The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 28, 1933, Page 4

Paze Four | Ryan’ sWords Sound \JAILING OF | Militant: His Deeds. BORICH IS Smack of Betrayal NRA TRICK What Will Be His Reward Lewis Job in District 4, or a | Pinchot Handout? wy . Im the historic strikes of last July, “the coke region miners, it was quite Feeley, who was appointed as the District Presikient of the coke region, The Lewis machine was’ repeatedly as the chief betrayer in 1922, was not welcomed by the miners, “venaimded that the miners hate Feeney Maly they drove him out of a meetin held in Searight. The Lewis machine, | as the “leader” of the U.M.W.A, could} not. permit such a large section to remain. without some important cog im charge, and William Hynes was appointed in Feeney’s place. In the fight against Feeney the | president of the Grindstone local of; the U.M.W.A. Martin Ryan spoke ‘apenly «and with bitterness. Due to| this, and: the mass activities of the miners in which he again and again same forward, he was placed in the position where he was looked upon as “a rank and file leader of the miners. He fooled some of the best rank and fle local leaders. Many of these local feaders, who were close to the Na- ional Miners Union, asked us repeai- adiy to get in touch with Ryan. Hyentually we contacted Ryan through some of his supporters and nyited. him to attend a conference wegnized for the purpose of taking ap the strike situation. Ryan came | amd spoke at the conference. He| made a violent attack upon the) ewis-Faganmachine. He pledged him- | elf to picket any commerciai mine in he coke region. He stated; if the . am iynes, the Lewis-appointed president € District 4 of the United Mine Workers, arrived in Washington yes- | erday with a miners’ delegation to tring the striking. Fayette coal_min- ‘ts‘along with the belief that he is ighting for union recognition. ‘Hynes replaced Feeney, when the | gatter was driven out of a meeting | “sy the mine strikers. | % “We won't go back to work until | ve getunion recognition and that 06s foriell the miners now out in| he captive mines,” said a rank and | lle member of the delegation to Mar- in McIntyre, secretary to President | Roosevelt. | Asked if John Li Lewis was helping fem, the rank and file stood mute, | ut Hynes, the Lewis appointee, said: | Sure, he went to our conference | vith Johnson and promised to help/ s.! | Lewis has been chiefly responsible or breaking. the» miners’. strike, and ; working for the deportation ot | ‘rank Borich, secretary of the Na-| ional Miners’ Union. | ‘The miners reported that more than | wo dozen of their fellow workers had | ‘eon shot during the strike. greement was to be signed tomorrow | ot one mine shall go back until a ank and file convention is held to| atify such an agreement. He urged | he mincrs of District 5 to demand a} pecial convention, and to remove| *agan and the whole gang, as. the| inly salVation for the U.M.W.A. He| ledged to. help picket commercial | w captive mines. that needed aid. He | poke @s a real rank. and. file leader, ‘ho. Was willing. to. make any .ma- euyer to gain support-and to win the | trike. The following day the news-| pers carried a story that William} feency was removed as the president f the coke region district and Will-| _im*Hynes of Fayette City appointed | a2 his place.. From this moment Ryan hhanged his position. | He still speakes rather “radically” ut his actions are contrary to his| yeeches. Over 4,000 uiners are work- ig in the commercial mines in the \ dke region. Ryan is not picketing dem. Ryan demanded the right of Ae miners to elect their officers, but | wepted the appointee Hynes and is | orking with him hand in glove. yan, who pledged that “any union fem ean come to my local and 2éak,” is going around attacking ‘ad smashing the Women’s Auxil- “artes because the leadership of the} uxilliaries is not controlled by the} 2wis Machine. Ryan at*acks Fagan} - © the forcing of the miners back to} ork in the Pittsburgh District and armits the miners to go to work in ercial mines in the coke region. ‘What will be his reward? A posi- on in “District 4, or a political ap- nt by. Pinchot? must be done now? The| amd file local leaders who sup- “opted Ryen because they thought he as an honest sincere rank and file ter must ‘dissassociate themselves | ‘the Ryan-Hynes machine. They St establish their leadership over ‘® strike and repudiate the fakers betrayers. They shall show the and file the way out by estab- & central rank and file dele- leadership for the captive They shall take up the strike and if necessary take the ‘that will save the best elements ‘the-mass black list that will fol- i compromises now in the of- 1, Maneuvered by and between the osses | and Murry, to which maneu- g and Ryan are partners. other road will eventually ‘fhe strike, destroy the organ- : the coke region and bring | suffering to the miners. 