Evening star., 1947-03-06
Lewis
mination of the "basic issues aris-
ing under that agreement"
Continued From First Page.)


ing under that agreement"
Strike Restriction Seen.
The effect of the decision, OBJ
servers said, will be to prevent the
soft coal miners from striking as
long as the Government retains
ossession of the mines. However,
under President Truman's action
declaring the period of war hostili-
ties at an end, the Government must
return the mines to their owners by
June 80.
MIR. Lewis ended the coal strike
December 7, the day an appeal from
the District Court contempt con-
viction reached the Supreme Court.
He ordered the miners to return to
work until midnight, March 81, in
order to allow the Supreme Court
to decide the case.
AS to Mr.. Lewis and the union S
action in calling the November
strike. the court said, 1--WE cannot
ignore the effect of their action
upon the rights of other citizens
or the effect of their action upon
our system Of Government.
Lewis Aggressive Leader"
Chief Justice Vinson said:
'The defendant Lewis, it is true,
was the aggressive leader in the
studied and deliberate non-compli-
ance with the order of the District
Court, but as the record shows, he
stated in open court prior to i'm
position Of the fines that the repre-
sentatives Of the United Mime
Workers determined that the So
called Krug-Lewis agreement was
preached and that it was the
unions representatives who no
titled the Secretary of the Interior
that the contract was terminated
as of November 90
"And certainly it was the men,
bers of the defendant union who
executed the Nationwide strike
Loyalty in responding to the orders
Of their leaders may, in some minds,
minimize the gravity of the miners
conduct; but we can not ignore the
effect of their action upon the rights
of other citizens, or the effect of
their action upon our system of
government"
The Chief Justice asserted that
"the gains, social and economic,
which the miners and other citizens
have realized in the past are ulti-
mately due to the fact they enjoy
the rights of free men under our
system of government"
Upon the maintenance of that
system" Chief Justice Vinson added,
depends all future progress to
which they may justly aspire. In
our complex society there is a great
variety of limited loyalties, but the
overriding loyalty of all to to our
country and to the institutions
under which a particular interest
may be pursued"
Murphy Calls Seizure Irrevelant.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice
Murphy declared that "the i'm
portant point and it cannot be over
emphasized is that Congress has
decreed that strikes and labor dis
tlrbances growing out of private
labor disputes are to be dealt with
by some means other than Federal
Court restraining orders and injunc-
tions. Further confirmation, If any
be needed, is to be found in the
terms and In the history of the WaI
Labor Disputes Act"
Justice Murphy declared that the
Governments seizure of the Goa
mines was irrelevant to the issue
, His view was that "the restrain
ing order and the temporary in
junction in this case are void ano
without effect"
,"The cause of orderly Copstitu-
tonal Government is i'll served by
nlisapplying the law as it is written
inadequate though it may be tc
meet an emergency situation, espe-
cially where that misapplication
permits punitive sanctions to be
placed upon an individual or an or.
ganization,' he said.
Justice Murphy said at becomes
apparent that the implications oi
today's decision cast a dark cloud
over the future of labor relations
IN the united states.
Remained Private Employees.
He added: THE full thrust of the
Norris-La Guardia Act is directed
toward the use of restraining orders
and injunctions in cases arising out
Of labor disputes between private
employers and private employees"
Justice Murphy said "Congres.
has said no court of the Unitet
States shall have jurisdiction tt
issue any restraining order or in
junction" in disputes of this nature
he added, sin my opinion, the
miners remained private employs
despite the temporary gloss of Gov
ernment possession and operation
of the rnineS. they hear no resera,