President Lewis

John L. Lewis has " the best poker face west of the Hudson."

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.

He is not a radical.

And he is President of the United Mine Workers of America.

Life. He was born in Lucas, a small Iowa mining town, on Feb. 12, 1880, of Welsh parents who immigrated in the 70's. His father was a blacklisted 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 and disarming 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."

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."

To a gabby radical union politician : " You can talk your head off. but the minute you start ripping the Constitution of the United States up the back, I'm going to chase you off the platform."

To the public: " The United Mine Workers regards a contract as a sacred obligation. It will abide by its agreements."

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.