Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-01
The Root Of the Evil.
the Editor of The Evening Star:

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
In your issue Of last evening 1t was an
nounced that the President and his advisers
had determined to ascertain whether he
possesses the authority. under the law, to
put end in some way to the Titanic in
dustrial struggle between coal mine own
ers and miners. which the country is now
witnessing with so much present and pros
pecttve discomfort. If not real suffering.
The questions which are at the heart Of
the coal strike controversy are simple ones
The miners whose only property Is their
labor. claim the right of refusing to mine
coal unless certain demands of theirs are
complied with by the mine owners The
mine owners refuse these demands claim
ing that to yield to their employees means
in the final analysis, the surrender of their
property rights These are the vital issues
And, bearing in mind the construction of
our present industrial system. how can it
be said that either side Is wrong in its con-
tentions? The right to work or to refuse
to work has, until recent years. scarcely
ever been denied by the law. That we have
property cannot be denied. We permit 1t
to be held out Of use by its owners no
matter what the demand for 1t may be-
The coal mines are equally property under
our system of laws, and their owners have
the undoubted legal right to c.ose them
wholly or in part;r to regulate the output
and. by acting together, dictate the price
to be paid by the consumer. 1t would be
of a monopoly product Is any longer regu-
lated by laws OF supply and demand,
operating under a free system of COMPETE
ton. View the situation from any stand
point that you iAeassE and the pregnant fact
looms up atowhifH3 We admit a principle
of private ownership that inevitably, and
by natural espiutf0tiary process, leads to
a monstrous form OF private monopoly the
proprietors Of SO necessary an article of
living as coal can say, and lawfully say, to
the rest OF the world, I'VE determine
much Of it you shasAi have and what you
shall pay for ito And admitting this prin-
ciple by what HghtgWould the federal gov
eminent be justified DIN asking the courts
for the appointment Of receivers of the coal
properties? By what rule of the police
power could we Justify the compulsion of
the mine owners TO work their mines
against their ptHI?;jiNo! So long as the
principle of private Ownership In natural
monopolies is admittsd the President can
effect no permanent Cure of the present dis
orders Of an Industrial system that has
been tried and DEMONSTRATING. To the root
of the evil he must 60. II he would accom-
plish the downfall 6fsfhe combinations that
he has recently been calling the bad COM
hinations or trlIstB.' The process would
probably unsettle his ideas of property
rights and perhaps even tend to lessen the
chances of the richs getting rich, even IL the
poor did not get poorer And even SO, don't
you think the Rockefeilers. the Wander
bits, the Goulds. the Havemeyers. the
Morgans and the rest Of the captains of In
dustry and owners Of natural monopolies
have enough to see them through. and
wouldn't it be. after all a good idea to give
the rest OF the people chance!
f. L. SlDDONS-