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Show 'DECENT WAGES' AIM OF MINERS Lewis Expresses Dread of 'Pauper Level of Existence' PPRINGFIEID. 111., April 15 "The ataar Is not responsible for the' Ills of the eoal Industry nnd It Ifl poor In-I In-I duetrial leadership that can conceive Industrial Improvement only through a dbaad rnnnhoo,! nii.1 a pauper level lev-el of exiatooci ." Hid John l Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers m America, today In an address dtllT-erod dtllT-erod beforo tho Sprincfield Midday Luncheon club. Mr. Lewi" spoke In part, as follows DISCLAIM OOHPHQllIfiE "Tho present strike in the jinthra-clte jinthra-clte and bituminous coal Industry Is tho natural soquenco of thp oiKanlro.l effort of ihe t-oal operators to beat the miners backward to the level of ! subsist n' a Obtaining 'n tha non-union fllde. The miner will not retreat. The human values Involved ur..- of Infinitely In-finitely greater consequence than the profit margins of the operators. The miner is not rep. .nsible for the Ills of the coal industry and It Is poor Industrial In-dustrial leadership that can conceive industrial improvement only through a debased manhood and a pauper level lev-el of existence. Approximately five millions of the population of our na-I Uon are directly dependent upon the' mining industry and It la God's win that the children of tho mining camps I be fed. clothed and sheltered to the1 sume degree as those of other cltl-icns. cltl-icns. "The principles at Issue in this gn-.it strike win not bo compromised by the mine workers The dream of th- eoal operators that th mine workers will engege In a multiplicity of conference and negotiate Independent district agreements will not materialize The union will not dissipate ita strength, or betray is members by such folly. IDJ1 SI USD li COMP1 TITIOM "The problems of the coal industry are national in scope and organic In nature "WJen the present strike is ended the issues must bo stilled in a national nation-al way. Either the baso must be fixed I by tho central competitive Held In the manner heretofore customary, or a national na-tional Joint conference must be assembled as-sembled with Joint representation of each producing field In the bltumin- ous coal industry. "Tho competitive relationship of each producing district would then be considered and tho interest of each group fully protected. A wage agreement agree-ment thus negotiated should apply in all districts whether union or non-union and would be a substantial contribution con-tribution to tho stabilization of the industry. in-dustry. Such a plan would doubtless bo inet with Avails of bgotest from those, special interests might bo af-fe.-ted. but the sound sense of suejj an arrangement will appeal to thoughtful people." MINI S GLOBING DOWN PITTSBUno, Pa., Apel! 15. Leaders Lead-ers of the contending force in the coal strike tonight summed up the results re-sults of the first two weeks of tho struggle, agreement being reached on the general statement that the I'nlted Mine Workers of America had added largely to their forces by recruits from the non-unloi. mines of the western Pennsylvania section. In tho Connellsvllle coke region, where the union Is endeavoring to cripple supplies for the steel null, thu union claimed it had closed almost nil the independent mines In the Brownsville Browns-ville dl.-iii.t along the Monongahlea river and made Inroad Into tho work- i lng forces in other parts of Fayette county, operators conceded the claim. The union further held that all nonunion non-union mines in Grcon county were down, and "45 or 60" mines In tho . tmoreland field had been forced to close. Although many thousands of men are Idle In tho district, there ha3 been ' llttlo- disorder. oo |