The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-04-13
BAER TALKS TO MINERS.
Tells Superintendents of Factors il
 Coal Prices


 Tells Superintendents of Factors in
 Coal Prices.
 Special trains from every part of SchuylkilI County carried the super intendents and employees of the Phila- delphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company to Pottsville to hear a lecture by President George F. Baer of the Reading company. MT. Baer said in part:
 Some problems of the coal industry are: The Public wants cheap fuel; the miners and workers want high wages: the owners want reasonable profit on their investment.
 This simple statement at once dis closes an irrepressible conflict. regret to say that the coal company managers s lot is not a happy one. It is not materially improved by giving him the barren title of "coal baron" The public has high appreciation either of our incompetency or of the difficulties besetting us, because it is forever advising us how to manage otlr business. -,. In general, because coal is a necessity of our modern life the owners of coal are under some kind of obligation to do all within their power to supply coal to the public in reasonable quantities and at d fair price. The suggestion that coal being a natural product, in some mysterious way this public ob- ligation is higher than the duty in volved in the supply of any other ne- cessity of life-food, for example-is utterly untenable. Relatively, coal deep in the ground is of no more use until it is mined and prepared for con- sumption than is the waste field which needs to be ,ploughed and sown to pro- duce food. As there is no obligation on the farmer to cultivate his field and produce food to be sold at a loss, be- cause the public needs food, so there can be no obligation on owners of coal mines to operate them at a loss because the public needs fuel
 | Of course, no industry of any kind | can be operated at a loss. It may be ] for short time, in the hope that the 1 near future will reimburse the loss. i But some one will say that these natural products, like oil and coal, should belong to the state for the bene- fit of all thhe people. Has it ever oc- | cured to you that if the state owned 1 the coal mines the work incident to mining the coal and marketing it would i still have to be done in exactly the same way as we are doing it, and at greater cost? How much more per ton would the public pay for coal if govern mont officials, with political pulls and the accustomed graft and notorious | inefficiency of state and municipal 1 management, conducted the work: What mathematical rule do you know equal to it's solution? Would 1t be ar I arithmeticaI or a geometrical progress sion?
 The economic rule which will satisfy the public demand for increase ir i wages, with resulting increase in cost of. production, and at the same time lessen the cost to the public, has thus far not been formulated with that ex actness which is essential to give il practical effect.
 The interest of the wage earner is In- doubtedly to get the highest return for his labor which the conditions of the business would justify. Every manage ment is necessarily limited in fixing schedules of wages by the cost of pro. duction and the price obtainable for the thing produced. The owner Is entitled to a reasonable return on his invest. ment. Z
 have stated these simple fundanen, tai things with view more clearly tc present few thoughts on the part wt co-workers have ill this business. Vt are not the owners of the mines anC plants which we are called upon tt manage. The owners are many; scat
 tered all over the country. They f1avt selected us to manage their business From the highest to the humbles
 workers among us, we are, servants We are stewards You recall In tht
 parable, when the several stewards
 were intrusted with talents, they wisel, used the talents and made money fo the absent owner were commended; bu
 the fellow who hid his and made no in
 creased return to his master was con demned. Now we are to be wise stew
 dEuS' lne reSpoHSiplilLy IS upon us U manage this coal industry honestly ant
 fairly, so as to make it profitable to ou masters. We have no other duty. w, must labor together to produce results
 Part of our duty is to pay reasonabl wages to insure good work. We tcttil
 not fix wages on any sentimental basis We can only pay such wages as tn
 conditions of the business will permit
 We must make the business profitabl
 to our masters. We cannot sell coal t the public on any charitable basis. W must sell it at q reasonable profit. I we manage so unWisely as to bring loss