8 OF PENNA. FIGHT EXPULSIONS ae @ Mine Worker Correspondent ‘DELMONT, Pa. — Frank Hughes, ecw of District 3, UM.W.A, .at a meeting here Sept. 29, ded that the miners return to The miners refused and decided gin on strike until the union B recognized in all the mines in Pa, and to return to work ea: day. pate the Frick Coal Co, \ DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1933 U.S. STEEL CORPORATION PLANS TERROR TO BREAK MINE STRIKE for Sell-Out? A} | August and in the present strike of | , evident that the U. M. W. A. leader | Event~ | | | KAMENOVICH Indiana Strike Against Wishes of Officials By a. Worker Correspondent PRINCETON, * Ind. — ‘The. ntiners in the “Southern” Indiana fields. in. District“Il are taking-a holiday,.same | to last indefinitely or until the oper- ators meet their:demands: The strip miners .are- demanding the 40-hour |week with 48-hour -pay, the work to be done:the first five days of the week, Saturday and Sunday-to be holidays; ‘the deep vein. or staff miners ave: demanding. that- the op- erators of. scab, miners fixe the scabs and reinstate. the.fermer union .men, This is the rank and: file demand and the strike is against the wishes of the officials of District 11, who plainly told the workers to stay on the job and carry out the provisions of the contract: and.the .N.R.A, mine code, The rank and file were-toid by-their: officials that the contract which was in force in District 11 would govern the miners until its expiration in 1935 and that the N.R.A. would not | be applied here... While the miners | were lulled:to sleep: bythe capitalist press and the» operators “plus: the -of- ficialdomt- ‘of District: 11, their: rights and provisions were abrogated leaving. them nothing save the. Slave Code. While the miners’ demands are very good as far as they go, they should go further and demand the six-hour day, $1 per hour, double time for all over time, ho--overtime for any until all-miners- ate “employed, with a provisioti of-a minimum ‘guar- |antee of 24 hours “per week for 40 weeks per year, unemployment insur- jance of $10 “per ‘weekfor the head of unemployed “families “and $3 for |each additional member of the family” ‘The Governor of Indiana, McNutt, has placed a part of Sullivan County under martial law and the scab lead- ers are the ones-in command there, Our poorhouse burned ~ to the ground last week and the inmates were placed in a stable With horses for the first night. Now they oc- cupy the basement of the court house. Three hundred and fifty applicants are here for old .age pension. _ The county adjustment board, which con- sists of our Mayor Brazeleton of this city, along with eight others of his class, decided that the $16,000 allowed was too much yand cut the appro- priation to $8,000, making an. allow- ance for individuals of $5. per month, | whereas: the law calls for- $15. per. month, The railroad fired. 70 more em- v. New Dealers Use Every | Means to Break Coal Strike By TOM MYERSCOUGH Every “trump” up the sieeves of the “New Dealers” has been played to smash the militant strike of the Fayette County, Pa., miners, but without ‘success, Now ‘they resort ‘again to the use of an earlier trick, deportation, and order Frank Borich, National Secretary of the. National | Miners’ Union, deported to Fascist Jugo-Slavia, This step, @eporting Borich, is ex- | pected to throw fear into the hearts “New Deal” Homes for of the vast majority of those remain- ing 30,000 strikers who are of foreign | birth, and accomplish what ‘Lewis, | Murray, Fagan, Feeney and ‘Hynes | | of the U.M.W.A., Roosevelt, Jo--07 and McGrady of the N.R.A., and the demagogic governor of. Pennsy.vania | , (Pinchot) with his state police, have so far failed to do—to ‘break the} strike. | Every move of the government, in | its attempt to deport Borich, has |come when miners were either on strike or preparing >): strike and all | were cleverly designed and not acci- dental. From the first move, when’ Borich was taken from an Executive Board meeting of the union at the order of “Deportation” Doak (now departed) up to the latest order is- sued in the name of the “liberal” Fanny Perkins, the intent was to de- ‘prive the miners of his capable lead- ership. The above may sound far-fetched when it is admitted that the miners are demanding recognition for the UM.W.A., but it is moze logical to- day than it would seem at any other period of the strike. This is so be- cause the miners are in real danger of losing the strike unless they | change their tactics, and the govern- ment and the bosses know that they will, They know too that the National) Miners’ Union is playing a role in the strike situation even if different from the past, and they are truly alarmed. Finding that the signing of the code agreements by the commercial mine owners and the U.M.W.A. failed to drive the men back ‘into the “‘eap- tive” mines, they now resort ‘to’ push- ing the deportation of Borich with the hope that it will remove the chance of his helping the strikers. When Borich was ordered to sur- render, his attorneys took legal steps to delay his goime to jail, pending ac- tion on a proposed appeal to the United States Supreme Court. This was at first secured and two addi~ tional days of time were given him. On the strength of this, Borich wired to the International Labor Defense in New York, telling them of his de-} sire to appear before Secretary of | Labor Perkins, in Washington, with @ committee of lawyers and others who would carry a fight for him and several other deportation victims to the Board of Review. And then things happened. The phone in the office of Borich’s lawyer, Seligsohn, rang and a yoice inquired as to the status of Borich’s. case. Thinking it might be a reporter for the press, the lawyer asked for the name and connections of the in- quirer and after “hemming and haw- ing” a bit and being evidently un- prepared for the counter questioning, the “mug” on the other end of the phone declared: “This is Mr. Marshall, the immi- , Station inspector, and I would like “to know what is the idea of Borich going to Washington to see the Secretary of Labor.” A clear case of wire tapping. .Re- sult: Borich is ordered to surrender at 3_a’glock on the day the delegation goes to Washington. And it ts fur- ther expected that they will try to hold him until they have succeeded in breaking the strike of the Fayette County miners. ‘We must wage a relentless fight to Save Borich from deportation so that he may be still able to personally lead Miners Unemployed miners living in filthy coke ovens abandoned by the United States Steel Corporation, Thirty thousand miners are striking against these conditions and demanding union recognition. Strikebreaking Pact Links Leaders of PMA and UMWA By TONY MINERICH Claude Pearcy, president of the| Progressive Miners of Illinois, and Walter Nesbit, former secretary of the Llinois district of the U. M. W. A, and now a “big shot” Congress- man, ate busy concluding a “peace pact.” In the meanwhile both sides are busy fighting against the militant members of the two mine unions. The immediate steps leading to the building of the Progressive Union was the stealing of the ballots.on a rank and file referendum to reject the cut in Wages from $6.10 to $5. Nesbit, as the secretary of District 12, U. M. W. A. engineered this steal. The result was the building of the P. M. A. and the acceptance by this union of the wage cut, due to the work of the leaders of the P. M. A. *At that time Nesbit used this fact to show that there was no difference in. wages between the leaders of the P, M. A. and the U. M:'W. A. Sovat least they had one point of ugree- ment, Sometime later came tne discus- sions on the coal code and the NR.A. ‘The leaders of the P. M. A. went to Washington to pledge themselves and the P. M. A. to work for the N.R.A., which incidentally places’ the worst agreement in the history of mining upon the coal miners. Washing Hands The P. M. A. leaders were told that certain people regarded them as reds N.M.U. Lei rae Sunshine Mine Wins Pay Raise By a Mine Worker Correspondent DILLONVALE, Ohio.—tI am working in the Sunshine Mine, owned by Morrelo Sons Coal Co. It employs 35 men. Last week we had a strike for increase in wages, and won the strike after a half-hour stoppage. ‘Two days later we called a meeting and established a local of the Na- fionaj Miners Union. We elected of- ficers and also a mine committee. The following day we went to the company for recognition of the N.M. U. and the mine committee and we got both. At present we are getting We for a 1% ton car, ployes last’ month. the miners to victory. —?P. B. and)! that it would be necessary for them to wash their hands. This meant the expulsion of all militants from the P. M. A. Rumors were spread that all the P. M. A. fighters who did not have jobs were going to be expelled. Some laughed at this and thought it a joke. Did not the convention decide that “all those who were expelled from the U. M. W. A. for fighiing the operations and. the Lewis machine were to be reinstai into the P. M. A, without even paying the initiation fee?” The spirit of th: conver was to welcome tinose fighters i, the U. M.