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dle Atlantic division, R. B. Ennis, of the Arundel Corp., Baltimore, Md.; south Atlantic division, H. H. Buckman, Woodward Building, Washington, D. C.; southwestern division, J. C. Murray, traffic manager, Chamber of Commerce, Little Rock, Ark.; lower Mississippi Valley division, Dewitt L. Pyburn, director, department of public works, State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, La.; upper Mississippi Valley division, Al Hansen, member, board of estimate and taxation, city of Minneapolis, Minn.; Missouri River division, Senator Hugh Butler, United States Senate, Washington, D. C.; Ohio River division, Capt. William B. Rodgers, president, Tri-State Authority, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Great Lakes division; north Pacific division, Thomas B. Hill, department of conservation and development, State of Washington, Olympia, Wash.; south Pacific division, Marshall R. Bowen, City Hall, Whittier, Calif., and western intermountain region, E. W. Rising, 710 Atlantic Building, Washington, D .C.

I have taken the time to give you those names to show that it is widespread all over this country, comprising the outstanding representative citizens in all sections of the United States.

I have just one word in closing, Mr. Chairman, I think that whenever we bring in a piece of legislation for the development of our rivers and harbors or for the conservation and utilization of our water resources, regardless of the individual Members of Congress, I do not care from what district or what State you are from, it seems to me that we should look upon each one of these projects from a national, broad point of view, instead of looking upon it as a local or a sectional project.

After all, I need not remind you that the Congress of the United States has over a long period of years spent hundreds of millions of dollars improving our waterways. We have been helping our people in the valleys in developing this intercoastal waterway which has been fairly well completed, but which lacks a few missing links. This particular project is about the only section-all these tributaries into the Ohio or Mississippi or Missouri-that does not have an outlet at the present time.

Mr. RANKIN. The Rivers and Harbors Congress also approved this proposed Tombigbee?

Mr. SHORT. Yes.

Mr. RANKIN. On this proposition here, let me say this is not altogether one-way traffic. We have been talking about it as though it were a one-way proposition.

Mr. SHORT. Not at all. It takes the coal, but it brings back the iron ore. I have gadded about all that territory, trying to make more Republicans and save the country. It has been one devil of a task.

I want to thank you gentlemen for giving me these few minutes. It just shows that a Republican from the Ozarks, down in Missouri, can really be interested in a project that is in a district so well represented by an ardent Democrat from the good old Blue Grass State. I do not want you to quiz me too much.

Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. Thank you very much, Mr. Short, for adding your testimony.

Mr. HOBSON. You have some telegrams up there, Mr. Chairman, that you have been asking about from locals here and there in the country. We have a gentleman here from one of the locals in person.

I expect he can speak with a little more authority than these telegrams. I would like to present Rev. Garfield Stump, president, Local Union 5728, United Mine Workers of America.

The Reverend Mr. Stump is from McVeigh, Ky., and works for the Tierney Mining Co.

STATEMENT OF REV. GARFIELD STUMP, PRESIDENT, LOCAL UNION 5728, McVEIGH, KY.

Reverend STUMP. I am Rev. Garfield Stump, McVeigh, Ky., president of Local Union 5728, Stone, Ky.

I am appearing at this meeting, and possibly can answer a few questions that you have been sharply shooting at these fellows who have been before you. I think I can answer some of them.

I noted that the gentleman who appeared before me said he was up for another election. I hope you are not, but still you may be. I will stand up when I make my talk. I stand up when I preach to my people and talk to them and try to convert them. I will try to clear your minds as to how the people stand. If I can convert you on that, I have won my spot.

I am a president of a local union, 5728, from Pond Creek, a tributary of the Tug River, lying about 10 miles, I guess, or 8 miles from Williamson. I am right in the heart of the billion dollar coal field of Williamson, W. Va. I have traveled the rivers that have been pointed out here today. I have traveled over them and am well acquainted with them. I can bring you at this time, the situation.

I am from the pits. I have spent my life in the mines. For the last 5 years, I have been weighing coal at the outside of the mines as it came out, but the early part of my life I have been a miner. I have been in the United Mine Workers for a number of years, and I rank very well with the miners throughout the country. I know their walks and I know where they stand. I have helped in meetings with a number of local unions and I know the walks of their lives. I know their minds, and that is why I am here, for their benefit.

