The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 21, 1933, Page 5

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBBR 21, 1933 Page Five MINERS PUSH FIGHT AGAINST SLAVE CONDITIONS ON WIDE FRONT ‘Central Strike Leader ship Is Key, Says Ryan U.M.W.A. Insurgent Leader Admits Criticism, at Recent Conference in Brownsville By VINCENT KAMENOVICH Martin Ryan, together with five lo- cal leaders of miners of the H. C. Frick Coke Company, attended a conference of miners held at Browns- ville, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 14, to dis- cuss the course of the coal strike of 30,000 miners in the captive mines. The local leaders with Ryan, all of whom arrived after the conference began, came from Colonial Mine No. 1, Smock Mine, and Grindstone Mines 3 and 4. Ryan is the presi- dent of the U.M.W.A. local of Grind- | stone No. 3. ted as follows at this con- e is tremendously weak- | the U.M.W.A. district | and local machines driving the min- ers back to work. They were suc- cessful in this splitting tactic of driving back the miners in the com- mercial mines due to lack of an or- ganized left wing in the U.M.W.A. with a program and centralized lead- ership (strike committee). I spoke also on the question of the present agreement and what it means, Ryan was criticized for his statement in the press abandoning mass picketing and marches; endorsing the Lewis leader- ship at the Friday conference held in Uniontown. The role of the.N.M.U. as the only unifying force was brought NM. policy during the | ‘ in support of the} et lines, strike pro- Ryan Speaks er me. He U.M.W.A. machine; of betrayals Ryan took the floor the attacked 2 and in this selects international con- d that the present | and that if the | tomorrow for ers, not one to work until ntion was held e the agre t would be rati- fied. And if the majority was against the agreement, or certain points in the agrcament, the miners would not ck until the companies agreed e demands as proposed by the file. Ryan said he would fight for these methods in the U.M, W.A. until established. On the ques- tion of abandoning the mass picket- ing, and the marching, he stated that they can not move their pickets any more due to lack of funds, Their local is $1,800 in debt for gas and oil. They used to send 10 or 15 trucks and 150 cars who were away for days, and over 150 miles from home. The other lecals are in the same pesition. Up to now, he claimed, state troop- ers went along with these columns to protect them against deputies, Now Pinchot refuses to do this any more, and if they continue to send their men on the marches the whole of the Frick and other coal companies will be centered on these small caravans. Snipers have attacked them before, Atfempts to blow up trucks and cars wh\ dynamite bombs were made, and if they could send large cara- vans they could continue, and arm the men. Without arming the men ing them in large caravans suicide. ver, if any local needs help ‘ket, Jet them know in the day they will come, especially if they get some gas money. If any local wants to help them picket they are welcome to do so, If they bring 1,000 pickets the minazs will take care of them with food, but not gas, and they should come in daylight, else the coke region miners may sheot at them, as armed thugs of the coal companies are continuously rosming round, shooting at the pickets and throwing dynamite bom! No Unorganized Retreat He is willing to do anything to| help to win the strike, and if the coke region does go back under a U.M.W.A. agreement they will not go back as in 1922 in a» “norganized manner. They will retc\1 their lo- cals; will have election of district leadership. He was the chairman of the Union- town meeting and did not make a motion endorsing Lewis and the In- ternational leadership, They could not hold the elections at that meet- ing. It would not have been in ac- cordance with the constitution and would have been another Kansas. This is what Lewis and Frick want ~—to split the coke region miners, re- organize their locals and force upon the locals leadership controlled by the Lewis-Feeney machine, We can’t do everything we want to because we would not have the necessary sup. port from Districts 2, 3 and 5, he said. Lewis and the whole machine are afraid of the coke region miners be- coming a part of the U.M.W.A. be- cause they know that the coke region miners will not stop fighting them, and this group of 45,000 miners is more important than Kansas ever was. He agreed that the N.M.U. has fol- lowed a good line in not splitting the ranks and giving the