Evening star., 1946-11-24
Coal
Continued From First Page.)

applied by the communities them
selves. -
'I cannot oyeremphasize the Sc
riousness of this situation"
In Tightening the earlier freeze
order Mr.. Krug prohibited railroads
from taking coal in transit and noti-
fed any shippers whose mines were
operating to ship coal only on Gov
ernment orders for emergency use.
Strictest Saving Required.
He warned "all industrial and do
mestic consumers that only by the
strictest saving can widespread suf-
fering and collapse of essential pub
lie services be averted."
John D. Small, civilian production
administrator, also appealed for
coal conservation. He said:
81 urge every member of a house
hold which burns gas and electricity
to exercise the greatest economy in
their use, for only with such CO.
operation will disastrous diScontinu.
ance of services in many areas be
avoided. I urge, too, conscien.
tious voluntary compliance by bust.
ness establishments with the term.
of the orders OPA issued yesterday
and I ask for the assistance oi
States and municipalities in carry.
ing out these necessary provisions.
'The country is faced with crisis
far more serious than the situation
created by the coal strike las
spring"
Two coal-conserving orders al
ready issued take effect tomorrow
These are the 21-State dimout tc
save electricity generated from Goa.
and the order reducing by Is per
cent passenger service of coal-burn-
ing trains.
No Evidence of Retreat.
Thus, it was clear that the Gov
ernment planned no retreat from
its avowed aIl-out struggle with Mr.
Lewis.
There was no evidence, either
that Mr.. Lewis would give ground
from his position that he had the
right to reopen and terminate the
contract under which the Govern
ment had operated the seized coal
mines since last May 20.
The refusal of Mr.. Krug, who
operated the mines since then for
the Government, to give in to
Lewis demands for higher pay and
a doubled union welfare fund, led
to Mr.. Lewis issuance of the con-
tract termination" notice, effective
last Wednesday midnight. The
miners do not work without a con-
tract. Although MIR. Krug insisted
the agreement was still in effect
Mr.. Lewis had spoken otherwise
So, the 100000 miners went out.
Last Monday Justice Goldsbor-
ough ordered Mr.. Lewis and his
United Mine Workers to recall the
termination" notice and otherwise
to take no action that might result
in strike. Mr.. Lewis did not recall
the notice, so Justice Goldsborough
acting on a Government petition
summoned Mr.. Lewis to court tomor-
row.
Has Chance to Escape Charge.
Mr.. Lewis will be given opportu-
nifty to purge" himself of con-
empt-of-court charge at the hear
ing. He could do that, presumably, by
ordering an end of the strike or by
convincing the judge he erred in
issuing the restraining order.
If MIR. Lewis fails to satisfy the
court. he will be tried for contempt
on Wednesday by Justice Colds
borough aided by special advisory
jury" Conviction could mean jail
or fine.
The Government may also seek in
dictment of union officials for VIOLA
ton Of the, Smith -Connally Act
which forbids strikes against the
Government.
These actions all indicate lengthy
court battles and will not Of them
selves bring about operation of the
mines. The Nations economy can
not stand long strike. How to get
coal mined was a problem which nc
Government official had answered.
Traces Of Cold Disappear.
Mr.. Truman told reporters who
greeted him at the Army Transport
Command airport that he had 9
good time during his weeks sta,
on the submarine base at Key West
and that ne felt fine.
For several days pria-