The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-04
MINE OWNERS OF ALABAMA BLAMED
 FOR BIG STRIKE
Lewis Says Conditions in Non- Union Fields Are Responsl- bIe for All Ills of the
 Coal Industry
By HUGH ". ROBERTS Washington Bureau, The AEe-Hsr
 ROO DnwfAMou Ru

oOO Davidson butldings
 Washington, April 3.-For all the ills with which the coal industry and the country are afflicted, the operators of Alabama and West Vir- ginia, and the United States Steel corporation are responsible, accord ing to John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of Amer ica.
 In testifying today before the House committee on labor. Lewis was calm while stating the cause of the strike. and while arguing the alleged advantages of standardization of the coal mines of the country. But in concluding his testimony. he dis played anger in deneuneing the op- orators of Alabama and West vir- ginia as enemies of tho public" But for these operators and the United States Steel corporation. he said. there would be no warfare in the industrial fields of America.
 In part, he particularized as fol- lows:
 Ut is easy to see the tremendous competitive advantage aceruing to a group of operators not bound by agreements when their competitors are so bound. Tne non-union West Virginia and Alabama operators are now in this position. and they have not hesitated to avail themselves of their power.
 The fact that non-union operators have been able to sell coal lower than their organized competitors Is not to tsneir credit. but their diseredit. Nor t, is 1t beneficial to the public interest. The ability of these non-union opera i tors to cut wages aad thereby sell at lower prices Is at the expense of the principle of joint agreement. which. In turn. rests upon the prin- cpics of collective bargaining.
 Socially Desirable
 aThese principles are socially dealr~ able. as they offer the only means of obtaining even approximate justice to employer. employe and the public.
 "The non union operators of Ala bama and West Virginia are the Ish- maelites of the soft coal industry. Their hands are against all that Is constructive. Their methods are de- struetiye and relentless. They are en- gagged in pursuing their own self interest without regard to the well fare of the mine workers or the best interest of the public.
 | "The non unionized fields are a constant menace to peace and sta bility in the Industry. By extending hours of work and reducing pay the object of non-union operators is to undersell union operators because the latter are handicapped by their ob- servance of human standards of work and compensation. The union operators attitude toward the public i Is also one of sham and hypocrisy.
 There would be no general strikes and little industrial warfare in the coal industry were 1t not for non union operators They are engaged tn constant conspiracy against the best industrial usages and against the standards and precedents which have been sanctioned by enlightened pub lie opinion. The threatened break down of collective bargaining in the central competitive field and the re- suits If 25 years of constructive ef- fort in the industry, based on confer ,. ence and negotiations between the operators and the United Mine Work CTS of America, is directly traceable to the activities of non-union opera I tors. especially those in West Vir- ginia and Alabama, dominated by the i anti-union policies of the United States Steel corporations"