The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-01-28
Bends Before the Storm.

Bends Before the Storm.
When Philip Murray, Vice Presi-
dent of the United Mine Workers of
America, and Mr.. John L. Lewis's
right hand man. rose TO suggest that
there being considerable dissatisfac-
ton with the disposition of the reso-
lutions demanding the reinstatement
Of James B. McLachlan and Dan
Livingstone in their offices from
which they were deposed, he indicated
that Lewis preferred to bend before
the storm Of revolt that was surg
| ing thru the convention rather than
permit it to breal. his official power
The sentiment against the auto
cratic treatment ACCORDED to the
Nova Scotia delegates was not con-
fined to what is called the progress
sive or radical wing of the conven-
ton. The fact is that dissatisfae-
ton was reaching up to the official
family, and while there is no reason
to suppose that Mr.. Lewis had q
change of heart over the matter,
there is every reason to believe that
he saw the handwriting on the wall
and that a Howat case was perhaps
enough for one convention without
adding to it that Of the imprisoned
battler, Jim MeLachlan, and his as
sociates.
When the steam roller fattened out
the opposition without giving it a
/ chance to make itself heard, there
was considerable rejoicing among the
administration. But that rejoicing
was short lived. As I pointed out in
| previous dispatches the first defeat
suffered by the machine was appar-
emily on trivial motion, but was
really a protest against the shutting
off of debate. l have reason to be-
lieve that the administration under
stood it as such.
Murray At the Wheel.
Philip Murray was the man at the
wheel when the roller was turned
loose on the convention, so it was
rather fitting that he should be
obliged to do penance for his sins,
and his action was an implied con-
fession that his conduct was I'M
warranted. That is putting 1t mildly,
of course.
This is rank and file conven-
ton. The great majority of the del
egates are coal diggers. They work
at their trade. They did not come
to the convention to cruelty any
body and if given a fair chance to
judge they can be depended on to
vote according to their convictions.
They want to be fair and in my
opinion the very fact that Jim Mac
Lachlan is now behind the prison
bars for his loyalty to the miners
of Nova Scotia and the workers of
Canada and of this country as we'll
goes right straight to the heart Of
every delegate on the convention
floor who is not attached to the
official machine or whose mind is
not filled by prejudice.
There is great human side to
the case of the Nova Scotia miners
that arouses the emotions of these
honest toilers. Most of them may
have been in strikes. In some parts
of the country reign Of terror
under semi-feudal conditions still
prevails. The few remarks made by
Fred Mooney, Of West Virginia,
brought that home to everyone who
heard him. The miners know that
Jim McLachlan went to Jail, not
for betraying the miners but for
fighting the capitalists of Nova SEQ
tia represented by the British En-
pire Steel Company. Betrayers Of la
Dor don't go to jail. There is no
miner so simple that he does not
know that. The miners at this con-
vention are not as much concerned
about whether McLachlan obeyed
the law as is John l.. Lewis, who
sneered at the "brave and noble"
McLachlan, as he was referred to
in many resolutions.
Lewis Makes Big Mistake.
Many of the miners know that
the law is made for the bosses and
against them. They all know that
instinctively. And they know that
a man who is true enough TO his
class to 60 to Jail for them does not
deserve to be outlawed by the work
ers he served so well while those VIII
were too proud to fight the coal bar
ons' government in 1919 strut around
the convention platform and jeer at
their imprisoned fellow worker.
John L. Lewis committed tao
teal blunder of the first water when
he so bitterly denounced Jim Me-
Lachlan for alleged violation Of the
laws of the British Empire. When
did it become a crime for a repre-
sentative of organized labor to
stand by the men who elected him
to Office against the organized cap
italist pirates who own the govern
ment and the courts? Alex Howat
went to jail to kill the Industrial
Slave Act Of Kansas, and he killed
it.
John L. Lewis had him expelled
from the United Mine Workers for
his pains. In 1919 when the miners
went on strike and the United States
government issued an injunction pro-
hibiting the officers of the union
from performing their functions as