Evening star., 1948-04-13

the strike are of no avail.
John l.. Lewis solemnly tells
Federal court that the miners work
stoppage Is a spontaneous affair ane
denies that when he sent then
word about the coal operators "dis-
honoring" the contract this was
tantamount to an order to strike
Industry feels the pinch. Stee.
plants close down. The entire ma
tional economy and particularly
transportation are affected.
A Federal judge Issues an orde,
to John L. Lewis and the miners
union on April 3 to stop the strike
and it is served on April 5.
For nine days Mr.. Lewis and the
mine union officials have an oppor-
tunity to obey the court order, but
they don't.
The Only Real Issue.
Then, all of a sudden, on Capitol
Hill from the office Of the Speaker
of the House of Representatives
comes an announcement that after
II minutes OF conference Mr.. Lewis
and the representative of the opera
tors have agreed on the naming OF
q third trustee in the pension dis
pute-the only real issue.
The public is asked to believe that
only the miraculous powers of magic
OF Joseph w. Martin, Speaker of
the House, brought the parties
together and in IL minutes accom-
plished what President Truman and
Cyrus Ching, director Of the United
States Mediation and Cancellation
Service, couldn't do In three and
half weeks while the country suf-
fered a tragic loss in production.
Clever Mr.. Lewis! He put into
the hands of Republican, Speaker
Martin, a means of discrediting or
humiliating by inference President
Truman and the executive agencies
Mr.. Lewis knew what he was doing
he thought it would enhance Mr.
Martins chances for the presidential
nomination of the Republican Party
and give the people generally the
impression that the Republican
leadership in Congress could settle
the coal strike and the Democratic
President could not.
Speaker Martin is a likable person
but the moment he agreed to be a
party to John Lewis schemes he
lost ground with many disinterested
persons who care more for court
procedures and respect for, the laws
written by Congress than they do
for politics.
Mr.. Martin should have turned
Mr.. Lewis over to the United States
Mediation Service, whose legal duty
it is to arrange for mediation. Mr..
Martin should have insisted that
Mr.. Lewis obey the order of the
Federal court at once before enter
ing into a scheme to help Mr.. Lewis
to get out of an uncomfortable posi-
ton.
Theory Too Fantastic.
Theory that Mr.. Martin knew
nothing about the matter till he met
with both sides at II o'clock last
Saturday morning is too fantastic
to be accepted. Somewhere along
the line emissaries or intermediates
must have let it be known that, If
a certain step we're taken, Mr.. Lewis
would be grateful and would agree
to call off the strike.
But the compromise settlement,
important as 1t Is for the country,
could have been achieved by obedi-
ence to the court order which was a
prerequisite to any settlement.
What has been a game Of comedy
may turn out, however, to be a
tragedy for the miners union. The
order Of the court has been dis
obeyed. There is penalty for that
kind of disobedience. If the first
penalty imposed a year ago-a large
fine-did not obtain respect for the
courts, a second penalty on convic-
t1on would have to be viewed in the
light Of whether 1t Is sufficiently
severe to prevent a third of1ense.
On June 80 next, the present con-
tract between the miners and the
operators expires. Will there be an
other coal strike, another petition
for an injunction and another dis
regard of the restraining order of a
Federal court? Why does the law
Of the land come down so heavily
on the monopolists who happen to
be employers and let huge labor Or
ganizations go free when they are
dominated by man who likes to
have the public believe he is bigger
than the Government itself?
The trial on contempt charges
will be watched by the American
people to determine whether there
, Is such thing as equal justice
under law"
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