The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-04-08
Views Of Communist
Agitators And The
Kentucky Operators
Each Is Given Chance to Explain Their Side of the
Trouble That Has Crashed Mine Industry in
That State

surplus miners should go back to
the farm, but men and women who
have land now can't support them
selves on it.
mo matter what any one tells
you, this strike is not broken. Our
organization is still working in the
field, and we feel certain our pres
ent situation is just lull. They
charges of criminal syndicalism or
they may release me on condition
that I leave Kentucky. The only
back into the ranks and carry on
the fight"
Miss Parks is typical Of the
workers who have been sent in
ton that impresses the outsider as
fields in the United States for COM
munism.
The natives are violently pa
triotic (there was virtually no
drafting in Kentucky during the
World War because every one was
in a hurry to volunteer), and they
also are deeply religious.
Posted along the roads are
signs, Jesus Saves" "Are You
Ready for the Coming of the
Lord?" and God Will Take Care
of You"
So the overwhelming majority of
citizens only have to be told that
communism denies existence of God
and advocates overthrow of the
United States government, and
they Immediately become anti-com-
munistic and ready to fight about
it. Even among members Of the
National Miners Union who have
espoused communism there is no
knowledge of what it means; I
found no miner who had studied
Karl Marx or who was conversant
with the teachings of Lenin.
What the miners want is food
and job and they would just as
soon have it handed to them by
the "Rooshian Reds as any one
else.
Anyone who spent 20 minutes in
Pineville would know beyond
doubt that the January l strike
was foredoomed to failure. Wage
scales, it is held, cannot be raised
because the coal industry, with the
exception of the lumber business,
is probably the hardest hit of
American industries.
Operators Speak
Cleon Calvert, Pineville lawyer
and spokesman for the operators,
explains it.:
mo coal operator in Bell or
Harlan county has made profit
in the last three years. There is
an enormous surplus of labor here
and in most cases it is impossible
to give the men more than two or
three days work a week. There
have been 20 mines abandoned in
Bell county alone since 1929, and
in the Middlesboro section there
are nine mines working today
where there formerly were 81. You
ask why all the mines don't close.
The answer is that the operators
would lose even more money if
they shut down because once a
mine is closed it fills up with
water, the machinery deteriorates
and the cost of reopening it is too
staggering even to consider. Most
of the mines that have closed have
done so because reserve funds have
been eaten away until only one
thing was left-bankruptcy.
1--WE admit the situation is bad
and we will welcome any solution.
But we are not going to tolerate
communism, and, if necessary, I'll
join in any movement to expel
agitators by force. There is no OBJ
lection to organized labor, but the
enlightened people of this section
are going to see to it that unionism
and communism don't get confus-
ed, and we are doing that to pro-
tect the uneducated members of
this community"
1t has been charged repeatedly
that coal operators have import
ed gun thugs" to help break the
strike, but found no evidence to
sustain such a charge. They are
not needed because southeastern
Kentucky has plenty of men who
could give metropolitan gangsters
lessons in craftsmanship. What
actually happens is that the sheriff
appoints a deputy for each mine
and the deputy's salary is paid by
the mine owner. Thus each coal
operator has the full force of the
law on his side of the case and can
become, if he chooses, a dictator in
his own district.