The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-11-16
Fdcing the Facts
With PHILIP PEARL

There is grumbling in the coal
fields. Wherever miners congregate
impromptu Indignation meetings crop
up. The talk is about taxes and the
talk is harsh. The taxes the miners
are objecting to are not taxes levied
by the Government but by John l..
Lewis.
For again notices have gone out
from the Washington headquarters of
the United Mine Workers informing
the membership that two special as
Sessments of 81 each will be levied
against them to build up the C. l. 0.
war-chest. Every miner who works
five or more days per month will have
1 dollar checked off his pay envelope
Tor two consecutive monthly willy
nilly.
And for what purposes is this fund
IF $S00,00O being levied against men
who earn scarcely enough to feed
themselves and their families? Two
reasons are stated. The first is to
give Mr.. Lewis a half-milion dollar
fund to play politics with in the 1910
Presidential campaign. The second is
to give him some extra cash to con-
tinue his raiding activities against the
American Federation of Labor.
Are the miners informed Of Mr.
Lewis political purposes or plans
No. All he says is "Hand over the
dough-" and the coal operators deduct
the assessments from the helpless
miners pay envelopes.
Are the miners consulted about
heir political preferences in 1910?
No. All Mr.. Lewis says is "Hand over
The dough and I'll do with it as
please"
The Political Mystery
Does anyone know Mr.. Lewis lean
ings in the 1910 political campaign?
No. How could anyone even guess =?
In 1882 Mr.. Lewis supported Hoover
against Roosevelt In 1896 he con-
tributed half million dollars Of the
miners money to the Democratic
National Committee to re-elect Roose-
yelt. And only a few days ago he
,ame out with a statement interpreted
as opposing third term for Roose-
vet. So Mr.. Lewis political plans
ire mystery to the experts, let alone
The toiling miners in the coal pits. For
all the experts know and for all the
miners know Mr. Lewis might go
Democratic, Republican or Communist
in 1910. And for all they know he
might use the half million dollars in
an attempt to elect himself President
IF the United States. 1t is no secret
that he has such ambitions.
Aside from the money end of it,
however, Mr. Lewis political predilec
| lions are of no Importance at all. The
boys who make business out of
politics know that Mr. Lewis approval
of candidate is equivalent to the
kiss of death because the G. |. o. and
it's chieftain are so unpopular with the
voters in this country. This has been
proven so many times during elections
in the past few years that it is a rec
ognized fact. A Democratic member
Of Congress even stated from the floor
Of the House at the last regular
session that it would be a good thing
for the Democrats to give Mr.. Lewis
back to the Republicans along with
the $50O,000 the democrats got from
Lewis in 1886
But there are principles involved in
the political operations of Mr.. Lewis
that cannot be passed over lightly.
His practices are so shocking that
they constitute national disgrace
and a threat to honest elections and
honest Government.
Money Talks--SOmetimes
AS the Scripps- Howard newspapers
pointed out in an editorial this week
if private corporation tried to make
campaign contributions as Mr.. Lewis
does out of union funds, it would be
a violation of the Corrupt Practices
Act. But Mr.. Lewis is in a position
to need and demand more Govern
mental favors than any private cor
poraton.
I Politics, this editorial notes, is a
game where money talks. Should Mr.
Lewis be lucky enough to pick the
winning side in 1910 and help it along
with a half-million dollar campaign
contribution, would it be too far,
fetched to suppose that he might be
able to ask and receive important fa-
vors from the Government in power
Then, to go back to how the money
is being collected, is it fair, is i;
American justice, to compel the mem
bers of the United Mine Workers tC
"kick in'' for cause they may op-
pose? Miners are like the rest of us
Some Of them are Democrats, some
are Republicans and some have miscel.
laneous political convictions. Why
should the Republican miners be
forced to contribute their hard -earneC
and much-needed money to help g
party they oppose, or vice versa?
The answer, brothers and sisters
hes in the rule of force by which Mr.
Lewis lives and continues in power
We have no objection to the CLOSED
shop. 1t is in many instances highly
desirable. Nor do we oppose the
check-otf system. Because in many