New Labor Herald

By A Rank and Filer

This Spring brings with it the most serious crisis ever faced by our organization, the U. M. W. of A. This crisis is of a twofold character, external and internal.

Regarding the external side of it: the employers are determined as never before to deal us a crushing blow. The “open shop” devotees are encouraged by their success in driving the railroad men, smashing the building trades, etc., that they are all set to give us a first trimming. Indeed, they have us at the start, as the West Virginia and Colorado districts ahead of us are already beaten. And the whole union is to be attacked. We will have to get right down to hustling and put up such a struggle as we have never made before.

But our internal crisis is worse even than the external one. We stand in the most imminent danger of a disruption that will lay us helpless before our enemies who are all ready to devour us. The quarrel over the Kansas situation is threatening to split our organization. This would be absolutely fatal. It must be avoided at all costs. Whatever comes or goes, the miners must present a solid front this year. Anything else would be suicidal.

Lewis’ treatment of Howat and the Kansas miners is a crime, a disgrace that can never be eliminated from the records of trade unionism. But it must not be allowed to lead to a split. That would be the last word in folly. Two wrongs do not make a right. That would be merely cutting off our nose to spite our face. The very most that could be accomplished by a secession movement would be the creation of two miners’ unions, both of about the same strength. Those who tell us that the masses of the men would rally to the new one are either fools or tools of the employers. At this particular time we will do well to turn a deaf ear to the preachers of hot air dual unionism, those who appear at critical moments in union struggles and tear the unions all to pieces on the basis of their beautiful schemes of dual unionism. These are the jackals of the labor movement. The only ones who profit from their activities are the bosses. A split now would be worth $100,000,000 to the mine operators.

In this crisis our course is plain. On the one hand we must prepare for a desperate struggle with the employers, and on the other we must see to it that the internal quarrel does not produce a secession movement. We must confine our fight within the bounds of the United Mine Workers. Our cause is the cause of progress. It is a just one and when the great rank and file come to understand it they will rally to our support. Lewis was able to muster a majority of votes against us at the re-convened convention. But he barely squeaked by. And if we keep going ahead it will be only a matter of a short while until he will come to his Waterloo. The only thing that can save him would be the same thing that has saved dozens of other fakers in similar crises, a secession movement that pulls out the opposition and leaves the reactionaries in control. We must avoid any such mistakes this time.

Lewis’ strength is due more to our mistakes than to his own good management. Our side has made blunder after blunder in tactics. Many of them would be ridiculous were they not so tragic. We must sharpen up our wits and sit right into this fight as though we meant business. The fate of the coal miners’ organization depends upon our getting rid of Lewis and all the bunch grouped around him.

We must organize ourselves better. We must see to it that our cause is carried into every local organization in the whole union, so that when delegates are elected to the various districts and national conventions they have some idea as to what the fight is about. This they do not have at the present time.

Above all we must have a journal that will voice our cause. Our International journal is absolutely stacked against us. We must counteract its lies, which have been primarily responsible for our defeat so far. Before many months have gone by we should have a real independent coal miners’ paper that will carry the truth to the rank and file. And in the meantime we should lend our hearty support to The Labor Herald. It may be depended upon to fight our battle to the best of its ability.

Besides this we must organize our forces better. At all the district and national conventions, the rebel elements should get together and map out their course of action. Then we would not see the machine riding rough shod over us as heretofore. Knowing what we want and being fully organized we would be able to get it.

Brother coal diggers, no dual unionism, no secessionism. That would be .fatal. Beware of the man who tells you to split the union, he is no friend of ours, no matter how well he may he equipped with hot air. What we must do is to organize ourselves within the U. M. W. A We are just on the verge of victory. Let us go through to the end. We must continue to demand the reinstatement of the Kansas battlers.