-W. A. days. Now George Voyzey, well known is expelled from the ranks of the P. M. A. Voyzey at one time ran for president against Lewis and was elected, but cheated out of the election. He wes later expelled from thé U."M. W. A. .Now. that. Pearcy and Keck have expelled Voy- zey.it again shows thatthe Jeaders |». of the two unions have another point on which there is agreement. This fight has gone on to include many other fighters. John Botwello, who practically alone led the fight against the wage cut at the time of the- convention, and who was head of the relief committe S- stopped from speaking at P, M. A. meetin: and is slated for the “guillotine.” The editor of the Progressive Miner was alco removed hi M. A. has the best Women's in the country. But even in this there is agreement the leaders of the two uni U. M. W. A. leaders are again: iliaries, while those of the P. M. A do not want the women to use ‘the auxiliaries to fight the bosses and the burocrats. Many other such instances could be given. Seeing all their points of agreement, and feeling that the time had come when Lewis was not able to deliver the goods, Walter Nesbit, in a telegram to Governor Horner, endorses the P. M.A. In return the P. M. A;, through their paper, have an editorial of praise for Nesbit. So you can see the evclution of a few “progressive” mine leaders. It is another example of‘heading a move- ment to later behead it. The tasks of the rank and file of the two unions is the same. They must capture the local unions away from supporting such leaders. To do this it is necessary to organize all the “left” forces in the various locals to make this fight. Together with this must go the fight against the N.R.A. and all of the conditions that go with it. a! ORGANIZE WOMEN IN COAL FIELD Auxiliaries of the UMWA Locals By AGNES SNEAR ‘The main problem of the women is victory of the coal strike. In the short period of two weeks over 1,100 miners wives were organized in local women’s auxiliaries. Fakers At Work From the beginning of the build- ing of the Auxiliaries, there were groups of women which attempted to make “sewing circles” out of them, Women who stated that the places for ‘women was back of the stove. Some local officials of the U.M.W.A. refused to permit their women to or- ganize, refused credentials to their women to go to the women’s meet- ings or conferences. All their at- tempts were defeated by the mili- tancy of the women. Immediately from the day of the organization the Auxiliary members began to go on the picket line. The papers were forced to comment in the following headlines: “Frick Wo- men On The Picket Lines For The First Time In The Strike,” “Women Active On The Picket Lines,” “State Troopers Eye The Women On The Picket Lines.” Martin Ryan, “insurgent leader,” went to the meeting of the Auxi- liaries at Grindstone and “instructed them not to have anything to do with the Auxiliary leadership.” The local president of the Republic local, Wilbur Minor, forbad the local Auxiliary from voting whether they would permit their district president, Agnes Snear, to speak at their meet- ing. This attack on the part of the U.M. W.A. fakers and the “insurgent” Ryan is not a success, ; In every local there are groups of honest rank and file miners who are standing aside and letting these faxers carry out their policies! elements must fight against their local leaders who are a part of the Jewis-Fegan-Fecney-Hynes machine; they: must help to organize the wo- men for a fight against any attempt to limit the Auxiliaries to the “sew- ing circle” program, Refuse to Sign for Check-Off “By a Mine Worker | Correspondent FAYETTE OIPY; Pa—tThe oti day at the meeting of the Lowber Local of the UMWA the question of the check-off came up. The com- Pany passed among us cards author- izing the company to check off from our pays, for dues, initiations, powder. Tho majority of the miners. were against signing these cards! | The ;| miners argued that to sign these cards meant to support the right of the company to check off for the com- pany store, and since many are un- willing to have the company store and the Fagan’s dues and assesments saddled on them they refused to sign. We passed a motion to send.a com- | mittee to attorney Cayalcanti | Uniontown. Cavalcanti afier lots of talk finally told us that regardless whether we signed the cards or not the check off will go into force be- | cause it is in the agreement of Dis- | trict 5 U.M.W.A. He stated that if we do not sign the cards the company | may not be able to check off for the company store. This interpertration by Cavalcanti is a damn lie. If the check off for dues is in the agree- ment so is the store We shouid not ign these cards, we should collect our dues, and we should send a resolution to Fagan and tell him we will not pay any dues until we have elections for dis- trict officers, and a Constitutional Convention to adopt a Constitution that will meet our needs. Cavalcanti’ has served the Frick and other companies well in the coke region by “advising” the miners against mass picketing. He wants the miners to permit Cavalcanti to settle all their problems and now lies on a simple question. 