policies through its leaflets and local forces. He also agreed with my statement that many locals would be already expelled and probably the whole coke rey but for the fear on the part of the fakers that all these locals would immediately affiliate with th- N.MU, Also, he stated, the agres- ments made, as rotten as they are. would have been worse but for tho same fear. He stated that any man, regardless of whether he is an N.M.U. member or belongs to any other union, is welcome on the picket line or at his local. Get All in Union ged the local presidents and vo rebers to open their char- and tak> into their locals al! the real good union man regardless of where they belonged before. He is against the check-off, and declared no local shall send any money anywhere until they have duly elected officers. If any local leaders are not in full sympathy and sup+ port of the demands of the rank and file, these officers must be removed immediately, They belong to the Lewis-Feeney-Fagan machine. He agreed with the left wing hold- ing these conferences, The confer- ence unanimously endorsed the four- district conference to be held Friday, Oct, 20, at Croatian Hall in Browns- ville. On the question of Pinchot; he claims that Pinchot helped the min- ers, but he puts it on the basis that he expects votes from the miners. In other words, he does not believe fully that Pinchot is doing it for the sole reason of helping the min- ers. He does not see any reason for not accepting this help in the fight against Frick and U.M.W.A, officials. He blames these union officials for putting pressure on Pinchot in re- voking the state troopers’ “protec- tion” to the miners’ caravans. His hatred of Fagan-Feeney is aggres sive and he called upon the miners to drive these company agents out of their ranks, Accepts Criticism He did not feel angry at the criti- | cism centered against him on the qui cn of not helping sufficiently to | crystallize the left wing in the other districts, and also on the question of not marching into West Virginia, and admitted that they all have much to learn and they are apprecia- tive of any help we give them, After the meeting we spoke for a few minutes, and he invited me to come on the picket line at his mine. Ryan is not a total newcomer to the miners’ struggles. He was a checkweighman at the Pike Mine in Brownsville in 1922-23. Also an active member of the U.M.W.A. before in the Brownsville territory, He fought the machine, opposed their program on the question of the 1922 agree- ment, He has the confidence of the fank and file and is one of the type of extremely honest Americans. Is not afraid of being called a Red or a Communist. Openly at mass meet- ings, he states: “If you want a piece of bread they call you radical, red bolshevik.” He is championing the foreign born, calls upon them to take control over the union as they con- stitute over 75 per cent of all the miners and 99 per cent of all the fighters. He left upon me the impression that the retreat on the question of picketing all over the country, etc., was based on the actual difficulties, He agreed that they should issue a strike bulletin; also that the question of an appeal for funds to the work- ers outside of the coke region shall be taken up with the leadership, that is, at the meeting of the local presi- dents, secretaries and delegates, Woie they hold practically once a week, Fagan Drives Avella Miners Back to Work With No Terms Stated By_a Mine Worker Correspondent STUDA, Pa.—Well, the Avella min- ers are working, because the miners got word from Fagan to go back to work, that everything was settled and signed. But the rank and file miners are not satisfied. And the miners don’t know what they are getting paid yet. They are just taking a chance till pay day, and bil is the only way they will find out, The miners will come out again if the miners from different places come over here and picket the mines. SHERIFF WAS “VERY SORRY” AFTER HE ORDERED AMBRIDGE MASSACRE Newsreel Shows Deliberate, Cold-Blooded Attack Upon S$ By SENDER GARLIN URGESS P. K. CAUL of Am- bridge, Pa., came to a confer- ence of strike leaders of the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Hain on June 5 and bluntly told em; “Whether you call off the ts or not, they're coming off. We will find ways of get- fae them off, I can promise you et” That Burgess Caul and the other hirelings of the steel trust kept their promise was convincingly dem- onstrated when hundreds of armed guards attacked the picket line be- tore the Besse, Chalfont steel plant in Ambridge less than one hour later, killing at least one striker and injuring scores of others. A photographer for the Pathe News—undoubtedly tipped off in advance—-was on the scene and took pictures of the attack. Just a agment of what the camera re- hheatres in various parts of th zountry (with the probable keene Se joubt, of Allegheny Coun- yy Pa., ‘ESS than four minutes of rapid- + fire action is all there is to the ilm. Yet, in it is portrayed the sechnique of the Ludlow Massacre ALL BOSS TOOLS SEEK STRIKE END Miners’ Meeting Takes Action for Strike Future PITTSBURGH, Pa., Oct. 20.