The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-03-29
BIGGEST STRIKE ARMY
10 BE LED BY LEWIS
Call ls5ued by United Mine Worker
President May Reach as Many
as 10000 Men

IndiansHohs, Ind, March 28 (By
! the Associated Press)-As the leader
in the impending nationwide coal
strike. Jcan L. Lewis, president of the
United Mine Workers OF America, will
enter his fourth big industrial con
( let. Unless present indications 30
astray he will lead labors largest
strike army in the history Of the Unit
ed States for the strike set for April
/ ! threatens to call out more than 500,
/ 900 workers scattered throughout the
| United States.
Conflicts between employers and
workers. in which Mr.. Lewis has
stood out prominently, are these:
The 1919 soft coal strike OF $4,000
miners, which was broken by the gov.
ernment. after which the miners got
"a cent ton increase In the wages,
their largest sing pay advance.
The first attempt, made in 1894.
TO unionize the steel industry, Mr..
J Lewis having charge OF the fed work.
ers OF the American Federation OF
Labor; the movement failed, according
to union men because Of widespread
unemployment.
4 The great copper strike in Upper
Michigan dnring 1913, in which Mr..
Lewis as general field agent Of the
American Federation OF Labor, assist.
ed n the general conduct OF the strike
/ Strike troubles, however have been
only a small part of Mr. Lewis work
within the organized labor movement.
In 1910 at the age OF thirty he was
elected a representative OF the Illinois
union miners and In October 1911, he
became general field agent of the
American Federation of Labor, re-
signing in February, 1917, to become
statistician of the United Mine Work.
ers OF America. On October 20 1917.
he was elected yice-president OF the
United Mine Workers. and on Feb. 6,
1890 became president, having for a
short time previously been the unions
acting president.
Since 1916, Mr.. Lewis has particl.
pated in all interstate con .erenCes
between miners and operators in the
adjustment Of question affecting the
mining industry, and since 1917 he
has had full charge of the admins.
tratye and field forces of the union
in extending the organization into
many non-union fields. In 1901, he
was a member of the commission. com
posed OF miners, operators and public
men, which was created by the Hi.
nois general assembly to revise
mining laws, and in 1916 he declined
an appointment from Governor Low
den as director of the Illinois depart
ment of labor. During the world war,
he was a member of the National
Committee on Coal Production, and
later co-operated with the National
Fuel Administration on problems af-
fecting coal productions and dlstri.
button. In the first year of President
Harding's administration, Mr.. Lewis
served on the commission that cor
related the work OF various govern.
ment bureaus dealing with the vel.
fare Of eX-service men. and also on
the commission that laid the tounda.
tion for the recent unemployment
conference
In brief, Mr.. Lewis life story is
one of a miners son, born in an Iowa
hamlet, who has become the leader
of one of the most powerful labor or.
ganizations in the world. He was
born Feb. II, 1880, at Lucas, Iowa,
and after attending the public schools
entered the mines to work with his
father. Later he supplemented his
public school education with courses
o! reading and study in specialized
subjects, particularly economics. In
/ his twenties he travelled extensively
through west and southwest states,
engaging in coal and metal,iferous
mining. He is married and has two
children, a son, age nine, and a daugh
ter, age two,
AS president of the miner workers
union, Mr., Lewis has for months past
been in disagreement with Alexand.
er Howat, who he deposed as presl.
dent of the Kansas district union, and
Frank Harrington, the Illinois district
president, who has championed
Howat's side. In these controversies,
/ Mr.. Lewis policies have won approx
al whenever brought before the un.
ions conventions. The factional
fight, however, is latent threat of
rife in the unity Of the miners
forces in event OF the great strike.