The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-05
THE TUssLE OF TWO TRUSTS.

/ THE TUSSLE OF TWO TRUSTS.
When trusts fall out somebody is
| bound to suffer. The sufferer is gen.
orally the public. For more than FIVE
months the anthracite coal trust, com
posed of the coal operators, and the
anthracite coal miners. who are mem
| bers of an organization, which, in eff
| feet, is a labor trust, have been en-
gagged in a struggle for the mastery
( in the anthracite coal fields of Penn
/ sylvania. No one can fOresee when
the struggle will end. In the mean
| time winter is approaching and the
cities Of a large section of the country
are without fuel. The prospect Of tens
Of thousands of people suffering from
cold. and diseases brought on by the
lack of necessary warmth in homes
does not appeal with sufficient strength
to either trust to make it recede in
the least from the position it has
taken. There is no reason for think
ing that if the death rate in the I'M
fortunate cities should be greatly in
creased, because Of the lack of fuel,
tude of these trusts. The only thing
that will move them is force or self
interest.
At present there does not seem to be
a probability of the use of force. Gov.
Stone of Pennsylvania is not inclined
to call out the militia except as it
is needed in the various districts
where disturbances occur, and there
is no prospect that he will ask the aid
of the general government.
The strikers say they can hold out
indefinitely and they seem to have
good reasons for that statement.
There are only about 10000 licensed
miners in the disturbed districts, and
the president of the United Mine Work
ers, Mr.. Mitchell is taking care that
their wants are provided for. There
are more than 100, 900 of other mine
workers, but they can accomplish very
little without the 10000 who have
licenses. 1t is said there is much suf-
fering among the 100, 900 ordinary mine
workers. Their necessities are not
licensed miners.
Clearly the coal operators have made
up their minds not to bulge an inch
in the direction of making concessions.
In their view the needs of the public
are as nothing as compared to the in
terests of the coal trust. They can
hold out all winter if necessary. The
coal will not run away, and when 1t is
taken out of the ground it will bring
such high price that they will be
in a great measure compensated for the
losses they are now sustaining.
The people are now having an ex-
hibition of what they may expect from
trusts. 1t is plain that IL they do not
speedily adopt means for controlling
them they will become their victims.
Their rights and interests will be
treated with contempt. and they will
be made to pay every cent of tribute
that can be wrung from them. There
may be trusts that are a little less
heartless than others, but there is no
guarantee they will remain so. Trusts
like individuals become greedy as they
Increase in power and wealth.
If the people are ever to be the mas
tiers Of trusts now is the time for them
to exert their power. The trusts are
becoming stronger all the time, and
1t is within the bounds of probability
that, If not controlled, they will be-
come stronger than the government
stronger than the people. Even now
their influence is so great as to excite
alarm among thinking people.