If we miners of the Tug River section-I am speaking of the Tug River section-if we miners had been fairly represented, or the facts had been represented as to how the miners stand, I would not have had to appear before this committee. This is not the first that people were misrepresented. I read in my Bible back in the days when Isaac was going to bless one of his two sons, of which Esau was the oldest, and he was going to give him the blessings. He was going into the field to prepare the venison, Esau was, and Jacob, the younger brother, goes out and kills a calf and puts the skin on his hands and he told the old man the feast was ready and the old man said, "Come nigh and let me feel of you"-he was blind, and Esau was a hairy man, and Jacob did not have any hair on his arms. He felt of him and he said, "Yes; those are the hands of Esau, but your voice is like Jacob's."

So he was misrepresenting to the old man and he did get the blessing. If Esau had appeared in time while Jacob was doing all this betrayal work and said, "Here is Esau, that is not him, I am Esau," Jacob would have lost the birthright, as you know. However, he was too late.

You fellows have not voted on this and I have appeared in time with the facts.

You want to know how these people feel, the miners. We have opposition here in a few telegrams but you notice, they come from far out from where this area is. Somebody said this morning that there were 40 mines on this Tug River part. I have with me resolutions, and I will take time to present them. There are 39 local unions on this Tug River section, located in this section.

We the undersigned officers and former officers of the wartime local unions, United Mine Workers of America, heartily approve the canalization of the Big Sandy River and its two forks, namely the Tug Fork in West Virginia and the Levisa Fork in Kentucky. The coal miners know the need of this water transportation. It will help stabilize our economy by cheaper transportation for coal and will attract industry in the Big Sandy River Valley. We do not know why a few of our leaders are opposing this project and we hope that our Representatives in Congress will listen to our plea and lend their assistance in behalf of this worthy project.

That resolution is signed by 39 different local unions.

Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. How many miners does that represent? Reverend STUMP. This resolution represents probably 18,000 to 20.000.

Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. What percentage of the members in that local area does that represent?

Reverend STUMP. We have one local union known as the N. and A. Local Union, that I think has filed with the Board of Engineers a protest to the canalization project, but this local union, to my knowledge, the mine is owned by the Norfolk & Western Railway Co. and naturally we would not expect anything else but what they would file an opposition. As far as I know, that is the only local union that has filed a protest to the project, the Norfolk & Western Railroad Mining Local Union.

We have another resolution from the McVeigh Local Union, that is my home town-I do not work there, I work at Tierney, myself-and probably 700 members are in that local union. They are in full support of that. The resolution reads:

RESOLUTION

Whereas it has been proposed that the Big Sandy River and Tug and Levisa Forks be canalized; and

Whereas it appears that the Norfolk & Western and Chesapeake & Ohio Railways have rallied some opposition to the proposal; and

Whereas after due consideration of the subject we cannot be fair to the majority of the people residing in the Big Sandy Valley by opposing this project: Therefore be it

Resolved, That Local Union 5729, U. M. W. of A., McVeigh, Ky., go on record as wholeheartedly in favor of canalization.

Approved by unanimous vote of local November 1, 1945.

W. F. HONE, President.
B. R. HAYS, Secretary.

This resolution is from the United Mine Workers of America, Local Union No. 5729, at McVeigh, Ky.

I have another one from the Delbarton Local Union, and I would like to file that.

Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. Without objection, it will be received in the record.

(The letter is as follows:)

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA,
Delbarton, W. Va., October 18, 1945.

To the Public and All United Mine Workers of America:

The question of making a canal waterway of the tributaries of the Big Sandy River, namely the Tug and Levisa Forks, has been widely discussed in the newspapers and on the streets, in the homes, and in every nook and corner. The results are that the membership of Local Union No. 5846, located at Lando Mines, W. Va., have decided that the canalization project will not injure the coal miners of this section as pictured by some, but will in all probability render service to the miners unparalleled in the history of Mingo and Pike Counties because cheaper rates on coal can be reflected in higher pay for production employees.

