Is the cause Of the crisis and
will be the cause OF the strike II
one occurs. They are tearing up
the only peaceful method OF con-
ducting Industry as II 1t were a
scrap OF paper"
In reply to questions after his
address Mr.. Lord said that the six
hour day and the hve-day week
demanded by the miners in 1919 did
not mean any advance II wages.
as the miner is paid for the amount
Of coal he digs and not by the time
he puts in. TT was simply an ef-
fort to distribyte the work more
equitably among the men in a
woefulIy over-developed industry"
he said.
c. c. Calhoun. who presided. an
nounced that at next weeks lunch
con the operators and owners side
of the situation will be presented
nv George n. Gushing. director Of
the American Wholesale Coal As
snciatiOn. Mr.. Lord was given
rising vote of thanks.