1700 Miners’ Wives in| In every local Union the left wing Li in| Must Get sists of the mine owners and the Coke Area Strikers Rid of All Misleaders to Win Lewis Is the Property of U. S. Stebl Corp. and Will Go the Limit to Break the Fayette County Strike By TOM MYERSCOUGH President, National Miners’ Union. To undoerstand the strike of the miners in Fayette County, one of necessity, know the forces involved, Else, how can one explain 30,000 men. still strike solidly and bravely against the combined enemy forces; some of whom are thought to be friends, This enemy foree com- mae why heads of the union (United Mine FRANK BORICH Workers of America). The miners want recognition of the U.M.W.A., but the leaders have betrayed thém by driving-70,000 fellow strikers back to work, Standing behind the min- ers’ enemies are the Roosevelt Gov- ernment and the N.R.A., in which they still have some faith, and the blah blah governor of Pennsylvania, Pinchot; .who proclaims his friend ship for the strikers while his State Police check the activities of their Picket lines, Actually leading the strike, how- ever, and in spite of those who smash it, is a so-called “progressive,” Mar= tin Ryan, a good fighter, say some 4 An “insurgent,” says , and Feeney agreed. In con- trast to this attitude, Hynes, pre- tends to “pat Ryan on the back.” At the same time boii Hynes and Ryon admit that. the -N.M.U, aré honestly “fighting -in: the int of the miners; but by doing so- they say, we are -hurting the miners’ chance of success, because the coal companies will nos recognize ‘a “Red” union, In fact. Rvan is afraid to meet with the N.M.U, to discuss strike policies. He has committed many serious |. blunders due to his inexperience, but, Malthe feats is the “Lewis Constitu- tion.” He doesn’t want to violate Lewis’ laws. Why Contradictions? The reason why these contradictory factors exist side by side need ex- planation, for they’ are many. It is not enough. to say. that the splendid militant army which is still holding out is 2 courageous one. The Fay: ette miners have admirable courage, but without capable leadership to re- place the conflicting leadership which they nov have, they will find be- trayals worse than those of 1922, be- ecuse the government will openly be an added force Yo the Fricks, Lewises and Feeneys of that year. Unless they act wisely and well now, the net result for them will be an unprecedented terror, evic- tions and an enormous blacklist. It becomes necessary to remember the 1922 betrayal of the Fayette min- ers by John L. Lewis, to know that there is no real battle between Lewis and the Frick Coal Co., which is a subsidiary of the U. S. Steel Corpo- ration, The so-called impasse reached in the negotiations between Murray for the U.M.W.A. and Moses for the | Frick Coal Co. is only a sham baitle | to make the miners believe that the U.M.W.A. will really do something for the-striking miners. It has been necessary in fact for President Roose- velt. to “threaten” the Frick Coal Co. through the big shots of the U.S, Steel, whose chief counsel is Ex- with expulsion. In Yukon and Export they have already begun their policy of expul- sions. So far the miners successfully defeated these moves, 10, 000 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., MINERS OPEN FIGHT ON N.R.A., LEWIS MACHINE Progressive Miners’ Leadership Does All It Can to Scatter Spontaneous March . and Strike Demand By MORRIS RACKALL SPRINGFIELD, Ml.—Springfield, the capital of Illinois; on Oct, 19 and 20 was the scene of @ historic strug- gle of the Tilinois miners. They came to voice their protest against the N, R. A, against the Lewis machine in the U. M. W. A. and against goy- ernment support to scabs. The march to Springfield of over 10,000 miners was a spontaneous movement, Rumors were spread in the Central and Southern Illinois coal fields that general picketing would take place Thursday at the Peabody mines. Miners came in notwithstanding the heavy rain and in spite of the National Guards, the deputy sheriffs on all roads and in the city. Claude Pearcy, Dan McGill and other leaders of the Progressive Miners stated that they . did not know anything about the march, and the miners came down unorganized, Even the left wing elements within the Progressive miners were not pre~ pared to lead the masses. It was the Communist leadership in Spring- field and the coal fields that imme- diately called a conference of all the revolutionary, militant and liberal elements of the Progressive Miners and proposed a united front of ac- tion, They proposed first that a general strike of all the coal mines in Illinois be called, and a call be issued to all the miners of Illinois to come and stay in Springfield in order to force the N. R. A, admin- istration to recognize the rights of the Progressive miners to their jobs at the coal mines where they have been striking for the last 18 months, and improve the conditions of work and their wages so that they would Celiogs to live while they, are work- A general mass meeting of all the Progressive miners that were in Springfield was called at the Ball Park, Reservoir Park, where