Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-23
STRIKE OR WAR?

IF BEGINS to appear that the coal miners
L strike is. after all. to have rough and
rlotous consequences. and that what was to
have been Il silent war of nttrition between
the unions and the operators may repro.
duce throughout the larger bituminous re-
gions the bloodshed and violence that
shocked the country when it appeared in
the restricted fields about Mingo, W. Va,
year ago.
1t was too much to expect that n strike
OF unprecedented dimensions. involving ac-
tual hardship for hundreds of thousands of
FAMILIES, could continue in serenity to
peaceful end. In one region of Illinois
forty men have been killed in one assault of
union miners against guarded mines operated
by non-union men. This is not the first
outbreak OF violence among the miners.
Rumors and omens from other areas are
suggestive of increasing trouble, present or
to be.
Nhat is happening was predicted in these
columns months ago when the strike was
first called Hunger is the one true radical
in the coal fields. the one agitator that
never yet has failed TO produce the desired
violence. And hunger has been abroad in
the mining regions for n good many weeks.
IL ls not necessary to hold either the
miners or the operators right or wrong to
Zee! sense Of infinite regret and of some
thing very much like shame Mt the sudden
turn OF atairs in the coal regions of the
country. Any indictment justified by wide
spread recourse to lawlessness and organ.
lied anarchy and war between the two
dominant groups in one of the most impor-
tant basic industries must lie in the end
against the public itself For the public
accepted the strike without emotion or any
show OF Intelligent interest. Summer was
coming on. Coal would not be greatly
needed. The prospect of n labor war in
which the coal industry would be subjected
to paralysis, while whole communities
would be required to face hardship almost
as bitter as that which Americans have been
trying to relieve in foreign famine areas,
brought no word of pity or objection or
cna!'hge from any representative public
group outside the mine areas.
Had the public manifested nm active in.
tereSt in the first threats Of an economic
outrage of unexampled scope Congress
would have had to be interested. The more
obdurate coal operators and tho moro recli.
less unionists might have felt imnollcd 70
take second thought about tho whole mat
ter. But I'll" public prepared for its yaca.
ton. And the solution of one of the mos.
painful questions of human relations ever
raised in the United States 'Ias been loft to
ignorant local officials and to the war boards
OF the conflicting groups. who have Mt last
managed TO blunder, in Illinois at least. TO
the brink of Il small sized civil war.
Tho first cause of the coal strike is OK.
planned when you say that the public doesn't
know, even now, what II j. a. about II
Is the public's mood Of complete Indifference
that is reflected in Washington and ot rho
various State capitals. Mr.. Hoover Is
about the only one who made n really sin
cor" effort to settle the coal CONTROVERSY in
tellig'ntly and justly. He "nt no helm from
the people, who, if the disorder spreads In
tn" mine regions. will b" on tIci? toes in a
few days clamoring for tho army.
The atrocities committed bv Strike gym
pHthiz"rS in Illinois will permanently hurt
the cause Of umioniSm. The news from
II"rrin, whNr" forty non-union men worn
killed. in fights or in cold blood. indicates
that the usunl thing has happened. Murdc,
and f"nntic!Sm hay" entered where. from thc
hFSt' the need for reason and for justice
supported by public opinion was opparcnt
but universally ignored