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Show COAL MINERS ALL GO OiJTON STRIKE PSESI DENT LEWIS DECLARES UNION IS DETERMINED TO MAINTAIN DEMANDS Coal Supply Will Last But Few Weeks In Opinion of Strike Leaders; Utilities Will be the First to Suffer Washington. The national coal strike is 100 per cent effective in the un.onized bituminous and anthracite mines of the country and is getting support in nonunion territory, John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, declared Sunday on his arrival ar-rival here to attend congressional hearings. There are 600,000 miners ready to stay out of the mines "indefinitely, until the operators are ready to discuss dis-cuss with us the question of new wage agreements in the central competitive com-petitive fields," Mr. Lewis declared, adding that, while the union "court ed investigation for anthracite and the bituminous industry, it seeks no government gov-ernment intervention, but does ask for the support of public opinion in forcing the operators to continue col-lecive col-lecive bargaining with miners over wages and working conditions." Discussing coal reserves and the effect ef-fect of the strike on the Interests of consumers, Mr. Lewis strongly expressed ex-pressed his opinion that "a pinch would come earlier' '-than expected.'' He declared nonunion mine production produc-tion had been "greatly exaggerated," and that operators had been more or less openly following tactics that forced a strike so thijy could get higher prices and greater profits. "There won't be a single man return re-turn to work this week," Mr. Lewis said, "from the 600,000 men who went out. It takes a little longer in the nonunion fields for us to get the reports. re-ports. In the West Virginia panhandle, panhan-dle, for instance, right along the Ohio line, there are about 5000 or 6000 men in nonunion mines for whom meetings are being held. They'll probably be out soon. There are meetings here and there in nonunion territory all over the United States. We'll get the returns later. In the union territory we know what happened, the operators opera-tors aren't even going to try to run the mines." Taking notice of the suggestion by Chairman Borah of the senate labor committee that the government ought to intervene further into the situation, situa-tion, Mr. Lewis remarked that lie was "afraid nothing much could be done with the operators." "Every attempt has been made to get thenrto meet their obligations -to continue collective ibargaining ,wiih us," he continued, "and I assume they will maintain their refusal no matter who tries to get them to confer. We stand ready, now as ever, to enter any conference with them to discuss the terms of a new wage contract which will allow us to resume work. "If the miners today were occupying occupy-ing the position of refusing to discuss dis-cuss a wage contract, as the operators opera-tors are, they'd be morally castigated oy all the citizens of this land." "Although the operators regard eacli other as competitors," Mr. Lewis said, and are not acting in concert, "we know that we can't get a general wage scale without unity of action in che central competitive field, because u difference of a cent a day in wages means cents per ton in the selling price of coal, makes turmoil in markets mar-kets and closes up old mines to open new ones." "Still they were a unit in wanting suspension," he continued. "They hau loaded up all the big consumers with coal on the strike scare, and held up the market prices while the loading was going on. Now they think Unit It trey re snui aown long euougo there'll be a scarcity, and a runaway market. Their disposition made the strike inevitable." Mr. Lewis estimates the maximum production of the nonunion mines at 4,000,000 tons a week, much of which he said, was good only for coke. Furth er, he declared, the middle west could not pay ihe freight to get nonunion coal to them. "Watch the public utility companies in the smaller cities," the strike leader lead-er said. "They will be hit first Th big cities are pretty well stocked, but the little ones are not." Mr. Lewis expects to remain ir Washington as long us his presenct is required, but said he had no engage ments with President Harding to ex ecutve officers. |