over 8,000 Progressive miners and their wives were present. But the leaders of the Progressive miners were ab- sent. Eleven o'clock that same day a conference was held between the officials of the P. M. A. operators, leaders of the U. M. W. A, admin- Tron of the N. R. A., in the of- ‘ices of Governor Horner, in order is discuss the decisions of Mr. Rich- berg, the representative of General Johnson, which gives the U.M.W.A, Lewis henchmen full recognition in: the coal code for the state of Minois and excludes the 13,000 striking min- ers from the right to their jobs in the Peabody, Big Ben and other large mines, Fails to Appear Claude Pearcy, secretary of the P. M. A., had to report about this con- ference to (ae miners. at the mass meeting at the Park, But he was afraid to show up. The miners called for Pearcy, but Pearcy was not there. ‘The mass meeting was under the leadership of the Communist min- ers and the left wing. elements. A state general strike was declared at this meeting. Speeches were made for calling a state strike of all min- ers and it was enthusiastically adopted by the miners. At this same meeting, S. L. Jones of Belleville, a member of the P. M, A. executive board, while drunk, spilled the beans, telling to the min- ers that the march was officially, called by the executive board mem- bers without openly stating their re- sponsibility on the one hand to ap- pear “respectable” in the eyes of the N. BR. A, administration and Gov- ernor Horner, and on the other hand not being responsible for a program | of action’so that the rank and file! of the P.M.A. should not demand any | results*out of this march. The Communist Party leedership| found the. left wing elements, and especially the Musteite group, with-| out a program of action np proposed | @ statement for the néxt day to the| marchers at the mass ting at the same Ball Park. Meanwhile, the Progressive miner of Taylorville, Mel- ville. Staples, was shot, and died afterwards. Haines, a thug of the UM.W.A., who killed Staples, had to be transferred from Springfield to Peoria because they were afraid that the jail would be stormed by the P.M. A; workers, Others Come In Additional miners came into town from farther south, from Peoria. The news spread that 10,000 women of the Auxiliaries were marching on Spring- field. The leaders of the P.M.A., with Claude Pearcy at the head began to worry. They sat up all night prepar-’ ing a course of action against the rank and file, the left wing groups and the Communists. Friday afternoon over 6,000 miners jammed the ball park, notwithstand- ing the downpour of rain and the cold. This meeting really revealed the terrible situation existing in the I Miner Killed by Lewis Henchmen; Fight for | ~ Union Recognition Just Beginning | PMA. union. A very characeristic , | statemerit was made about this meet- ing in the Saturday, Oct. 20, “Illinois | State Register,” a capitalist paper in Sprinetiand under the headline, “Dif- ference ‘of Opinion.” The paper stat- ed, “Differences of opinion developed among the Progressives at a mass meeting held yesterday afternoon at Reservoir Park for the local miners and out of town visitors. “While President Claude Pearcy and Dan McGill, Springfield district board member, urged the miners to return to their homes and go back to work, other speakers urged that a statewide strike be called in pro- test to the Richberg report.” I went Sunday afternoon to Tay- lorville, to the funeral of the tenth victim in the struggle of the rank and file of the P.M.A. against the U.M.W.A. and Peabodf Coal operators, who was killed Thursday in Spring- field, by the Lewis thugs. Six thou- sand coal miners came to the funeral from all over the state with their wives, members of the Women’s Aux- iaries, in Illinois Coal Fields I went back to Springfield from Taylorville on a truck with miners, One little Italian woman, the wife c! a miner, said to her sisters of tho Auxiliary, “I'll tell you, Mary, now 1 believe that Pearcy is a crook. I didn’t beliave it before. But he wasn’t here today; he is never any. place where the miners are. I tell you he is a crook. If our brothers will return to Springfield and no Pearcy and no- body else will send them back home.” In my conversations with the min- ers at the funeral they all agreed that this march taught them a great deal, They are convinced that now is the time to prepare another march Springfield. But they will have to shania first. They will have to get rid of some of their leaders. They don’t need any interpretation of the Richberg report. They know that Peabody, Big Ben operators, Horner, Johnson, .N.R.A. and the Lewis ma-~ chine, are all their enemies. They are leayming that Pearcy, Dan’ McGill, Joe Pecik, who defend the NR.A., are working against the P.M.A, rank and file, more | cS Governor Miller of New York, to further help it lcok “real.” But the “fight” is