“He Done It”

● The following appeared in the New York Post, January 24, 1952: “Once again God must take the rap. In the aftermath of the West Frankfort mine disaster a jury has solemnly assembled, meditated, contemplated and brought in its unanimous verdict. God has been convicted. According to the jury the murder of 119 coal miners in West Frankfort must go down in the history books as ‘an act of God’. As Murray Kempton reported in this newspaper the other day, no one—government, coal operators, mine workers, or union officials—seemed prepared to look for any other culprit. It was so easy to blame God. After all, He couldn’t talk back. More reverent men might have hesitated to reach this verdict. They might have considered the guilt of congressmen who have stubbornly refused to pass a mine safety law. They might have weighed the responsibility of the coal operators who have tenaciously resisted mine safety legislation. They might even have studied the role of UMW officials who have always seemed more concerned with union politics than human safety. But all that would have involved many complicated problems. It was so much easier to blame God.”