—Goy. Pinchot’s state troopers yesterday dispersed striking mine pickets at Oli- ver Nos, 1 and 2 mines of the Pleas- ant Valley Coal Company. Frick Coke Co, gunmen, in an effort to smash the strike of 30,000 miners in captive mines owned by the big steel corpora- tions, continue bombing cars and homes of striking miners. In the meanwhile, Philip Murray, U.M.W.A. vice-president, has been dragging on for more than 10 days a conference with President Moses of the Frick Coke Co., a U. 8. Steel sub- sidiary, and the largest captive mine owners in Fayette County. The tactic of Murray has been to co-operate with the Frick officials while gunmen and government at- tacks were made in an effort to drive the Fayetse County and other captive miners back to work, ‘The announced purpose of the Mur- ray-Moses negotiations was to ar- range an agreement to settle the strike. Most of the conferences have been in secret, Each day Murray would announce “progress” and “rapid steps toward an agreement” and each day the murderous attacks on the miners would increase. Finally, Murray declared the con- ferences were at a deadlock, but Moses, playing the game previously arranged, said they were still on. ‘Today a conference of all strik- ing miners, and as many other U. M. ‘W. A. locals that send representa- tives took place at Croation Hall, Brownville, Pa, to take up the question of future strike action, the organization of a central strike co n- mittee, and other matters vital to the miners, Martin Ryan, president of the Grindstone No. 3 mine local of the U.M.W.A., and outstanding insurgent leader, is expected to be present, to- gether with other rank and file leaders, The Frick Coke Co. Is pushing for- ward its company union in a further effort to split the miners. Alfred An- gell, an agent of the Frick Coke Co., who is president of the company union, the Miners’ Independent Brotherhood, in a statement issued today, says that the “Brotherhood” is against the Fayette County miners in their demand for U.M.W.A. recogni- jon because the miners “are not in accord with President Roosevelt's la- bor board of arbitration, and the proof of this is their strike; and they are for the closed shop,’ N.R.A. Cuts Wages at Sheffield Steel Mill (By a Steel Worker Correspondent) KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The local Ford plant some time ago was to show the people how many workers it coull employ and what “big” wages it could play. ‘The first part of this month, how- ever, the plant laid off no less than 900 men, but not a word about it in the local press. Many of the workers laid off haye been working in the plant five and ten years, Thus works the NRA. ‘Those who are left will now work five days a week, 7 1-2 hours a day at 50 cents an hour. Workers are supposed to get 35 hours a week. It is rumored that the plant will completely shut down within 30 days, the reason being lack of orders for cars, Wages are being cut in the Shef- field Steel Corp. plant here. Before NRA got into effect I got $40 every two wec'rs Now I'll do well if I get in 40 hous» a week, 35 cents an hour, or $14 a week, or $28 for the two week period. Some of the workers put in only three days a week. Have belonged to the Amalgamated rded is now being shown in movie| th of 1914, the Columbine Slaughtei of 1927, the Ford Murders of “932 (A. F, of L,) for years but I can’t see anything in it. THE COAL CODE: ROOSEVELT’S GIFT TO THE MINERS WIN YOUNG | | | Steel Trust Placing Orders for Arms to Shoot Strikers NEW YORK.—Steel corporations have been placing heavy orders for arms to shoot down strikers with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., | according to information reaching the Daily Work: One plant is reported to have placed an order for 1,000 shot guns for | the steel area, | This information is confirmed by reports from steel workers in the | Jones & Laughlin plant in Aliquippa, Pa., declaring that carloads of ammu- | nition and rifles are being unloaded. In the Jones & Laughlin plant in Pittsburgh thugs are being heavily armed against strike Other steel mills likewise are storing up virtual arsenals to repeat the Ambridge massacre, Daily Worker Strengthens Determination of Miners By a Mine Worker Correspondent MINERS HILL, Pa.