The Daily Worker

Woman Mine Correspondent Describes Treacherous Tactics of Lewis Machine

FAGAN TALKS BUT CAN'T FOOL MEN IN RENTON
Fire Any 50 Men at All Is Order
(By a Worker Correspondent)
RENTON, Pa., (By Mail).- I would like the readers of the DAILY WORKER to know what is happening in Renton, Pa. A few months ago I asked and answered questions I read in the Miners' Journal in a long letter to its editor. I never read anything in the Journal that didn't condemn the Save-the-Union Committee. Since I noticed that all of the articles contained lies I decided it was about time the editor was answered. So I did it.

Embarrassing Questions
The first thing I asked him was how the Pittsburgh Coal Co. could be so foolish as to pay the Save-the-Union Committee to get the miners out 100 per cent on strike and then pay state police to arrest the speakers, beat them up and send around stool-pigeons among the miners asking them not to listen to the Save-the-Union. Why do the operators go to the same expense by repeating the story at Export, Pa., and at White Valley, Pa?
But the Lewis machine did not want to answer these questions and others useless to put down here. I asked the editor to be kind enough to answer them, no matter what his answer might be. It seemed that my letter was too hot for that rusty Lewis machine. All they did was write an answer by mail that it was too bad I allowed myself to be mislead by the "strike-breakers".
On June 13, 1928, Pat Fagen came to Renton to hold a meeting. We knew nothing of the meeting until some of our men were notified by the state police and the chief of deputies. At about 1:30 P. M. chief of deputies Anderson and general J. S. Clark arrived at the union hall in a car. Then came Fagen and T. Robertson and Hefferly, after whom followed two state policemen on horses. The men who were at this meeting were all of the Lewis machine. There was one big truck with nine men; the other trucks may have had a few more but there were only four of the Renton men there. This didn't bother Fagen who made out he was speaking to all the Renton men.

No Hall For Traitors
The best part of it all was that the men could not get into the hall. They asked me for the key to open it, but I didn't have it. They asked the janitor for it, but he was too wise to give it up. He told Fagen that when our district representative would come to town he would open the hall but not for a bunch like that. So the meeting was held outside.

Two Conventions
This Lewis gang spoke of the two conventions, the Save-the-Union one on April and the Lewis one on May 28. I was a delegate from the Ladies Auxiliary to both of these conventions. From the minute the latter convention opened to the minute it was closed nothing was said about anything except the Lewis machine. They steam-rollered the convention so that the rank-and-file couldn't put in a word for itself. At the May 28 convention the reactionaries had the day. However, at the April 1st convention every delegate was given the floor to express his opinion without being thrown out or told to sit down. At this Save-the-Union convention no blue-sky delegates, as at the Lewis convention, were present. If we had any stool-pigeons there they would learn something that would do them good.
As this Fagen group in Renton went on speaking they had lots to say about our good leaders Pat Toohey and J. Watt. Fagen said that Fannie Toohey was "poisoning" the children's minds, teaching them not to believe in "God". He tried to put her in bad by saying she was most probably not the legal wife of Pat Toohey, that such kind of people believe in free love only. There's a strong man of Fagen's in Renton who has been believing in free love for some time now. But that's alright since he is a stool pigeon.
We have a progressive union here in Renton that is very strong and also a Ladies Auxiliary which is likewise progressive. Each of these organizations are doing good work. We must fight for our rights and follow our new leaders and not let the Lewis machine divide us any more. We must fight for better conditions, but we will never get them from the Lewis machine.
We brother and sister miners must stand together solidly for the Save-the-Union and save the strike. This is our only chance. This fight as well belongs to the non-union brothers as to us. We must all get on the picket line, organize ourselves and fight for better conditions.