Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1897-07-28
THE GREAT COAL STRIKE
1t Ia Directly Attributable u the
w lson Law.
President Hntchford'- Statement =
MIR. hrsnn EsNor- Free Coal. aud
Thus Further Rcduc-
tton I'm Wages.

auction IN duties ON coal by the Wilson
low tariff law are the subject OF con
siderable comment among tariff stu
dents and members OF congress gen
orally.
That the reduction which the law
made in the tariff on coal caused great
reductions in the wages of miners Is
easily shown. and that the drop I'm
wages was practically coiucident with
the reduction in duties upon coal IS
generally recognized by those familiar
with the subject.
President Ratchford. of the United
States Mine Workers association, i'm n
communication TO the New York Her
aid. dated July }, says:
IA miners wages I'm the western
Pennsylvania field range from 81 to- a.
cents per ton in thin veincd districts
and from 30 TO IS cents per ton in the
thick veined. In 1893 the mining rate
in thin veined districts was 40 cents
and thick veined G5 cents per ton. Dur
ing the same year the rate in Ohio and
Indiana was 20 and IS cents respective
ly. Now il is 81 cents, with a rcduc-
ton proposed in Ohio to 40 cents per
ton. This ratio holds good i'm general
way all along the lines; Illinois, por-
ton of Iowa, eastern and central Penn
sylvania and the Nirgiuias are all equal
ly affected"
These figures indicate reduction i'm
rates for mining OF from 20 TO 30 cents
per ton since 1898. IL was in August.
1898, that the congress which framed
the Wilson tariff law met and the work
upon the bill which reduced the coal
tariff 30 cents per ton was begun. II
was promised tSnt that bill would take
the entire duty OIL coal. and the bill
rs framed by the ways and means com
mittee and passed 10y the house did re-
move the entire rate of 10 cents per
ton and placed coal upon the free list.
The senate, however, restored part
of the duty on conl, making the rate
| 40 cents per ton, and the bin when il
! became law reduced the tarn rates
on bituminous coal 80 cents per ton. the
/ rate under the Mckinley law having
! been 40 cents per ton, and the rate
named 10y the Wilson law being 40 cents
per ton.
The fact that the entire reduction of
wages which miners are complaining of
has occurred since the beginning of
work upon the Wilson tariff law and
that the reduction is nearly the same
rs the reduction made in the tariff by
that act is OF itself remarkable CO.
Incidence and would probably warrant
the assumption that the tariff reduction
caused the reduction in wages.
II rs not necessary, however, TO mere
ly assume this or - depend upon mere
theory TO indicate that the reduction in
tariff caused reduction in rates for
mining. IL is susceptible of proof
from facts known to every man inter
cstcd in or acquainted with coal min
ing and coal operations of the past few
/ years. Before the passage of the Will
son tariff bill n visitor TO Newport
News, the scaboard terminal of the
Chesapeake d Ohio railway might have
seen at any time from four to a dozen
coasting vessels lying at the docks
awaiting the arrival Of coal trains
from Virginia and West Virginia.
loaded with coal destined TO be shipped
10 New York and New England. No
sooner had the Wilson tariff taken
effect than all these vessels disap-
penred as completely as though they
had been engulfed in mid-oceap.
The reason for this transformation
scene was simply this; the rate OF duty
on coal under the Mckinley law was
such as TO exclude foreign coal from
New England or eastern ports. but the
reduction of the rates TO 40 cents Der
ton by the Wilson law permitted Nova
Scotia coal TO enter the northeastern
Atlantic ports at such low rates that
the West Virginia coal could not com
pete with it. The Nova Scotia Goals
are cheaply mined. and as many of the
mines extend under water it is prnc-
ticable to load the coal directly on
vessels and thus place IL in any OF the
eastern United States ports at very low
| prices.
The result OF this reduction in the.
| tariff was that the Nova Scotia coal
| took the place in the east OF that from
| the West Virginia mines and that the
| West Virginia mine-owners and oper-
| ntors were compelled TO seek n market
| elsewhere. Railroad rates TO the west
were reduced and coal which bad
formerly gone 20 sew England, went
/ west and came into competition with
/ the coal Of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
/ The price Of coal i'm the western markcts
| tumbled; then followed a rate war
! between railroads and between mines
| and mine-owners, a reduction in wages
| for minin- az the east. followed by re-
/ ductiOus iu the west. until miners
wages became lower than they had
ever been known under the protective
| policy OF tine republicans.
Other causes. also resulting from
/ fhc Wilson law, have operated with
equal certainty iU kpcuiuos down the