The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-30

NtNatSa~PAN Little steel Formula"
 Lewis declined to reply to Ques. tons, asserting that the letter ''atates our position" and that he had nothing further to say,
 Hts demand for continued nego. tlatlon came only few hours before the cleadllne Of midnight tonight when the extension agreement under which bitumlnous coal mines have kept open and the existing contract for the anthracite region expires, Ht followed q morning meeting of the UNIV policy committee,
 mY NEIRIlEIsL IlIIsl.NEAN
 (Unlted PrcSa Staff CoEFespOMdent)
 Washington, April S0.--(up)-- Somo 4b0,000 hltumin0us miners must declae today whether to obey President Roosevelt's ultlmatum against Interruption of coal produce ton or follow their union leader, John l., Lewis, ln hts apparent des termination to defy the government,
 More than 7B,000 of the miners already have quit work because Of the delay tn settlement of their de- mand for . S2-R-day wage increase, They and the rest of tho miners awaited Lewis answer to tho presi. dent before making their decision.
 But Lewis, secluded in hts hotel suite in New York was silent, Fac. ing what may Do the greatest test of ms power among rank.and.flle coal miners, ho said only: No com. mont",
 Two Deaallnes
 Within tho next a hours, the miners fac0 two headlines:
 1. Midnight tonight-the months extension of the soft coal contract between tho UNIV and the Alps palachlan coal operators expires, Lewis has said that hts miners will not "tregpasa" on mine property without 6 contract, action tanta- mount to c strike. In addition, the wage contract for 00,0O0 anthracite miners also expires at midnight and they, too, are expected to strike.
 is-i0 c. m. EWT., tomorrow Mir. Roosevelt will invoke his pow. ers az President and colnmander-in- chief of the armed forces unless ell striking miners have resumed work,
 Mir. Roosevelt's ultimatum, Issued shortly after his return from . 2M week trip, did not specify contem. plated action, but the possibilities include dispatch of troops to the mines, naturalization of the mines, or cancellation of strikers draft dee ferments.
 Informed sources here predicted that whihs troops probably would to sent to the mines tomorrow # the strikes have not stopped, the gov- ernment will not turn on the heat until Monday because . number of mines have not been operating Sat. urdayS. Thry believe the real test will come Monday mornring.
 Coal producers were granted price increases some months ago to offset labor costs involved in six-day work week but Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins recently proposed Q guaranteed slx-day week as Q s0- lution of the coal dispute on the basis that some operators have been pocketlng the price boost while rec taining Q five-day week.
 It was assumed that troops would be sent to protect mine management and those miners who chose to work. Labor and government circles still relied on the presidents p0pu- larity in the mine- producing areas and the urgent wartime need for coal to get the strikers back to work. There was no hint from the mine areas how the miners will react # Lewis stands his ground. In the Pittsburgh area, where the series of wildcat strikes started local union officials said they would have to have Lewis approval to work with- out Q contract.
 In Alabama, workers at four new mines went on strike after President Roosevelt's "Back to work by Sat- urday" order, but workers at four others voted to return to work last night.
 After his return to the White House yesterday the President dis- patched telegrams to Lewis and to UNIV Seeretary-Treastirer Thomas KenSiedy. The War Labor Board turned the dispute over to him on Wednesday.
 "Not as presldent--not as cogn@ mander-in-chief--but as the friend of the men who work in the coal mines." he expressed confidence that the workers' patriotism would send them back to the pits
 TesegFnmis Exchanged 4 few hours later. tho white