Evening star., 1947-04-06


in the Illinois pit. In fact. he Of the
bristling brows and booming voice
has seized upon the disaster as =
stone with which TO knock OF .
whole row Of birds, so to speak
obiectives he has had in mind for
some time.
1t has afforded him the chance for
revenge on the Truman administra-
ton generally and Secretary Of IN
terror Krug particularly for the
pushing around he got on last falls
strike and subsequent court battles
by blaming the. tragedy on Gov
ernment laxity. It has given . lift
to the somewhat sagging Lewis pres
tige among his men in the coal
fields.
Diverts Congress From Goal.
BY keeping Congress attention
focused on Centralia, Mr.. Lewis, for
the moment anyway, has diverted
the legislators from what they set
as their main goal this session-the
writing OF new and restrictive Ia
Dor laws. In fact, he has brought
about couple Of investigations into
miners safety and welfare and the
introduction of . bill for Federal
enforcement Of mine safety meas
ures-a longtime Lewis objective.
AS q by-product OF his efforts, Mr..
Lewis may have put the clincher on
his efforts to prevent James Boyd,
dean Of Colorado School Of Mines.
from becoming director Of the In
terror Departments Bureau OF
Mines. He has fought hard against
replacement of DR.. r. r. Sayers. the
present bureau chief and the mine
workers friend, as President Tru-
man and Secretary Krug are seek
ing to do.
But, most important Of all, Mr..
Lewis bargaining position with the
Nations soft-coal industry has I'M
proved imrneasurably as result OF
Centralia.
The miners still are working un-
der the agreement Secretary Krug
signed with Mr.. Lewis to end the
5e-day strike last May. The Gov
ernment had Just seized the mines
at the time and the Krug-Lewis
agreement was to last for the pc
Rod OF Federal operation. That was
expected to be only a short time
until the private operators could
Jump in and "huy" up the agreement
and reclaim their properties. This
is something the operators have
refused to do to this day.
Position Strengthened.
The Government, however, under
the present law, can retain possess
sion OF the mines only until July
1. The time now Is fast approach
ing when the mine owners will have
to sit down with Mr.. Lewis and
negotiate q contract for private
operation.
He now Is in an excellent po-
sition to get what he wants when
he talks turkey with the industry,
especially in the way Of Federal
safety code and welfare fund to
take care of the old and broken
miners and the families of those
who are killed in work.
Mr.. Lewis safety and welfare
fund demands were the chief bar
ries to contract with the opera
tors year ago. At least large
part CT the. industry has refused
since to give in on .the points.
But, when new negotiations start
the operators are likely to hear
nothing for a while from the mine
workers side except "Centralia" and
more of the same.
Dust from the explosion had
scarcely settled before Mr.. Lewis
leaped to the offensive, role he
had deserted with minor exceptions
since the Government got the in
junction against last November's
strike.
T..
Charges Murder.
He made second appearance
before a Senate committee, con-
sidering the Boyd appointment. He
spoke only a few words. But, in
short order he had accused Mr..
Krug OF numbering" the Centralia
victims through his negligence" in
enforcing the safety code provided
by the Krug-Lewis agreement.
Then. he seized upon an idea to
emphasize his point dramatically
He called a news conference the
next day and broke the plans for
the six-day stoppage Of all soft-coal
mining as a memorial" to the
Centralia dead. He added to the
charge against Mr. Krug, saying
among many other things. HE
should be cast out Of the high Office
he holds The move was all the
more effective since before the
Supreme Court ruled against them
in the contempt and strike injunc-
ton case it had generally been
expected the miners would walk out
again April /.
Mr.. Lewis followed this up b.
brutally attacking Mr.. Krug before
q House Labor subcommittee. From
listening to his six-hour harangue
one got the ii1escapable impression
that Mr.. Lewis was more interested
In getting the Secretary's scalp thar
in saving miners lives. It was oh.
vious that, Inundated by court set
backs, he is out to get Mr.. Krug
He had been looking for the chance
to come OF the floor with q hay
maker and he thought Centralis
gave him the opening.
Mr.. Lewis, who accused Mr.. Krue
-