Outside the mining town of Beckley, W. Va. one afternoon last week, the deep-throated voice of John L. Lewis rumbled over the heads of 5,000 listeners and bounced sonorously back from the green mountainsides. In a chill drizzle, the United Mine Workers' boss warmly hailed a "new era of peace" that had brought forth one of the most impressive social landmarks in U.S. industry: a chain of ten hospitals in three states, built and operated by the U.M.W.'s welfare and retirement fund. As Lewis dedicated the chain to "those who suffered and died before us," patients and doctors watched intently from...
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