◆ SpookStack

HUDDLED NEAR THE MINE SHAFT AND HUGE, BLACK SLAG HEAPS TOWERING ABOVE HOUSES AND PEOPLE . | a th ITN RPO RTE RTE RD EE ITE ER TS . : ™ eee nwt EE BAN FR RR CEL Pars . ~.,See0, too, an extraordinarily subtle mind and a vast personal force and charm usually concealed from the public. One fermer close associate said re- cently, “John Lewis’ native qualities of leadership have been surpassed by few of his contemporaries in America or anywhere else. But not many have so loved to drive rather than lead.” The key to power Do up all these factors—the history of miners’ struggles, the nature of coal digging, the character of John L. Lewis—and the whys of lack of demo- cracy in the UMW become clear. The » union's constitution gives the hows. Here is the key to power: Charters of districts, subdistricts and local unions may be revoked by the inter- national president, who shall have au- thority to create 2 provisional government for the subordinate branch whose charter has been revoked ‘Lhe climb back from provisionalism, once Lewis has substituted his appointees for elected officials, is,next to impossi- ble. Of the UMW’s 30 districts, 20 are 2 RTE ea ie a provisional or semi-provisional. Some have held no clection in a decade and a half. : In a recent courtroom tussle, Lewis self-righteously apprised the gourt of the fact that his expenses are passed on by the union’s executive board. He did not add that as rulec of the provisional districts he appoints a majority of the board—and holds power to remove even the few who are elected. The board has one member for each district. Appointment of subordinate officers is one of the few things which still causes fireworks in the conventions. Some lecals regularly insteuct their dele- gates to ask for home rule—autonomy is the customary term—for their dis- tricts. Debate is usually perfunctory. The 1944 gathering, however, saw some excitement because Ray Edmundson of Illinois (District 12), was fighting Lewis, For years Edmundson has been looked on as a crown prince—not a healthy reputation to have. Lewis was poking into the financial affairs of Dis- trict 12 when Edmundson resigned, promising to beat the old man. Though Te ee cpt pei tee ere Drawings by Blizebeth an appointive district president for nex: ly a dozen years, he tied his hopes * the home-rule issue. 2 Edmundson couldn't get into the cc: vention, The rump session he cal: drew less than a baker's dozen, and la when he sought to contest for the pre. Lewis took enough notice to speak home rule. The agitation fer un* democracy, it turned out, was a trick . the mine owners. “I know, of cours ' Lewis told the convention, “that c operators’ agents have gone about + couraging this prepaganda, enlist men to come here and fight John i dency he couldn't get on the ballot. fs +4 H ‘ many a dastard out of ollice “on the of my boot.” As he proceeded with . tale of carnage, his followers came of their chairs shouting hosannahs. In a milder mood he has told a st out of his boyhood to illustrate hisp & tion on union democracy: 4 When one of the boys would cc” home and would tell the other tha: . some of the neighbors’ houses the + had more autonomy than we had lo - i Lewis on this question.” He had kic!*. ; i | Paid CaS ce ate cag