The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-07-21
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

DAN III LA 16T1NAI1
Especial Dispatch to The Reformer.)
Copyright 1922.
WASHINGTON, July 21.-The United
States government has determined upon
plan to get coal for the American peo-
pie if the present effort of the operators
to mine coal should fail.
Realizing that the federal government
cannot seize the mines or even regulate
| them because of a lack of constitutional
power to do so, the governors of the
various states of the union where coal is
produced will be called upon to seize and
regulate the mines in order to insure
| fuel supply to the people of other states.
Inasmuch as the supreme court of the
United States has decided that the min
| ing of coal is an interstate matter and
subject solely to the jurisdiction of the
| states except of course in time of war,
/ the duty of the states to express their
| autonomy and do what the federal gov
eminent cannot do will be emphasized.
/ Such a step might have the effect of
breaking up the miners union altogether
/ and for that reason will not even be sug-
gested only as q last resort. Five states
| already have successfully carried out
! that policy without word from the fed
| eral government which thus far has re-
Trained from encouraging any break
/ away of the states from the national
miners union jurisdiction. The states
| of Washington, Colorado, Utah, Kansas
| and New Mexico are today mining coal
| not only sufficient for their own needs
/ but for other states.
1 Broad Powers of State.
Il The powers of the individual states are
4 far reaching. Not only could the mines
h be seized and regulated, just as the fuel
II administration did during the war. but
/ wage agreements can be negotiated di-
rectly between workers and operators
and the price of coal to the consumer can
| be definitely limited. Once the negotia-
i tions were successful as between the
II miners in a state and their employers tho
chances of the national union recovering
i its influence with the miners would be
4 imperilled.
Il Administration officials conversant
! with the intimate details of the confer
j enees which took place here between
Il miners and operators representatives
II say that because the operators in those
4 five states mentioned above were getting
4 along so well with their men they nat
Il luaily declined TO come TO Washington TO
put themselves once more under the in
n fiuence of John l.. Lewis of the miners
II union. These administration officials
1 say, however, that if Mr.. Lewis had &C
tors refusing would have been negligible
Where Lewis Failed.
For the first time in labor history"
said a cabinet officer yesterday, 'the
miners had before them in conference 81
II per cent of the operators. John Mitchell
never had more than 40 per cent And
out of the % fully 70 per cent were
ready to accept arbitration. If Mr.
Lewis had agreed on behalf of the miners
| fn arhi hay a
simple matter to compel the other opera
tors to come in. too. During President
il Roosevelts administration, John Mitchell
was the one to accept arbitration
promptly and then Mr.. Roosevelt had a
leverage in public sentiment with which
he was able to persuade the operators ia
agree likewise.
In these four or FIVE states, where
independence of the unions had been
achieved, there was a natural desire ia
refrain from a Washington conference
and it was largely Mr. Lewis's desire
that the federal government force those
operators into conference which pre-
vented an agreement. All talk that we
didn't have representative operators here
Is erroneous We had practically all this
representatives of the union fields anC
many of those from the mixed fields
WatchfuI Waiting Policy.
The federaf governments policy fol
rue moment Is one OF WatchIuI waiting
The operators say that 40 per cent oil
their employees will go back to work i
they can be assured that their homes will
not be blown up. Protection is benl
granted to prevent disorders or destruc
ton of property. If in the face of thai
protection the miners do not come bacl
to work. the governors of the states vii
be urged to seize the mines and regulate
their operation by negotiating separat,
scales of wages as economic conditions ir
each state may require. Thus a failur,
of the miners leaders to reconsider thei
refusal to arbitrate may mean a bod
blow to unionism through the natura
course which the federal and state gov
eminent may find themselves compelle,
to adopt in the interest of public safet,
and sufficient fuel supply for the win
ter