New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-27

perceive thls, anu tney H'iFo imP"N" -" N''"'
GUS hardship on the miner in refusing longer 10
pay him war prices for his labor. The miner
may think that the power of tho combined
corporations TO extort high prices for coal from
the rubic ia unlimited, but such il not the
fact. At many points bituniinous coal comes
in contact with anthracite, and Il the price OF
tho latter is kept at high point, the soft coal
will be substituted. To some extent the change
has already been made, the statistics OF tho
last two or three years showing the bitumin-
GUS trndc to have had q much healthier growth
than the anthracite.
But that which deprives the miners of what
has hitherto been their main reliance for sue
cess Is the perfect understanding between the
various mine owning corporations. The strike
against lower wages affects only the Schuylkill
and Iehich regions, the Wyoming regions be-
ing undisturbcd The Delaware, Lackawama
and Western, Delaware and Hudson, and Penn
sylyania Companies have brought more coal to
market in the first four months OF this
year than they did in the Same months oil
1874, and it is the declared intention OF
the managers Of these companies to prevent
any rise in the price of coal from scarcity in
New-YOrk and England TO this course
they ere bound by repeated pledges to the
public. The control of the Schuylldll Inioes
having fallen into the hands of the Reading
Railroad, it il manifestly to the interest OF
that corporation not to recede from the terms
il offers to the miners. SO long as the comri-
nation of the railroad companies holds together
and each member preserves good faith with
the Others the motives which ordinarily mill
cnce some ono or other of dozen competing
employers 10 yield TO the demands OF a COM
bination of workmcn. as did latoly the iron
manufacturers of Pittsburgh, have no existence
The Reading Railroad Company has to dread
neither the weakness. the jealousies. nor The
hostility which used to distract the individual
operators of the Schnlyllll region before the
principal part of its lands and mines came
into the possession Of q single corporation.
All that it has to dread is bad TAIN on tne
part of the Northern companies, VINO ~ '',,'
have IA much to lose by rupture "' the
Reading Company.
Apart however from any strength when
the employers Of the coal regions may derive
from their strict confederation, experience
shows that no combination OF IabOftfs can
succeed for any length Of time III Keeping up
their wages when the natural set OF thc
tide is in the opposite direction. IL is
now pretty we'll known to all people
that these are hard times. and worthy
to rank in that category With any times
the country has seen within thirty years.
Average prices have fallen quite twenty-five
per cent since January, 1873, and the con
traction has been general. Rents and wages,
though last to fall, cannot escape the
forces which are in operation. The coal miners
in common with OTHER laborers, shared the adj
vance in wages which followed increased Is
sues of paper money and the initiation oil
credit which in due course succeeded the crea-
ton of 80 many greenbacks and bank-noteS.
In vain will the miners wait for the Reading
corporation to decide to protect them
from the evils Of general
fall in prices while they tallo al tie benefits
Of it. In England for more than two years
there has been q succession of just such con-
tests as the one now going on III Pennsylvania
and in every important instance, ~ lar ~ we
have observed, the employers have succeeded
in forcing n reduction. We do not enter INTO
the great question, what can OF should he
done to improve the condition Of the laboring
classes. That il not involved. Certainly
the general condition Of the hbOrcr il not
to be improved by giving one class
of laborers advantages In which the
mass of laborers have no share, apd which the
minority are only enabled TO enjoy by means
IF an unjust imposition on the majority. Dear
coal is not only direct source of additional
expense to all who burn it ~ fuel, but it must
also tend to prolong the existing depression by
preventing some kinds of manufacturing from
being carried on as extensively ~ they would
I've with cheaper fuel. The Lchigh and Schnyl-
kill miners will fail 10 their present effort, and
it is right that they should fail