Evening star., 1948-04-13
John L. Lewis and Friends


with an old cliche, there is more-and
perhaps also less-than meets the eye in
the settlement" of the ninth major coal
strike in as many years.
The suspicion that there is more to this
business than appears on the surface
comes about because of the role played
by the fine Republican hand of Speaker
Joe Martin. Ohicially, there is nothing
to this suspicion. 1t simply occurred to
the Speaker, according to the official ver-
sion, that it would be good idea to settle
the coal strike. So he got Mr.. Lewis on
the phone and found that the mine union
boss was interested only in doing what
was best for the country. Next he called
Ezra Van Horn, representative Of the
operators, and discovered that he, too,
was thinking only in terms Of the public
good. So the Speaker, exercising that
capacity for sound decision which has
brought him some notice as Republican
presidential candidate, invited the gentle
men to his office. Within thirteen minutes
after sitting down together, Mr.. Lewis
and Mr.. Van Horn, who heretofore had
been able only to agree to disagree, found
themselves in hearty accord on the selec-
ton OF Senator Bridges, who happens also
to be Republican, as the third member of
the committee to settle their pension dis
pute. With this accomplished, the Speaker
stepped aside and has had nothing to do
with the matter since, with the exception,
of course, of modestly accepting the &C
claim which has been bestowed upon him
for his show Of industrial craftsmanship.
Unfortunately, there are those who are
not willing to accept this explanation at
face value. Some of these skepticsT are
consumed with suspicion. One of them,
Democratic Chairman McGrath, remarks
rather tartly that Mr.. Lewis "has been
driven to cover by a. Democratic admins
tration" and has fled for aid and comfort
to his own political party" Senator Nc
Grath is not exactly putting all Of his
cards on the table, for he neglects to point
out that the weapon used by the Demo-
cratic administration in driving Mr.. Lewis
to cover was the Taft-Hartley Act. He
also neglects to mention that this law was
passed by a Republican Congress over the
veto of Democratic President, who de-
nounced the Taft~Hartley bill as "a clear
threat to the successful working of our
democratic society" .
To get into these collateral questions,
however, is merely to confuse the current
issue. The fair inference is that Mr..
McGrath is essentially correct. that Mr..
Lewis did run for help to his Republican
friends, and that they have done their
best to get him safely down from the limb
on which he had precariously perched
himself Whether the effort has sue
ceeded or not will become known on
Wednesday, when Mr.. Lewis, despite his
eleventh-hour retreat, will have to stand
trial in Federal Court for contempt.
Some time must elapse before it can
be determined whether there is less in
this settlement than meets the eye. Barring
some unforeseen contingency 1t will have
the immediate and eminently desirable
effect of getting the miners back to work.
But the agreement which Senator Bridges
engineered on the pension plan is so
hedged around with reservations and so
full of antiquities as to be of very doubtful
value.
If Mr. Lewis had been moved by the
slightest desire to reach settlement
which would prevent strike, he could
have come to this agreement weeks ago.
BY the same token, if he is not desireus
of reaching q genuine settlement, the
Bridges formula is fun OF loopholes any
of which can serve as an excuse for an
other strike in the weeks to come.