John L. Lewis Speech
addresses the Bituminous Coal Operators' Negotiating Committee,
April 10, 1946, at the National Bituminous Coal Conference
in the Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.:
"For four weeks we have sat with you; we attended when you fixed
the hour; we departed when weariness affected your pleasure.
"Our effort to resolve mutual questions has been vain; you
have been intolerant of suggestions and impatient of analysis.
"When we sought surcease from blood-letting, you professed indifference.
When we cried aloud for the safety of our numbers you answered:
'Be content --'twas always thus!'
"When we urged that you abate a stench you averred that your nostrils were not offended.
"When we emphasized the importance of life you pleaded the priority of profits;
when we spoke of little children in unkempt surroundings you said: 'Look to the State!'
"You aver that you own the mines; we suggest that, as yet, you do not own the people.
"You profess annoyance at our temerity; we condemn your imbecility.
"You are smug in your complacency; we are abashed by your shamelessness.
You prate your respectability; we are shocked at your lack of public morality.
"You scorn the toils, the abstinence and the perils of the miner; we
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approval of your luxurious mode of life and the nights you spend in merriment.
"You invert the natural order of things and charge to the public the pleasures
of your own indolence; we denounce the senseless cupidity that withholds from
the miner the rewards of honorable and perilous exertion.
"To cavil further is futile. We trust that time, as it shrinks your purse,
may modify your niggardly and anti-social propensities."
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Industry & Commerce • Labor Unions. A significant historical date for this entry is April 10, 1946.
Location. 41° 14.666′ N, 75° 53.275′ W. Marker is in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in Luzerne County. It is on Franklin Street, on the left when traveling north. Marker is at the entrance to Capin Hall, on the Wilkes University campus. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 165 South Franklin Street, Wilkes Barre PA 18766, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Pennsylvania’s Anthracite Coal Region and in the Wyoming Valley. It is also in the American Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Weckesser Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); Veterans Memorial Court (within shouting distance of this marker); Slattery Home Site (within shouting distance of this marker); Stark Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); E. S. Farley Library
Also see . . .
1. UMWA: The Promise of 1946. (Submitted on January 20, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
2. Guide to the United Mine Workers of America, District #2 Papers, 1927-1950. (Submitted on January 20, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
3. Capin Hall, Wilkes University.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 20, 2021. It was originally submitted on January 20, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 283 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 20, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
