Miners Whammed

In the early years of the New Deal a vicious civil war was fought in the Illinois coal fields between John L. Lewis' United Mine Workers and the Progressive Miners of America, a revolting group which has since been welcomed into A. F. of L. The bullets have ceased singing but in the courts the struggle continues. Nearly two score Progressives were convicted in a Federal court in Springfield, Ill. of conspiracy to interfere with the mails and interstate commerce by dynamiting trains (TIME, Dec. 27). Last week another case originating on that dark and bloody ground was decided in East St. Louis, Ill. by Federal District Judge Fred L. Wham. In a damage suit brought against the Progressive Miners by United Electric Coal Co. for losses sustained from a three-year shutdown of its Red Ray mine, Judge Wham whammed down an award of $117,000. Seven Progressive locals and 66 union members were ordered to pay up.

In an opinion which will probably be appealed, Judge Wham drew a line between the unquestioned right to strike and a conspiracy "to prevent production." Labor, he said, was not liable for damages caused by a strike itself, even if an "employer may have to quit business"; but Labor was responsible for damages inflicted by "violent and other unlawful conduct." This liability was not confined to physical damage but included the use of "unlawful means" to prevent a company "from conducting its business."

Only consolation to be found by labor lawyers in the Wham decision was the possibility that it would demonstrate that no new legislation was needed to make unions financially responsible. The damages assessed recalled the historic Danbury Hatters case, which was fought through the courts for twelve years before it was passed upon by the Supreme Court in 1915. The hatters' union declared a nation-wide boycott on hats of an open-shop Danbury hat manufacturer, the late Dietrich E. Loewe. Hat-Maker Loewe then founded the American Anti-Boycott Association, sued the union, won a judgment of $252,000 against 200 union members. Homes and other property of the workers were attached, but the unionists swore they would not pay even if their homes were foreclosed. In the end the claim was settled for $150,000 raised by A. F. of L.

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