The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-12-01

sany opponents for Office from app
pearing on the official ballot.
Only Lewis name appears in the
column ''for president, that of John
F. Sloan, Of Westville, H., rank and
file candidate opposing Lewis having
been omitted from the ballot to be
sent out for the International cleo
tons to be held Dec. II.
Agent of the coal operators and
stealer of many elections, John L.
Lewis has stood by his basic policy:
count" enough votes to beat an OPP
ponent if he appears on the ballot:
but if possible save this trouble by
simply eliminating him from compe-
tftion and have the ballots printed
without his name.
Crudeness of Steal Shown
Not only Sloan, but Oscar Guynn,
of Lansing, Ohio, and George Green,
of Shenandoah, Pa, rank and file
candidates for international vice.
president and secretary treasurer,
respectively, are eliminated" thus
from candidacy for these offices.
Phillip Murray and Thos. Kennedy,
now lieutenant governor, appear on
the ballot unopposed for these two
posts, so that the three strongest
positions of the Lewis machine face
no danger of being captured by the
rank and file movement which is
growing steadily
Another characteristic of the in
ternational ballot shows the crude
ness of Lewis crooked work in prep
aration for the stealing of another
election. The names of all three
rank and file candidates are omit
ted under the international posts
for which they declared because Of
"ineligibilty" under various technical
clauses of the international consti-
tuition But, strangely enough, they
are eligible to run for delegates to
the A. F. Of L. convention next
year, and their names appear in the
long list of candidates for these
berths.
Lewis utilized a constitutional
clause barring any member under
charges from running for an Office
in the union, to throw Sloan off
the ballot, since the latter repre-
Sented real threat to his re-elec-
ton.
Last May charges of working with
dual organization" were brought
against Sloan by Lewis stool pigeons
in the Westville local union. At
hearing before an investigating
commission in Danville, the charges
were dismissed. Later in the sum-
mer, when Lewis discovered Sloan
was to oppose him for Office, the
word was passed to the board men,
bers, all Lewis appointees, of pro-
visional Sub-District No. 9, IllinoiR
These worthless filed an appeal from
the decision of the commission, re-
viving the charges.
Sloan was notified to appear in
Washington for hearing before
the international executive board.
About the same time, the company
for which he works told him he
would be fired if he took time off
to make the trip, and Lewis men
in the local conveyed him the in
formation that the charges would
be dropped if he agreed to with
draw his name from the ballot.
Ruled OFF Slate
Against Guynn. Lewis raised the
question of whether he was eligible
to run for Office due to circumstances
attached to the reissuance of a
membership card. The rank and
file candidate had served in the
marines for three Or four years, and
having been union member long
before joining the service, on his :
return to the mines he was res
instated without paying for a new
card.
With these maneuverS as a basis
Lewis has ruled his opponents off
the slate of international candidates
in much the same manner as he
eliminated" Mike Demchak in 1882.
Demchak, an anthracite miner, was
omitted from the ballot because of a
mistake on the part of the printer"
Realizing the strength of the
rank and file sentiment for their
ousting. Lewis and Murray and
Kennedy, and the rest of their
grating crowd of takers, are once
more pulling the rswest sort Of
trickery to insure their "re-election.'
It is well known among the min
ers that Lewis was never elected to
an office in his life. He was APP
pointed president by Frank
Hays, then president. Hays was sent
to a saritarium for the rest IF his
life and Lewis stepped into his
shoes. Since then he has stolen
every election by one trick or
another.
To show the falsity of these tech
nicalities as reasons" why Sloan
and Guynn were kent off the b7n9t,
however, George Green, candid9te
on the rank and file slate for seq
.etary-t~ea eurer, is also ruled ct
but without any reason being given.
No charges were brought or are
PENDING against Green, in his case
Lewis having simply ordered tn
printer to make another mistake. =
All indications point to the 1894
elections being another big reason
why President John L. Lewis will
never speak to the members of his
union in the majority of the coal
fields, even under the protection Of
the usual gang of strong srm men.
The Ironwood Unit Of District 9,
Michigan, contributes So, with