Evening star., 1946-12-05
Lewis Fine Declared
Shock to Union Chiefs
Sovereign Power of Nation
Hinges on Supreme Court Action
By David Laurence

i
By David Laurence
The shock which had its impact on
union leaders everywhere when JUS
tice Goldsborough imposed his fine Of
81, SOC, 900 on the United Mine Workers
was not due to the size of the fine but
to the fact that the Government
especially the judicial branch-had the
temerity to hold a labor union re-
sponsible for anything.
Labor union leaders have been tell
ing the country for a long time that
whatever they want must be granted
by, Government and that no restrain
ing hand can be laid upon them by any
body.
When any group In the Nation
breaches the doctrine Of being above
the law, extremes will ensue. Most OF
the miners think John l. Lewis Is
above the law and that their union
can do anything it pleases. The theory
that the Nation cannot get coal except
as the miners viii to supply it implies
proprietorship over natural resources
far more powerful than that of any
owners.
Unions Not Convinced.
Labor union leaders generally viii
doubtless rally to the support of the
miners union and will denounce the
| court which issued the decision, but
| this will only serve to emphasize the
prevalent belief among labor chiefs
that the unions and their leaders cam
| not be restrained under the Norris-La
| Guardia anti-injunction law or any
| other statute now in existence.
Mr.. Lewis, in fact, insists that labor
union rights are above the Constitu-
| ton, for he defled a court order which
asked him to maintain things only
| temporarily until the issues could be
heard in court. BY refusing to abide
| by the restraining order, Mr.. Lewis, in
| behalf of the miners union, said IN
| effect that no labor union must obey
court order today in labor dispute.
Theoretically, the Lewis argument Is
| that the Norris-La Guardia anti-injunc-
ton law binds the hands of the Gov
| ernment as well as of private owners.
Where there is doubt as to the appl-
cability of a law, test case must be
| brought. Mr. Lewis, by his refusal to
| obey the order, was apparently OF the
| belief that a temporary restraining
order could not be constitutional If the
Norris-La Guardia Act applied. Justice
| Goldsborough held that the anti-in-
junction statute didn't apply, and this
left Mr.. Lewis and the miners union
in the position of ignoring the restrain
ing order altogether.
An appeal to the Supreme Court OF
the United States Is being taken but.
while lawyers differ as to the probable
outcome of the litigation, it seems ~,
sured that the decision will be of farr
| reaching significance. The principle u
| be decided is whether, every time q
| statute is passed, there must be SPECIFIC
| mention of the inclusion or exclusion
| of the Federal Government from the
provisions.
! Sovereign Power Issue.
| Some laws mention the Federal estab-
lishment and some do not. When ths
Norris-La .Guardia Act was being con-
| sidered by Congress, many members
/ said during the debate that, of course.
! the Government was not involved. It
will be interesting to see the Supreme
Court decide what was or what was
not the intent of Congress, though, to
be sure, the main issue may be whether
it was necessary to specify Government
exemption at all.
The basic theory behind the no-men-
ton idea is that the sovereign power
of the Government itself may be taken
for granted no matter what the statutes
say. Mr.. Lewis, unfortunately for his
case. has been on both sides Of the
issue, for recently in another litigation
he insisted that the miners were work
ing for the Federal Government and
were doing SO by virtue Of sovereign
power.
Congress will certainly amend the
Norris-La Guardia Act to remove all
doubt on this point, but this will not
affect the outcome of the pending appeal
which the miners union is taking.
What comes next? The contempt
proceedings and the fine of s25o,oo per
day were part of program OF steady
pressure by the administration to
persuade the miners union to come to
terms. That pressure continues and the
miners union faces disintegration II 1t
insists on fighting the Federal Govern
ment. At any moment Mr.. Lewis may
be expected to bow to the will of the
| Government, send the miners back to
work and start negotiations with the
private owners through the Government.
| That's his only way out. 8