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<text>
<title>
(1920s) Labor:President Lewis
</title>
<history>Time-The Weekly Magazine-1920s Highlights</history>
<article>
<source>Time Magazine</source>
<hdr>
TIME Magazine
June 4, 1923
Labor: President Lewis
</hdr>
<body>
<p> John L. Lewis has "the best poker face west of the Hudson."
</p>
<p> He is one of the most able leaders that the labor movement
has yet produced; shrewd, adroit, resourceful, a dangerous
opponent either at the bargaining table or on the industrial
field of battle.
</p>
<p> He is not a radical.
</p>
<p> And he is President of the United Mine Workers of America.
</p>
<p> Life. He was born in Lucas, a small Iowa mining town, on
February 12, 1880, of Welsh parents who immigrated in the '70's.
His father was a black-listed coal miner in the "Big Screen
Strike" of 1882 and was forced to go to Des Moines. Those were
the times of the ten- and eleven-hour day and a minimum-wage of
$1.60.
</p>
<p> As a young man, Lewis had a wandering foot; he worked in
various coal mines. He showed early power of leadership, being
chosen manager of his home ball team, President of the Debating
Lyceum and Athletic Club, finally Justice of the Peace. He was
active in union politics in the State of Illinois.
</p>
<p> In 1910 he was elected legislative representative of the
Illinois miners. For 5 1/2 years he was general organizer and
field representative of the American Federation of Labor, in
which capacity he handled the Calumet copper strike and the
Akron rubber workers' strike. In 1913 he handled the
unsuccessful campaign to unionize the steel industry.
</p>
<p> During the war he was a member of Secretary Franklin K.
Lane's National Committee of Coal Production. In 1919, during
the illness of Federation President Hayes, he took charge of the
bituminous coal strike, winning an unprecedented 27% increase
of wages. In 1920 he was elected President of the Mine Workers
by a huge majority; receiving, according to Joseph P. Tumulty,
"more votes than the Democrats" in the Presidential election.
</p>
<p> In 1922 he was in charge of the anthracite coal strike,
called to wring a new contract from the operators, which he
carried to a successful conclusion, after the personal
intervention of President Harding.
</p>
<p> Appearance. He is slightly under six feet in height, of a
heavy, compact build, with enormously broad shoulders. His face
is full and oval, his jaw "one of the squarest and most
determined in the United States," with a friendly, boyish smile.
His forehead is high and broad. He has a great shock of brown
hair reminiscent of Bryan in his youth. He is described as "a
cross between William Jennings Bryan and James J. Jeffries."
</p>
<p> Utterances. To a heckling Congressman who stated that the
miners had received a 75% increase since 1913: "The miners of
the United States are gifted with a number of talents, but they
cannot eat percentages."
</p>
<p> Cf. Mitchell. Lewis' career and character are similar to
those of John Mitchell, leader of the Pennsylvania coal strike
of 1902, which started with the operators' declaration: "There
is nothing to arbitrate," was fought through the summer under
Mitchell's slogan, "Fight to a bitter end," and was arbitrated
by President Roosevelt in October 1902, after Mitchell had won
public fear and respect by his determined and unflinching
character.
</p>
<p>What Lewis Did
</p>
<p> Lewis recently returned from Europe, where he made
arrangements with the Miner's Federation of Great Britain for
cooperation in case of another coal strike.
</p>
<p> According to Frank Hodges, Secretary of the British
Federation, an agreement wa reached "in principle," whereby in
the event of a strike in either country, an embargo should be
laid on export of coal from the other to relieve the strike.
</p>
<p> Already there are rumblings of a possible strike in the
U.S. in September, since the present agreement ends on August
31. Lewis is supposed to oppose this strike. But on June 26
there will be a convention of three anthracite districts.
Brennan, the conservative leader in the Seranton district, faces
strenuous opposition from the radicals. If the latter succeed
in their plans it is thought that they will be strong enough to
prevent a new contract and force a strike.
</p>
<p> Lewis last week conferred with the National Coal Commission
regarding the emergency and expressed the hope that moderate
counsels would prevail among the anthracite mine workers.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>