Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1903-01-31
COAL WILL STAY HIGH
MINERS LEADERS SAY LITTLE
RELIEF is IN SIGHT.
Vice President Lewis of the United
Mine Workers of America Makes Pre-
diction that Consumers Must Pay
Fancy Prices for Two Years.

''There will be no reAef III the coal
situation this winter. Phenomenal prices
will be maintained for the next SIX
months or more, and coal will be higher
during the next two years than 1t has
been in twenty years past. Grand Jurles
may indict and government Investigations
may be conducted, but all attempts to
| bring relief will fail"
The above positive statement was
made by Vice President Thomas Lewis of
the United Mine Workers of America, an
authority on the bituminous coal situa-
ton, to a correspondent Of the Chicago
Daily News, at indianapolis. His stare
ment was Endorsed by other leading rep
resentatives of the anthracite miners,
who declared there could be no relief so
far as the coal situation was concerned
| for months to come. Many prominent
delegates from different parts OF the
country indorsed the views of their ia
tional official and few, if any, offered any
| hope for immediate relief.
| What Brought About the High Prices.
Vice President Lewis said '"The pres
ent conditions of the coal trade and the
bIOAA
about by a combination of circumstances
that cannot be regulated at this time. We
all recognize natural increase in the de-
mand for coal in this country requires
large increase in production. The ,ddi-
tional increases in the demand for export
and to the requirements of this country
as a world powefhave added largely to
the necessity for an increased produc-
! ton Of coal.
''In the midst of this peculiar situa-
| ton the strike that took place in the an
thracite regions deprived the general mar
ket of about $50 100000 tons of anthra-
cite fuel, which could not be replaced by
the bituminous production, inasmuch as
the carrying facilities used in handling
anthracite coal could not be utilized to
| take the bituminous coal to the markets.
"When the anthracite strike was end
ed many people were led to believe that
! the markets would resume their normal
condition and that coal could be pur-
chased at a reasonable price. They did
not realize that the railroads were al
ready taxed to their full capacity in
handling the increased tonnage of the
last few years. Many people wonder
why there has been such phenomenal
not stopped to think that thousands Of
tons of the products of American manu-
facturers that are being shipped to all
parts of the world must first be handled
by the railroads before being consigned
to the vessels that take them to foreign
ports. This heavy traffic could not be
| neglected, even for the transportation of
the much-needed coal from the mines to
the market.
Railroads Cannot Help Themselves.
1.-The railroad officials, that have been
charged with conspiring to keep up
prices, are not to blame. They did not
anticipate such a large increase in the
volume of business and did not make
the proper preparations for eQuipping
their roads with more rolling stock and
motive power. Engines and cars are
needed now but they cannot be got right
away or for months to come, and the coal
situation will not be relieved until the
much-needed rolling stock and engines
are secured.
"There is no scarcity of coal at the
mines There are thousands of mine
workers employed only four or five hours
a day, not because they don't want to
work but because the railroads cannot
handle the coal they mine.
"The present phenomenal prices Of coal
will probably not continue more than six
or eight months, but the selling price Of
coal in the next two years will be much
higher than it has been for the last
twenty years.
I'm addition to the above reasons for
keeping up the prices the railroads, on
account of the increased cost of construc-
ton and equipment, are going to advance
freight rates on coal. This has already
been done in several cases and it will be
added to the selling price.
II can see no hope for relief at pres
ent and make this statement because l
do not believe false hopes should be en-
tertained by the public"
Representatives from the anthracite
regions said the shortage of coal through
the strike amounted to about 25,OOO,0O0
tons, equal to about 100000 tons of
bituminous, and that it would be impos-
sible to overcome such shortage with
the present demand. They said the an
thracite operators would not attempt to
Increase the output as they had steady
trade and did not want to increase 1t.
They believed the shortage would have
to be made up with bituminous and de-
clared such task almost impossible.