—The state police are terrorizing the picket line of the Delaware Mine, one of the Delaware & Hudson Co. mines which is now on strike for over two weeks. But the workers’ ranks are hard to break, be- cause the workers are out v¢th their women and children, battling it out with the state troopers and the seabs. It is rather difficult for the workers but the mines are paralyzed. oe ,other pickets were reading the Daily The Pine Ridge and Laurel Run | Worker, and Mr. Jim Dison, super, mines of the same company they | intendent of the three collieries, pulls are picketing 100 per cent; the} over with a big Nash eight sedan and trouble is that the D, & H. Coal Co.| thought it was the Morning Record, is getting coal from Prospect Conlons| and he said, “Did you see what and other mines and filling out or-| Johnson has for you men, If you go ders, but Cappelini and Maloney, | back to work he'll take care of you.” leaders of the so-called anthracite | And then he began to give the work- miners of Pennsylvanin, say they in-]ers the old line, “If you don't go tend to pull out the whole anthracite, | back to work we will lose our orders” hut they will not do it unless forced, | ete. Trying to fool the workers be because they are not there for the to work at starvation wages, but the interest of the workers, they are | workers told him to leg it and he did. there for themselves and the bosses. Now is the time the workers should And as I was on the picket line| have their demands endorsed and this morning, President Andrew |carry on the fight until their demands Rushnak of Pine Ridge local and are won. Solid Despite Fagan’s ‘Tricks By a Mine Worker Correspondent LIBRARY, Pa.—Since June the Montour 10 mine struck five times. When the general walk-out began in September we were again in the front ranks, We picketed many mines and pulled them out on strike. We also went to Clairton to picket the steel mills. We also decided to return to work one day after the Coke Region miners return to work. Our local held a splendid record, . sly weer (eigen happened that #— roke this local. Fagan came here | organize the picket I:ne. Over 1,000 and held secret meetings. Booze start- | j,-mbers ry tel ed to flow freely, Last Gaturday the members of our local jcined the vick- local meeting was ca: The offi- cers made report that 10 mines of the | , Pittsburgh Coal Co. went back to} work and that there 4s no use of US| who were deputies and some who continuing to strike. The officers re- | scabbing in the Khot Holz m ceived this information from F; ; y. cam with O'Leary, guarded by the stcte police and personal body guards. He also brought with him from 150 to 200 voters from other mines in an effort to pass a motion to go back to we Li was considered unanimous. i However, some of the rank and file made a motion that if we find a Picket line, state police or deputies no one shall enter the mine. This mo- tion was carried and we knew that there will be no work. Monday morning some 2,000 pick- | state police and the personal body ets came, among them large numbers | guards as well as the special voters, of our own members who went out to' who are nothing else but Fagan’s Montour 10 Mine Local Holds jlate as last January. The: ‘The majority of the membership should be eae 2 ee Hee to their | in favor to continue the strike. But old jobs the officers of the local ins that | ‘However, our lo good for we must go back to work. vote sal decision was taken. Many abstained from vot- an called ¢ ing and the vote to go back to work MINERS FOR ~ RED LEAGUE Part in Present Struggles By DAVE DORAN truggles in Americ: history have witnessed such tremendous fighting capaci- ties of the youth as the present miners’ strike in Western Penn- jsylvania, The young miners at first, because of their inexperience ing and lack of knowledge of the Lewis, | Fagan and Feeney _ leadership, were easily swayed by these, al- lowing them to dissipate their ‘fighting energies even to the ex- tent of support of the corrupt UMW machine, Young mine were used to railroad decis' through mine locals. They were even used as weapons of fa: }attack upon all militant elements inside of i NMU leader: Every po: means were ed by the UMWA leaders to capture the youth, thru bribery and boozing, thru adven- | tur t escapaies such as the “Night R to excite their imagina- tion, calculated to