"Why Shouldn't I?"

One day last week, Speaker Joe Martin sat in his suite in Washington's Hay-Adams House and explained how he had brought about the end of the 29-day coal strike.

Gentlemen, I Said. "I had been worried about this strike," said Joe. "As quietly as possible and without attracting anyone's attention, I nosed around and found out everything about it. I came to the understanding that if somebody would move in, the thing could be adjusted. And it was time for somebody to move in. The Administration wasn't doing anything. I said to myself, why shouldn't I do it? So I called John Lewis.

"I asked him if he would come up and see me. I said to him that the strike was getting to be very destructive and that it was going to put our economy into a tailspin.* Furthermore, I said, if this strike isn't settled soon, the Administration is going to move in with controls and that will be bad for everybody.

"Lewis agreed with me and said he would be in my office at 11. Then I called Ezra Van Horn [the operators' representative] and gave him the same spiel. He said he would see me at 11. When they arrived I took them into my office and said, 'Gentlemen, this thing has got to be settled. I understand that the whole dispute hangs on getting a referee--a third trustee for the pension fund.' "

Why Sure, Joe. "They asked if I had a candidate. I said, 'Yes. He's a fairminded, level-headed Yankee. He is Styles Bridges [anti-New Dealing New Hampshire Senator, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, a supporter of the Taft-Hartley Act]. They seemed pleased at the suggestion and they asked, 'Will he take it?' I said, 'He certainly will.' So I got him on the phone at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

"He said, 'Why sure, Joe, I told you last night I would take the job.' Then and there Lewis and Van Horn elected Styles Bridges the third trustee. It was agreed that the three of them would meet the next day."

Some Suspicion. That was Joe's story and he stuck to it. There was some suspicion that there was more to the whole business than met the eye. Lewis was anxious to get out of a legal box. So far, he had disregarded a court order to send his miners back to work. He was due to appear before Federal Judge T. Alan Goldsborough and explain why he should not be held in contempt. Goldsborough was the man who, a year ago, had slapped him and his union with a $3,510,000 fine (later reduced to $710,000) for being in contempt in a similar case. There was a suspicion also that Lewis saw a chance to humiliate Harry Truman by throwing credit for solving the coal strike to GOP Speaker Joe Martin.

In fact, Senator J. Howard McGrath, Democratic National Chairman, was wrathful. "This device will fool no one," he said. Harry Truman, however, did not feel so bad. He met Joe that night at the Gridiron Dinner and said to him: "You can have him, I don't want him, he's too fat for me."

The Sun Shines. This week, Senator Bridges made a proposal for distributing the pension fund. His plan: $100-a-month pensions for miners over 62 with 20 years' service, who retired after May 28, 1946. Lewis had wanted to give $100 pensions to all miners over 60 with 20 years' service, no matter when they quit. Van Horn had never made any proposal; he had simply maintained that Lewis' plan was not legal and could never be supported on the 10-c- royalty which the operators are required to pay on every ton of coal mined.

Lewis "somewhat regretfully" accepted the Bridges plan. Van Horn voted Nay. Bridges announced: "We have solved on a temporary basis the differences, subject to further review." Lewis wired his miners: "PENSIONS GRANTED," which was taken to be a signal to go back to work. Lewis still had Judge Goldsborough angrily hovering over him, but he hoped that the sunshine of temporary peace would dissipate that cloud.

Did Joe Martin, who had indicated his willingness to be a presidential nominee, feel pretty good about it? Said Joe modestly: "Well, you got to keep on the ball all the time."

* By last week, the strike of 400,000 miners had thrown out of work some 135,000 workers in dependent industries. All U.S. industry had suffered; railroads were preparing to cut their coal-burning operations 50%.

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