George Washington to New Hampshire, 29 December 1777 (Detail, GLC03706) Great Depression, World War II, and the American West: John L. Lewis: Coal Miner's Hero by Gary De Tore Redwood High School http://www.umwa.org/history/jll1.shtml Few public speakers generated more controversy than the head of the United Mine Workers, John L. Lewis. His grandiloquent oratory led to an effectiveness in leadership rarely attained in modern politics.In 1943, Lewis led over half-a-million mine workers on strike, demanding wage increases. The government called the strike illegal and ordered the miners back to work. Only 15,000 workers returned.The strike closed down steel mills for two weeks during the height of World War II; power shortages threatened to cripple the war effort.Lewis was vilified. Outside of his home in Alexandria, Virginia, students burned his effigy, and rocks were hurled through his window. Yet to miners, Lewis was a hero. "If John L. Lewis told us to go on strike tomorrow, we would go out, even if it meant going to prison for 20 years," a mine worker told The New York Times.In March of 1947, the United Mine Workers began new wage negotiations. Six days before the labor contract was set to expire, an explosion in Centralia, Illinois killed 111 miners. The union called a six-day strike to honor the dead. They also called for the ouster of Secretary of Interior J.A. Krug, whose office was responsible for inspecting the conditions of mines, and they looked to John L. Lewis to make their case to the nation.On April 3, 1947, Lewis testified before Congress. He spoke for five hours. Trained in the days before megaphones and electronic amplification, Lewis never tired. Head of the Union Mine Workers, John L. Lewis, blasts Congress and the Federal Government for allowing coal miners to die, Washington, D.C., April 3, 1947. Radio Interview Lewis:Certainly the responsibility for safety in the coal mines covers a long trail. From the miner up through the minor mine officials, to the management of the company, the state legislatures, the inspection boss, the reviewing bodies in the state, the Federal Bureau of Mines and the Administrator of coal mines, who stands at the top, in this period of governmental seizure, with nothing to stop him from making coal mines safe except his lack of desire to do so.I said that these men at Centralia died through the criminal negligence of J. A. Krug, and I reiterate that statement now. And I shall prove it beyond peradventure at this hearing if the Committee will permit. I have not said that J. A. Krug, by an affirmative act, killed these men. I say that J.A. Krug, by his inaction, had permitted them to die. While he withheld from them succor that was within his power to give.[I] raise my voice in justice to the living and injustice to the memory of the dead, to ask for surcease to this blood letting.--------------If we must grind up human flesh and bone in the industrial machine...we owe protection to those men first, and we owe the security for their family if they die.--------------And God knows, sirs, you have your responsibility as that of public servants and an honorable Congressmen. [Lewis points finger directly at several Congressmen.]This isn't a question for revenge. The United Mine Workers is a law abiding institution. It's not a revolutionary organization. It's against those who promote disobedience to law and hope to achieve their objective by violence in this country. The United Mine Workers in this country have been fighting the Communist movement since its inception. It isn't a new thing with us. We're Americans. But let me say to you, sir, that this butchery of coal miners in the Krug slaughter-houses in the country does more to make Communistic adherence than anything else in this country. And these constant threats from Congress and from the financial press of this country, controlled by the larger interests, about putting labor in irons and then stringing them from a halter on Talvern Hill, that helps to make Communists, too.Is it any wonder that there is lamentation in the mining towns of this country? Is it any wonder that there is a spirit of rebellion against this condition manifested now by the memorial services and the prayers to high heaven that's going up from every mining community? Is it any wonder that women in the mining camps now are reluctant to see their men go to the mines next week when the memorial period is over? Consider the families.Who knows whose mine [it] will be tomorrow, or tonight? These are the imponderables. If we must grind up human flesh and bone in the industrial machine that we call modern America, then before God, I assert that those who consume the coal, and you and I who benefit from that service because we live in comfort, we owe protection to those men first, and we owe the security for their family if they die. I say it, I voice it, I proclaim it, and I care not who in heaven or hell opposes it!That's what I believe about that. 1. How could Secretary of Interior, J. A. Krug, be responsible for the deaths of the coal miners, according to John L. Lewis? What is your opinion of his reasoning? 2. What does the quote "if we must grind up human flesh and bone in the industrial machine we call modern America" mean? Why does he not just refer to "the industrial machine of coal mining"? 3. What does Lewis claim is pushing miners towards "a spirit of rebellion"? 4. According to this document, is Lewis proposing Communism as a solution to industrial problems in America? Explain your answer. 5. Find two phrases that illustrate Lewis' "grandiloquent oratory". 6. Look back at the Huey Long "Share the Wealth" proposal. In what way(s) are the two speakers alike and or different in their ideas? Explain your answer.