It is the consistent policy of the Norfolk & Western Railway Co. to substitute electric engines and probably fuel oil for coal-burning devices. Will this railroad company ask the coal miners' permission to change from coal to electrification or Diesel engines?

Does the Norfolk & Western serve the public as such, or do they serve the public for profits?

Therefore, we as a body of coal miners located afar from the Tug River in question:

Resolve, That the canalization project is in the interest of all persons located within the scope of the miners' interest of the Williamson field. We are for canalization.

JOE KIRK,

President. W. F. HAGY, Recording Secretary.

P. S. This local union desires to say to the public that William Blizzard, a resident of Putnam County, does not speak the sentiments of all the United Mine Workers in District No. 17.

Mr. GARVEY. I have another statement from the members of the Mingo County Board of Officers.

Now I want to say we have been misrepresented by a few, as I have said in our statement, a few of our officials on the staff. I heard Tom Raney say, I believe, that he had 68,000 under his jurisdiction, and that figure was against this project. I heard another of the members comment that the Tug River miners were against this project. You know the Lord told the disciples, "By their fruits ye shall know them." I have the fruits. I have gone to these local unions and I have the endorsements, and I know where we stand. We do know that a few of our men oppose this project. Probably I could tell you why, but we are wholeheartedly in support of this project. You heard a fellow say here that when we came out of the mines we saw a sign up "No work tomorrow." I have looked at that many times. However, I checked on the Kanawha Valley Mines and I found they were working. As Bill Williamson said, his heart was in the valley, and I do not blame him, he had a waterways system. If we had a waterways system we could get part of that trade. We would develop some new trade, and we could earn a livelihood.

You will notice that the protests come from sections that have waterways. They have systems other than railroads. They are not from the sections where we live and where the members of our mines are. If the members of this committee act on the consent of the miners you can say it will be unanimously approved. I have only heard one man in our mines speak against it. He said he was afraid after

the canal was built that some big company would charter the waterway. He thought somebody might charter this waterway after they built this canal. That was the only opposition I heard spoken honestly among the coal miners in the area.

We have been misrepresented like Jacob did Esau, but I have tried to come in time to save us.

Tom Raney is very opposed and probably will speak before this committee in opposition to this and he will probably place his membership and all he does under his control in opposition thereto. However, with these direct resolutions, it should be ignored.

Now Tom Raney said in Williamson, which you have in your record, to the board of engineers in Williamson, he said something to this effect-pardon me, Mr. May-this was Jack May's political football to try to get these harbors and rivers and dams, so he could get elected to Congress.

I do not know whether Mr. May is running for Congress or not. I do not know that, but Tom Raney made this statement: That we elected and probably some of you know him-Mr. John Langley, who has deceased and passed, 22 years probably, to Congress, and a number of those terms he was elected on trying to get the Big Sandy Valley project through. He said we elected his wife two or three terms and she did not do any good, and Jack May came along and made a political issue of it, to try to get that project through. "But," he said, "the people do not want it." If that is true, gentlemen, why did these people send representatives to Congress who would agree to try to get this project?

I am very much a Republican, and I have been all my life, but there comes a time when we must get things and we have to get them through somebody. So, if he is a Democrat, we must get behind him. We must put men in Congress that do something for us and not let us starve to death.

I want to say this: the eyes of the Tug River and Big Sandy are on this convention. They are watching Jack May. We will have to say one thing if Mr. May loses-and if we fail to get this, if it is voted down in the House of Congress, we will have to say one thingthat he has done his best.

Mr. RANKIN. You say that the miners want this project? The chairman has suggested to me that I ask you why the miners want this project.

Reverend STUMP. It is like I stated in my report here. We know that through the distribution of coal to the other countries, with all the developments between those two tributaries of that river, there are thousands of acres of untouched coal in there. We will pick up new trade and we will be able to ship coal out and we will get more days' work. I mean, in normal times. We have had good times through the war, but in normal times we do not.

Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. I understand that you have large quantities of coal there that would normally be very profitable and lucrative mining fields, but they are not now being operated because you do not have the transportation facilities.

Reverend STUMP. That is right.

Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. If this waterway were granted, as far as you are concerned, it would furnish more employment to you and to the other people in that valley?

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