New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-28
STRIKES FOR YEARS TO COME.


NEW COMBINATION.
IFRoM 4 sTAFF CORRESPONDENT of TIIE rRiBUNEl
wuKrsBARRF. Sept. 2l.-Labor troubles IN the
anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania arc likely
10 recur at brief intervals for many years to come
The present controversy will undoubtedly he al
iusted in the course Of the next month, by the
mutual concessions Of operators and miners, and the
present suspension by reducing the aggregate pro-
duction of coal for the year, may secure TO The
miners during the remainder of the Fall and the early
part of the Winter better wages and more constant
work than they had before the strike began. But
this will only be temporary; production will again
outstrip the demand for coal unless some artificial
means are adopted TO prevent it, competition Tor the
limited market will be as fierce ever; the price
will go down, wages VIII decline, miners will have
work only half of the time, and, in their despeTa-
ton will strike again. This series of events VIII
constantly be repeated until Of two things hap
pens-until the annual demand for coal grows up TO
the production Of the mines rs now operated or the
annual supply is systematically reduced
The productive capacity Of the anthracite mines
Of PENNSYLVANIA with the available labor now IN
the regions and che machinery now IN use' IS from
10000 900 to % eco 600 tons year The market
will take only from 100000 TO 2OOOUooO'
With revival of business throughout inc country
the consumption of coal viii certainly increase Dut
tits doubtful IT, stimulated by the fierce competition
markets. the productive capacity Of the mines VIII
not be increased in like ratio Mr.. Gowen is ship
,,inc more coal over the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad during this month than during the CORE
spending month of any recent year. II Is my I'M
preston that the production of the SchuyikIl re-
zion i, now more than Do has been before since 1915,
but have before ne no statistics by which % Ner-
~ this belief In order to produce 2OO,0oO tons oil
coal a week. Mr.. Gowen has had to develop ms
mines with unusual rapidity. and to increase ms
number of miners by employing some from the wy
oming and Lackawanna regions. Next yea CIR
cumstorces may induce the Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western orthe Delaware and Hudson Company
II increase its production tempo1ri y, in order to
Get some Of Mr. Govens markets. and so there is no
reason to believe that The demand Tor coal viii over
take the supply at any time ia Che near future, I'M
less tho latter is aruGcially limited by combination
Of the great operators. Indeed ! have hoard the
opinion EXPRESSED by persons wcll informed in coal
matters that Mr. Gowcn wouid have pushed The
production of the Schuylkill Region TO its utmost
capaciiv during the strike in tins county even II he
lad been obliged to sell his coal at loss his object
beno moi only 70 capture new markets, but 20 put
himself in position 90 demand that larger proper
lion Of ihc coal supply shall be assigned TO his mines
il the next combination than in the last.
Bu; the difficulty OF limiting the production Of
coal without combination is not due entirely TO
the rivarics and necessities Of the great companies
The owners Of coal lands anxious 10 receive
large incomes and in a majority of eases insist on
LARGE production. '1he operators rarely own the
mines they work. but lease them OF the owners for
period Of years aslong any coal remains intem
The terms II these leases usually aye that royalty
M from twenty 70 fifty cents a ton shall DE paid
an the coal removed from tine mines, and That The
annual production shall not fall below q given
IL flto limos t q
tho owners or coal lands % require that the w'ui-
mum production shall he fixed as hiCh rs possible,
thus making their assured income largcr than it
otherwise would be; for the operators nave to pay
the ROYALTY on the minimum amount Of coat, every
yeal whether they take 1t out or not and the only
way I'm which oyer-paymcnts of royalty cRn bc re-
covered. is by increasing production 10 the next or
succeeding year. Foriu,lance. if certain operators
required by the terms Of his lease 20 take ont 10000
tons az coal year, and 90 pas royalty at he Tate of
Twenty-Five certs he viii have TO pay to the owner
fthc coal lands $40 500, whether he mines $4,000
tons or not and twenty-five cents ton for all the
coal which he mines above the minimum. But if,
fan amy cause the product Of the mine for this year
tU, below 10000 tons, say to 5000 TONS then the
operator would feel bound to take ont 10000 tons
next year. no matter what might be the state Of the
market provided he could sell his coal without
actual loss So it viii Doe seen that the coal o9cra-
mine hc works.
This system Of fixing q minimum production in
TIE lease II each mine has also caused a much
more rapid development of the coal than would
otherwise have occurred. The necessity If pr0duc-
ing fixed amount Of coal every wear has made the
operators open new gdBgways and construct new
planes in order that they might get the coal that
was most easily removed In mine which visited
yesterday in Kingston on the other side Of the
Susquehanua River from this city, saw passage
WAYS I'm which. the superintendent tod me. there
still renamed three or iOur feet Of coal under the
fiODr which the railway was land. These
u9ssagc-Wavs were opencd under a former man
aCemeut of the mine, and this "rObblng" IT, rs the
miners call it, was the result of desire to get the
coal ont as fast rs the lease required.
But neither the rivalry of the great coal COM
panies nor the anxiety of the owners Of coal lands
to derive large incomes from their properties can
make the consumers Of coal take more than they
need and the fact remains that after all there
men aud machinery enough in the coal regions to
produce thirty or forty per cent more coal than is
wanted or can be sold and that there is present
prospect that tho demand for coal will so increase
70 give employment; 10 more than two-thirds of the
mining population now here 1t follows, therefore.
that one OF two things will occur-cther that the
men who work in and about the mines must remain
idle at least one-third Of the time. that
third Of them must sock employment elsewhere If
tho men all remain here the wages they viii receive
will not be sufficient to support them and their
families as they have been accustomed 10 live. by
working only one-half or twO-thrds Of the time.
The company whose mine visited in Kingston, yes
ternav paid II cents per " Boston car for mining
aud loading the coal at the time the strike began.
Six ears IS q days work, so that The miner would
receive - 62 day. But ont Of this lac had to pay
his labOTffs and Tor his powder OIL etc. Inc labor