win them as a reserve of support among the min- ers, But just as hitherto the lack of jacquaintance with the UMWA mis- leadership led the young miners to |their support, now the lack of | UMWA tradition among the young coal mine: the absence of the corrosive influence has transformed | the young miners into the most | violent enemies of Lewis, jand Feeney. Disillusioned in the degenerate officialdom of the UM |WA, and becoming fast disillusioned lin the local and national govern- ments because of their emerging from the present strug- |gle a tremendous potential revolu- tionary factor to be reckoned with | by the coal operators. The effects of the coal code |wage agreement upon the young |miners meant a sweaping wage cut |for them as they the main are Joutside workers and in those: cate- gories of labor designated for |lower wages by the coal code. A deep resentment and _ willingness |to struggle by the young miners jagainst the coal code and its wage provisions played a large role in the present re-strike movement. It is these young miners who are becoming a fertile base for the de- velopment of the UMWA oppos' tion based on a program of strug- gle. hardest for continuing jfor a leade: vening of the present strike, nk and file central strike p, for the immediate con- of rank and file district conventions where the young min-| be given full right of for a new agreement y the miners and minus nination against the }young miners. | The UMWA opposition which is this 2 i athering lidating its posi in the UMWA must con- the endous import- the young miners. at this must in hand with 2 buildi he Young ent of revolution- of the young mine: were not able to s the mesting opened e the voices: “No e Region go2s back.” 1 made good for its mis- the opnortunity pre- | will call Mr, Fagan |to an accounting and give him his ‘passport from the U.M.W.A, we the UMWA or against | 1 le Fagan } strike- | breaking role, the young miners are | It it they who will fight the} the consolidation and| | | | By SAM WISEMAN | t few months we co ole conditions to which they ave been subjected. | | 2¢ | pe e strugzies of a and general ke movements | developed in almost all of the n | ing ids throughout the country— | W n and Central Pennsy’ 2 | West Virginia, Ohio, Illino |New Mexico, Indiana, | Kentucky, Alabama, etc., as well as | the Anthracite, showing the scope| | of the movement nationally. | At the e of this writing, there | are abou 000 miners still on | strik with over 30,000 in the Fay- Jette County coke region, 20,000 in ‘Riley and McCardle ‘Mine Holds Up Pay | By a Mine Worker Correspondent RANDALL, W. Va.—The Riley & McCardle Coal Co. of Randall, W. Va., signed with the U.M.W.A. on June 6, 1933, When the first of Au- | gust pay was due, the company d: | not pay all the money that was due} the men, but gave them $10 and said| {that if the men did not take that much, they would not get anything. | One miner started a civil suit | against the company for $26.15 on| |; Sept. 5 and the squire said that he would get a hearing on Sept. 11. But| he put it back until Sept. 18, and the} | miner got a judgment for his money, | but the company opposed it for 60/ days. The U.M.W.A. Local No. 4788 voted | to work for the company and said | that they would pay the men, but | some of the miners got four pays out | of the month of August and still have | | not been paid off yet. The miners | have to beg for something to eat at | the present time under the NRA. slave code, Must Put Up Timber | 'For Nothing at Harriet) By a Mine Worker Correspondent CAMBRIDGE, O. — The miners working in this field are not making a living. Those working at Harriet must work the first eight days for nothing. Everything they make the | company checks off. The other mines | are beginning to do the same. We have no check weighman on the | tipple and are getting no pay tor| | dead work. We have to put up tim- ber for nothing. Powder and other) | materials we need has reached the} | war-time prices. If a miner com-| plains the boss tells him to pick his| tools up and go out. We are getting 42c a ton. But} everyone knows what the company The Blue Eagle is not help- ing the miners a bit. They tell us to buy now. But how in the hell j are we going to buy when we do not) have any mon | ton is | HAVERHILL, Ma: ‘The Haver-| hill, M realizing the Daily | Worker’ need for funds,| | challenges Section 2 of Detroit 1, The challenge reads: “Section 2 of District 1 has about ten times as |many members as our unit, but its| quota of $200 is only four times as} big as our $50 quota. Nevertheless, | we