Evening star., 1952-11-10

was 4
acterized his whole career. His
work was made easier by the fact
that he was a civic leader in Pitts
burgn had served for years on the
c:ty's school board.
Drive Successful.
In any event, the organizing
drive about the steel capital was
successful and it wasn't long be-
fore the United States Steel Corp,
under the direction of Myron C.
Taylor signed its first union con-
tract with the Murray committee.
Mr.. Lewis was able to break
down the resistance of Mr.. Taylor
and others at the top of big
Steel" largely because Mr.. Murray
and his men had signed an over
whelrning number of the workers
to union cards.
The capitulation Of U. S. Steel
by no means ended the struggle.
The so-called Little Steel" COM
|panies - Bethlehem, Republic,
Jones & Laughlin, etc.-still had
to be won over. And the winning
was punctuated by some of the
bloodiest episodes of American
labor history. It was not until
1912 that Mr.. Murray could call
his job completed. That year the
name Of the organizing commit
tee was changed to the United
Steelworkers of America, with
Mr.. Murray its first and only
president.
John L. Lewis has been a Re-
publican most of his life, Mr..
Murray a Democrat. The two
were happiest politically in 1886
when. Mr.. Lewis espousing the
cause of the New Deal. came out
with booming voice and $500, 900
in UNIV cash, for the late Presi-
dent Roosevelt's candidacy.
The Roosevelt-Lewis political
was short-lived. It wasn't
long before the two were tossing
unfriendly words about. So, in
1910. when Wendell L. Willkie won
the Republican presidential nomi-
nation, Mr.. Lewis supported him.
He told a radio audience that, he
would consider Mr.. Roosevelt's re-
election as a vote of no conf
dence" in himself, and that if it
came about he would step down
as head of the CIO.
Overwhelming Choice.
And step down he did, with tears
in his eyes at a CIO convention
a few weeks after the 1910 elec-
tion. Mr.. Murray who, more or
less, quietly had supported Presi-
dent Roosevelt, was the over
helming choice of convention dele
gates to succeed Mr.. Lewis. The
fiery UNIV chief had asked them
to do just that. Mr.. Murray was
far from anxious to take the job.
and he roportedly told Mr.. Lewis
he feared he would make a fool
of myself"
In finally agreeing to take over
the CIO presidency, Mr.. Murray
laid down several conditions. One
was that he would be president in
fact as well as in name. Another
was that the convention should
denounce Communism and Fas-
cism.
The Lewis-Murray team disin-
tegrated in less than two years.
First sign of a break in the
friendship were the political diff
ferences of 1940. Final crackup
came when Mr.. Lewis discovered
he could not still run the CIO|
with Mr.. Murray as its president.
The two had their differences,
also, over Mr.. Lewis use of Com
in CIO organizing drives.
A devout Roman Catholic, Mr..
Murray was a thorough anti
Communist. He was an ardent
supporter Of President Roosevelt's
Harbor defense pro-
gram. Mr.. Lewis was q non-in-
terventionist.
In early 1912 the two men ex-
changed hot words in the lobby
of UNIV headquarters here. On
May 2 Mr.. Murray wept openly as
he mentioned the rift for the
first time publicly in a speech.
Mr.. Lewis refused to pay UNIV
dues to the CIO and finally broke
altogether with the CIO. He
booted out Mr.. Murray as vice
president of the miners.
Deplored Union Split.
A month later, Mr.. Murray was
his old boss of being
"hell-bent on creating national
confusion and disunity." After
that all was silence except for an
occasional indirect attack from
one or the other, and in recent
years some interchange of corre-
spondence of a very formal type.
The cause of the coal miner had
been Mr.. Murray's life, and the
split with the UNIV, forced by
Mr. Lewis. was especially hard for
him to take.
" The problem Of what to do