In 1919, he refused to hold a wage scale convention, against the wishes of many union members.
He did not support Alexander Howat, leader of the Kansas district, when he was imprisoned for breaking an anti-strike law.
However, he did support Howat's 1924 attempt to implement rank-and-file election of union organizers, as he felt that this would weaken Lewis.
[1] In 1926, Lewis divulged the information that Farrington had a contract with the Peabody Coal Company to serve as a consultant at a salary of $25,000 per year.
Farrington was pressured into resigning, but he maintained his interest in the labor movement and went to the 1930 convention of the Reorganized United Mine Workers.