challenge Section 2 to enter into Socialist comvetition with us, and we warn them they will need to step lively if they accept this challenge.” teel Strikers; A Few Things the Camera Did Not Record and scores of other violent episodes in the class struggle. “Actual riot sce: is the title introdt idge film. movie critic reported that “you is in Saad Prag ig ieee aie ap could distinctly hear the cracking of the Spang-Chalfant corporation. You hear the wheedling, saccha- rine voice of Graham MacNamee: “Violence has flared forth once more... .” The words grate on you as your attention is fixed on the strikers in front of the mill, part of the full picket line (which the pictures do not show) of more than 1,000 ex. tending over six blocks, If your eye is quick you catch the words on a sign; “Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union.” eh haw (E camera shifts. You see a small army of deputies, the dregs of the steel town underworld, with guns raised. sone have white arm bands to distinguish them from rs,” MacNamee informs the audience. The “white arm bands” are handkerchiefs, an indi- cation that the gun thugs were hur- riedly mobilized for action, Next you see the sheriff walking belligerently towards the strikers, some of whom have sticks in their hands. The sheriff raises his hand in a “friendly” gesture, while the deputies—who have already r ceived their instructions—hold their guns in readiness. Simultaneously, a striker nearest the sheriff gets a violent whack on the head. (A! As the strikers start to dis- the deputies rush the men, beating them over their heads, legs and shoulders; in another second the guns of the dzputes blaze and the strikers are fleeing the skull under the club.”) State troopers, armed with guns and clubs, at the gates of the Weir- ton Steel Co., Weirton, West Virginia, a moment before they launched @ gas attack upon pickets. This was one of the many attacks upon steel strikers, of which the one at Ambridge was the bloodiest the murderous fire of the com- pany thugs... - ppae camera shifts again, to the | body of Adam Pietrusaki. | lying on the ground as a deputy glances at it unconcernedly . . and then a close-up of the ugly mug of the sheriff. He announces in tones that even the editorial writer of the Herald-Tribune, organ of finance capital, described as “un- convincing:” “I am sorry this happened. I coaxed and pleaded with them to get off the picket I'ne. They re- fused to do it, and I hed to take action, because the law must be enforced,” Hissing is heard in various parts of the theatre even while the sher- iff is offering his lying, murderous alibi. Cite SOM E picture of the Ambridge mas- sacre is an historic documentary film. (How much longer it will be permitted to run is most un- certain.) But what the film omitted is extremely significant: The film did not show how the deputies, after clubbing the strikers and shooting into the picket line in front of the Wycoff plant, turned their guns onto the strikers in front of the plants, | (Strike leaders claim that at least seven were killed—not one—that It ts} 16 of the 20 pickets sent to the hospital had been shot in the back.) The film does not show the deputies shooting at workers who had fled to the side streets, a/ter the picket line had been smashed. * 8 GRAHAM MacNAMEE, who never permits an opportunity to pass| without sneering at the ‘Reds”| failed to announce, of course, that| the deputies were recruited with the aid of the American Legion and had in its ranks a number of foot- ball players recruited from neigh- boring high schools on the plea thet they must “defend the N.R.A. against the Reds.” MacNamee is only hired help. . . What’s really important, though. is the fact that the day before the massacre Miss Evelyn Pitt, Roose- velt’s N.R-A. “conciliator,” was in Ambridge, demanded of the author- ities that they “clear the streets,” thus giving free sway to the depu- tized thugs who descended upon the Spang-Chalfant strikers and mowed them down. Announcer MacNamee concluded his little piece with a note of syn- dicated wistfulness: ‘Why can’t some means be found for avoiding such clashes?” He should ask Sheriff O’Laugh- lin, who, a day after the murder, announced (Pittsburgh ‘“Sun-Tele- graph”) that “we'll continue to shoot picket lines out of existence.” New Revolt Looms _As Miners Sense Deception of NRA = aoe, | i Fl Youth Taking Active National Struggle of Miners Is Struggle Against Slavery in Coal Fields the Anthracite, and the strikes in Utah, New Mexico, Indiana and ll. inois. While it is true that the dema- gogy around the