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‘Mas 22 Follow the Leader by Dale Kramer Big John Lewis’ mine workers have followed him unquestioningly through ups and downs, but their patriarch is aging fast HEN John L, Lewis climbs out of \ V his limousine these days he comes down hind first, gripping the door jambs and distributing his sagging weight carefully between the heels and balls of his feet. If there are no photog- fapbers at whom gayly or threateningly to flourish his heavy cane, he uses it for what it was made. The auburn mane has turned a lank gray and the full cheeks hang in ashen, seamy pouches. This slow and creeping change is reflected in the conversation of political and labor insiders when they sit around discussing the future. They used to speak of Big John Lewis. Now it’s Old John. ; He is a patriarch, and the 500,000 miners over whom he rules are his family. Again on April 1 they showed how closely they hang together when they quit work for six days in mourning for the 111 members of their clan who died in the Centralia mine, And once more thcy also demonstrated theie un- questioning obedience to the aging lord who tells them when and when not to work. : If anything, age has increased the regal quality of Old John’s passage through the hushed and lofty halls of the Mine Workers’ Building in Wash- ington. For anyone to halt his stately As @ cosrespondent for Yank, Dale Kramer covered the Pacific and the sxr- vender of Japan. He is now a free-lance writer and bas contributed to Harper's, Esquire and the Nation. promenade would be a disastrous breach of etiquette. Men who called him “John” or “Jack” are mostly either in the ranks of the hated CIO or too old for duty. Those remaining address him as “Mr. Lewis,” and they maintain the respect- ful title when talking about him, per- haps even in their secret thoughts. An official in the same building may spend two of three days obtaining an appoint- ment. When one showed up on a hot day dressed in slacks, word came down through channels that Lewis considered such garb undignified. Insiders refer to Lewis’ vast office on the fifth floor as the Throne Room. He is not opposed to the analogy. “Why, geatlemen,” he once told a convention, ae Pa ta fale : “ ?) L tend é 473 is . = Se HOME LIFE: THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF SUCH MINERS’ SHACKS ’ iin NEW REPUBLIC the.) isn't any mincing, lackadaisical, lace-pantied gigolo going to dethrone John L. Lewis in his own organization and. in his own convention,” To labor leaders the term “king” is not exact. Neither is “boss.” Nor the “sacred leader” of miners’ convention fesolutions. After three decades, Old John is the United Mine Workers of America, The dutiful dispatches of newspaper reporters during every strike telling of CaeRM miners’ support—ate-theretore—— looked upon as old jokes, Labor men are not impressed by the view of the ' Supreme Court's decision as a stunning blow necessarily breaking Lewis’ grip. What they know—and the reasons for their conclusions are set down herein- after—is that the miners will do his bidding. And so, the terrible pride of Old John being well known, labor men see the miners’ unioa in peril. The danger will not pass with the resolution of this crisis or one or two more. Lewis is 67, No medical report is necessary to reveal his failing health—the camera does it. The death of Lewis and the attendant confusion among palace sycophants, cou- Pled with widespread uncmployment and enemy attacks, could, even without a disastrous strike, destroy the union which for almost half a century was the vanguard of American labor. Maybe it still is, The plumed figure of Old John largely obscures the fact that the 5 4 cea. nated aes s . . mt ne Af =" a a to ay Tt an pe res - JE remem eran REIS pr pion ETS TEA ERA TENT Tem Nae