sham and so are the threats of Roosevelt against the Frick people. The only threats that are real are those made by Roose- velt, General Johnson and Donald Richberg against the miners. is so, let him watch for the loosing of the most vicious terror against these 30,000 strikers when the dema- gogic utterances they keep making in conjunction with the active strike- breaking attempts of the Lewis ma- chine fail of their purpose. What Miners Face There are certain factors that ov- tain in this strike to make the de- sired victory impossible under pres~ ent leadership. Yet it is possible that the strike will terminate with a | “settlement” which provides for some sort of “agreement” that will be crushed down the throats of the miners. } Lewis is the property of the U. Ss. Steel Corporation, bought by them before he was even known to the vast majority of the miners in the United States, according to informa- tion obtained from former associates, the claim being that Lewis got a check from the fiscal agent of the U. S. Steel Corporation while active as general organizer for the A. F. of L. among steel workers. This same fiscal agent, A. R. (Al) Hamilton, later engineered the rise of Lewis to the Presidency of the U.M.W.A. to bring about the ruin of the U.M.W.A. Anyone familiar with the history of the U.M.W.A. since Lewis became its president, can easily trace the Lewis betrayals from his autocratic disavowal of every progressive ~de- S| cision passed, against his will, in the 1918 Cleveland convention, to its almost. complete ruin in 1926 with the surrender of the Jacksonville agreement. Outstanding among these betrayals was this self-same Fayette County field strike of 1922. It was the most vicious and determined step towards the ruin of the U.M.W.A. That was Lewis’ “duty” to his real masters, the U. S. Steel Corporation and from then on, one district after the other was chopped off the list of U.M.W.A. functioning districts, : N.M.U. Leads Struggles It was thought @ strong union would thereafter be impossthle. But they ‘guessed wrong.” The N.MU. came into being and led valiant struggles. The worst its enemies say about the N.M.U. is that it is a “Red” union. But that does mare the miners. The peculiar sition of this Se on ee miners demanding re U.M.W.A, while fighting against Lewis land chasing his “Man ” Fee- ney out of the field, under leadership of Ryan, who fears to violate the U.M.W.A. constitution and always with the militant policies advocated by the N.M.U., can only be explained first, as a maneuver by Ryan te capi- talize on this determination of the miners to have a union without the Lewis gang. Second, Ryan’s bankruptcy of poli- tical understanding of the forces ar- rayed against him as well as illu- sions that they will get rid of Lewis and Co,, by constitutional methods but with a full knowledge of the min- ers’ willingness to wage @ militant fight, hence the use of N.M.U. tac- ties; and last (but uot the least), the pfce.77dr77s of the Roosevelt. gov- exnment, the U. 8, Steel Corporation and its Frick subsidiary to resist any attempt to launch a fighting union under any name, by holding in readi- ness its own John L, Lewis. The fight against recognition of. the U.M.W.A. by the Frick Co., is, there- fore, readily seen as sham, ‘The Fayette miners must recognize the fact that no gains have accrued to those miners already driven back to work. In many cases, actual re- ductions in wage rates and earning capacity to below pre-N.R.A, level, are discernable. Now, with inflation and the resultant increase in prices for all essentials to life, the wages will have still less purchasing power. ‘The ink on the N.R.A, code con- tracts, signed by the commercial operators and the Lewis Union, was now yet dry when the miners were compelled to again strike for inter- pretations and modifications, This ‘will continue to be the case. It will also be the case in the “captive” mines. ‘The course of real struggle for real unionism is the only one left for all the miners. . The captive UM.W.A. cannot and will not solve the probiems of the captive miners. A leaflet warning the Fayette min- ers of the dangers in the strike has been prepazcd for distribution. Vic- tory is possible only if the miners recognize these dangers and avoid them by taking the necessary action which will consolidate and again strengthen the strike. To do otherwise will be fatal (in some respects literally) and result in such a wave of terror as has never before been seen. ‘This will be ac- companied by wholesale evictions and blacklist for those who fail to sur- vender. For the rest there remains only the compulsory payment of $1.00 a month dues to the hated Lewis for the “privilege” of working for Lewis’ masters, the U. S. Steel Corpora- tion, in their Frick mines as real slaves or “captives” im Meral , Sense, a) And if anyone has doubts that this aa a