Evening star., 1943-04-29

on the high seas and our armies in
the field will be helpless against our
enemies.
81 am sure that the men who work
in the coal mines, whose sons and
brothers are in the Armed Forces,
do not want to retard the war effort
to which they have contributed so
Loyalty and in which they, with all
other Americans, have so much at
stake.
Has Faith in Miners.
Not as President-not as COM
mander in chief-but as the friend
of the men who work in the coal
mines, I appeal to them to resume
work Immediately and submit their
case to the National War Labor
Board for final determination.
Il have confidence in the patriot
ism of the miners. I am sure that
when they realize the effect that
stopping work at this time will have.
upon our boys at the front, they
will return to their jobs.
Telegram Very Simple.
The enemy will not wait while
strikes and stoppages run their
course. Therefore, if work at the
mines is not resumed by 10 o'clock
Saturday morning, I shall use all
the power vested in me as the Presi-
dent and as commander in chief of
the Army and Navy to protect the
national interest and to prevent
further interference with the sue
cessful prosecution of the war"
The President made public the
telegram which he described as
very simple at special press
conference called at noon. He said
it had been sent about 1890.
1t is the second time in a week
that Mr.. Roosevelt has ordered Mr.
Lewis to get striking members of the
UNIV back on the job, threatening
governmental action for failure to
comply.
Saturday the President ordered a
two-week strike of plastic workers
ended at the Newark IN. j. plant
of the Celanese Corp. of America
The men returned to work within a
few hours
Nearly $50 Mines Closed.
With nearly $50 mines closed down
and 10000 men idle, according to a
check by the Associated Press, the
War Labor Board last night washed
its hands of the wage dispute and
turned to the President for action.
The board said its own orders and
appeals for continued production
during the negotiation of a new
contract-the cruX of the fight-had
been ignored and that its resources
consequently were exhausted.
1t pointed specifically to the i'm
portance of Mr. Roosevelt's deci-
Sion-apart from the immediate
threat to war probationary say
ing that unless this case is handled
under established procedure like
any other case, it believed the whole
system of settling wartime industrial
quarrels would collapse.
If strike comes. it actually will
be effective at midnight tomorrow
when the UNIV contract in the Ap-
palachian fields expires. After that
time, according to Mr.. Lewis, his
men will not trespass" on the
property of the operators. The full
force of the walkout, however, prob
ably would not be felt until Mon
day as Saturday work is not uni
verSal
Underscoring Importance of the
crisis to war production was the call
of Secretary of Labor Perkins for
the work stoppages to cease at
once" and the charge of Col. Roane
Waring, American Legion, national
commander, that the threatened full
scale stoppage sis stab in the
back of the America fighting a war"
Waring Speaks at Rally.
Col. Waring spoke at a Legion
rally in Memphis last night and his
asseI ton that now is the time to
Determine whether the government
set up by the votes of our people is
running this country and this war
or whether John l.. Lewis is running
it" came shortly after the Labor
Secretary's appeal and the WLB ac-
ton
"A strike that threatens to shut
down our plants, our mills and our
shipyardS is more despicable than
Italy's attack on France when she
was down." he said.
In letter replying to the UNIV
Policy Committee charge that the
WLB is malignant in its prejudice"
against the union, Secretary Per-
kins said she found no evidence
~