labor provisions of the N.R.A, gave stimulus to the movement amongst the miners, the basis to the strike movement the deep discontent amongst the coal miners against the misery and ting in all coal fields. strike of the Western Pennsylvania miners neither initiated nor conducted under the leadership of the official U.M.W.A., but against it, This in spite of the demand for recogni- tion of the l W.A. as the union , and the fact that le to put over the “agreement” against the slavery will of the miners. Upsurge from Below The whole strike movement def- initely expresses an upsurge from below in an attempt to wipe out the miserable conditions and also to supplant the Lewis leadership, as well as in many cases the U. M. W. A., with a militant fighting lead- Fe ip. Taking advantage of the illusions of the miners in the N.R.A., which existed with tremendous force, be- fore the recent strikes, the weak- ened and discredited U.M.W.A. be- gan to enroll thousands of miners. pecially was this true in the coal fields of Western and Central Penn- sylvania. The miners were partly ready to forget the betrayals of the past, un- der the barrage of propaganda, “that it is not the U.M.W.A. of the past” and “promises” of the heavens and many miners enrolling with the clear cut intention of holding the local machinery in the hands of the rank and file, were willing to go to bat. But it did not take long for the miners, in the course of the strug- gle, to realize that not only was it the Lewis machine of the past, but steeped in treachery even more than in the past. The coal miners have and are testing the N.R.A. and all its “prom- ises” through the struggle. They are in dead earnest. The character of the strike movement shows this to be true, The powerful rank and file initiative—the high stage of militancy shown in all of the strikes, in facing gun thugs, militia and military and the resistance of all maneuvers to break their strikes even on the part of the government, is proof that still higher stages in the struggle are to be expected in the near future. Tricked Back Tens of thousands of miners tricked and maneuvered back into the mines in the last few days are already showing signs of revolt against the “agreement” signed by Lewis, and no doubt will again emerge into a sweeping strike move- ment. The strike of the Fayette County coke region in spite of the weak leadership still has tremen- dous vitality, and if given proper guidance and leadership can again become the center of a more power- ful strike movement. In Illinois the coal miners are again reviving their struggle and are determinedly meeting all the |forces of the operators including the murderous gun-thugs of the Lewis’s. The coal miners of the Anthra- cite are marching in struggle for definite improvement in their liv- ing conditions, split off from the U.M.W.A. The miners are in mass revolt against the treacherous Lewis lead- ership throughout the country. They see in it an agent of the coal operators and the spearhead for the “Blue Eagle,” with its sharp elaws gripping at the throats of the workers. Only where the N.M.U. led the struggle or where the miners were able to discard the treacherous re- actionary leaders were they able to put up a militant fight. Only through unity of the miners under a militant fighting leadership will the coal miners be able tu develop a powerful struggle nationally and to establish a powerful union with 4 program of strugyle against all the enemies of the miners. Fight for Wages, Not Beer and Moonshine By a Mine Worker Correspondent CLARIDGE, Pa—The Westmore- land Coal Co. developed a scheme of its own in trying to break the strike. Together with the officials of the U.M.W.A. they have organized a “back to work” celebration with plen- ty of boer and moonshine. We want Wagos and a union, was the answer of the miners, and not beer and moonshine. Instead of going to tn. strike-breaking celebration the min- ers went on the picket line. Miners of Westmoreland County are talking about uniting the three districts of Western Pennsylvania (Districts 3, 4 and 5) into one dis- trict and to establish sub-distriets in place of the present districts, They think this is the best way to elim- imate all appointed officials with their high salaries and make it im- possible for them to continue to break our strikes. In their place we are planning to elect rank and file officials who will serve for the wages equal to the earnings of the miners and who will serve the interests of the organization and its membership. What do you miners of Districts 4 and 5 think of this idea?