The Wilmington morning star., 1946-12-07
Found Guilty

anything and everything that have stood in
the way of achieving his detectives, whether
it was the health and safety OF the American
people or the well-being OF American business
or an existing contract with the Government
or an urgent appeal from a wartime Presi-
: dent not to let down our troops overseas
whose flow Of supplies depended upon unin.
t%errupted industrial production, ended yester.
day when Mr.. Lewis and the United Mine
Workers were found guilty OF both civil ana
criminal contempt Of court.
This finding was not unexpected. 1t was
core shadowed clearly last week when the
court denied Mr.. Lewis motion to dismiss
the charges which the Government had
brought against him.. The court held then that
the action which Mr.. Lewis had taken or was
about to take would inflict great and IRE.
medal harm upon the public and upon the
Government as custodian Of the public wei
fare, and that this action was properly subject
to injunction. In this opinion the court ruled
that the Norris-La Guardia Anti : Injunction
Act, on which counsel for Mr.. Lewis relied,
did not forbid Injunction proceedings by the
Government, as contrasted with private in
dustry, even though the Government was no,
specifically excluded from its terms. 1t did
not have to b. specifically excluded, both be.
cause of the nature Of Government and be-
cause those who drew up and those who voted
for the Act did not consider such exclusion
to be necessary. From these premises, and
in the light of the evidence subsequently in.
troduced, it would seem to the lay mind that
yesterdays contempt decision followed logi-
cally and, indeed, remorseless!y.
Mr.. Lewis bitterly defiant speech in court
in reply to this decision was wholly in charac-
ter. Mr.. Lewis is so accustomed to having
his own way, so sure Of mis- own righteous
ness and so Indifferent to such incidental con-
siderations as the hardships Of the American
public and the prostration Of American bust
ness that any change o. policy on his part,
as a result of the courts decision, is hardly
to be expected. But this may not prove to
be equally true in the case Of the local leader.
ship and the rank-and-file Of the Mine Work
ers Union. particularly if the sentence to be
pronounced today includes, as 1t properly
could, a substantial and accommodating fine
against the Unions treasury Cor each days
continuing violation of the courts order.
Such a penalty would emphasize tor the
mine workers the fact that the Federal Gov
ernment is not merely one additional agency
in a contest for power. The Federal Govern
ment represents the whole people, Of which
the United Mine Workers AMI the mine-oper.
ators are both small parts. This Government
is not a v~engeful Government, seeking, as
Mr.. Lewis SO aamboyantly acclaimed yester.
day, to deprive the mine-workers of their
constitutional rights" and to subject them 20
involuntary servitude," 1t IS on the con
trary, a Government which, especially during
the last fourteen years, has enacted a vast
code Of friendly legislation Cor the advantage
OF trade unions generally and Cor the advan-
tage Of the coal trade unions particularly. This
Government has been willing, and is now will
ing. to promote and encourage collective bar.
gaining in the coal Industry. It has been eager,
and Is still eager, to use its influence to help
the miners achieve fair terms of employment
But it is unwilling to permit - and at long
last it is determined not to permit ~ one man
to defy the Government Of the United States.
to tear up his contract with that Government.
to compel it to do under duress what it would
not do freely and meantime 70 cripple the en-.
tire economy Of the country.
The courts decision rests on points of law.
but for the m~ine-workers it should also be a
verdict on the bankruptcy Of MIR. Lewis pres.
emit leadership. New York Times, Dec. :.