Constitution Hall, the only auditorium in Washington big enough for the biennial convention of the United Mine Workers of America, is owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution. There John L. Lewis' miners met in 1936, there they expected to meet this year—until a few weeks ago when the D. A. R. changed its mind.
Upshots were that: 1) the Journal of the United Mine Workers announced "everyone knows that the Daughters of the American Revolution is an aristocratic high-hat institution whose members parade around like peafowls in silks and sealskins and imagine themselves the elect of the human race;" 2) catty whispers around D. A. R. headquarters intimated that one experience with miners had proved that the spittoon equipment of Constitution Hall was entirely inadequate; 3) the miners, 2,000 strong last week trooped through the dingy entrance of the old Rialto Theatre to attend their big meeting.
But the premises do not make the convention. There was little hyperbole in President Lewis' opening speech saying: "The United Mine Workers of America in this year of 1938 stand unrivaled as an organization of labor, unparalleled in its strength and in its resources, rich in the loyalty in the hearts of its members, with a prestige among the people and in the councils of the nation never before reached or enjoyed by this union."
With 600,000 members, the U. M. W. is the biggest union in the land. It has organized 95% of the coal industry and branched out through by-products and coal-tar derivatives into the chemical industry and even into perfume and cosmetics. It has $2,500,000 in its treasury —after contributing $500,000 to the National Democratic Committee in 1936, spending $550,000 on elegant new quarters in Washington and lending $2,000,000 to the C. I. O. and its various affiliates. Its vice president is Chairman Philip Murray of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, its secretary-treasurer is Lieut. Governor Thomas Kennedy of Pennsylvania and its president is the most potent labor leader in the U. S.
"My dear John." Franklin Roosevelt announced that he was in favor of price reductions, opposed to wage reductions (see p. 7). John Lewis addressing his miners went further, opposed both kinds of reductions, fearing that one would lead to the other. Said he: "All we need now in this country to encompass and insure a complete and most devastating economic, social and political debacle is to reduce the prices of commodities and reduce the wage structure. . . . How many years did we try that policy during the Administration of former President Hoover?" At the word "Hoover"' the delegates sent up a mighty BOO.
But there was a suggestion of a smirk on John Lewis' big face when he congratulated the miners for helping re-elect "the only President in our lifetime who has tried to give a square deal to the common people of this country." The President's regrets to the miners' convention in 1936 began "My Dear President Lewis;" fortnight ago it began "My dear John," but John Lewis has been something less than an enthusiastic Roosevelt admirer for nearly a year, has made no bones about his dissatisfaction with the President's handling of Recession.