Evening star., 1948-04-05
Mr.. Lewis and the Low


On the strength of the temporary re-
straining order issued by Justice Mcclure
Of the United States District Court, it is
reasonable to expect q speedy end to the
coal strike. Or If not that, then we may
at least expect an 80-day relief from 1t
under the mandatory provisions of the
Hartley Act.
For the order. coupled with the accom-
panying injunction proceedings set in
melton by President Truman, leaves John
L. Lewis and other officers of the United
Mine Workers wide open to contempt
penalties of the severest kind II they fail
to tell the strikers to return to work
forthwith" In keeping with their PEN
chant for trying periodically to appear
bigger than the Government, 1t may be
that the UNIV leaders will choose to follow.
a defiant course. Once burnt, however,
twice shy. Back In 1946 Mr.. Lewis had
sad experience along this line, and it
seems unlikely that he will expose himself
to the same thing again.
OF course, with typical mixture of
hammy rhetoric and legal hair splitting,
Mr. Lewis piouSly Insists that he is not
responsible for the strike, either directly
or indirectly. Possibly on the basis of
rigid technicalities, he may be able to find
few Philadelphia lawyers who will agree
with him. But the American people, like
the Presidents special Board of Inquiry,
will recognize his contention for what it
is-a quibble that strains credulity far
beyond the breaking point. For 1t seems
altogether clear, as the board has reported,
that he took steps, no matter how covert,
to induce the Nations $4,000 soft-coal
miners to walk out Their action has not
been spontaneous; they will 60 back just
as soon as he obeys Justice McGuireS
order
There is nothing, moreover, that can
justify any delay on Mr.. Lewis part. The
Board of Inquiry has left little room for
doubt that the strike would never have
occurred had he been willing to get of his
high horse in dealing with the issue in
volved. The issue revolves around the
UMW's $30,000,000 welfare and retirement
fund-a fund into which the mine oper-
ators pay ten cents for each ton OF coal
sold or used. Mr.. Lewis demand is that
500 month be paid out of this fund as
a pension to any and every UNIV member
who has attained the age of so and been
employed in the industry for 20 years. The
operators, on the other hand, insist that
the Bituminous Wage Agreement of 1947
restricts such payments solely to employees
of the companies that are parties to the
agreement. Further, they insist that the
Lewis proposal, if put into effect, would be
so unsound that the fund itself would be
quickly exhausted On this point they
have the full backing not only of Govern
ment actuaries but also of actuaries en-
ployed by Mr.. Lewis himself
Yet, although this obviously is a matter
that can be readily negotiated and, settled
by men of reason and good will, the UNIV
chieftain has used 1t as an excuse for
work stoppage that has threatened to
paralyze America in period Of grave
world tension. The President has acted
wisely therefore, and not moment too
soon, in resorting to the courts in the
interests of the, Nations health and
safety. AS result Mr. Lewis now is under
stern orders to put prompt end to the
walkout; in addition, both he and the coal
operators are under equally stern orders
to bargain collectively for a., pension
agreement.
But if the law thus is capable of bridling
some of Mr.. Lewis all-or nothing imperi-
BUSINESS, it has limits of its own After 80
days, the country may have to take it on
the chin all over again. This recurrent
afliction is getting to be such monot-
onous menace that Congress has good
reason to weigh the advisability of special
legislation to deal with it. The American
people, at any rate, are certainly tired of
being upended every six months or so by
coal-mine ructions stemming usually from
one mans iron whim.