Evening star., 1905-10-23
The Public and the Coal Situation.

10 the EdltOr OF The Star:
AS citizen of the United States, imbued
with a quenchless love for this the land
OF my adoption. and deep interest in
everything that concerns the future welfare
OF her children, permit me to express In
feeble way, my admira tion for the truly
good work being done by The Star and its
non-partisan and able reporter who puts
so clearly. yet concisely, the situation In the
coal regions of Pennsylvania and the con-
ditions which the American people must
face should the worst happen and strike
occur. In your editorial upon the same
subject you say: ''All fuel users In this
vicinity will read with interest this series
of papers. as published In The Star" 1 beg
to say that this is indeed extremely mild
statement and, further, l believe that did
the general public but know of the publica-
ton of those same papers, or did they feel
assured that The Star was going to con-
tinue. as it has begun, to make special
feature of this, the most momentous i'm
mediate question which faces the American
people today, the circulation would be inn
mensely increased, through the great crav-
ing of the public mind to be intelligently
informed upon existing conditions and the
deductions to be drawn from past expert
ence. The people should be informed In so
far as 1t is possible, for in the end, should
their be a strike should there be lock-
out, the people must pay, the people must
suffer, and in spite of either or both, the
people will in the end decide. For this rea-
son the entire people are indebted to The
Star and to its unprejudiced investigator
for the light already thrown upon the situa-
ton through the intelligent simplicity of
the two papers he has already contributed,
both of which the writer has read with
avidity and then read over again and VIII
again in the future. as they now repose
safely in his scrap booA for future refer
ence.
If 1. humble carpenter. might pre-
sumo to offer few suggestions on TINS ire
mendous question, l would begin with a
comment upon your own statement IN your
editorial already alluded to, namely: 1T
NAV be questioned whether executive inter-
yentton without force of law would suff1ce
to end the struggle In such case as 1t dio
three years ago. Just so, and right here
I want to ask why we should not have the
force of law. What is law. or the law for?
Is II not for the protection OF the weak
against the strong, the honest against tne
dishonest, for the protection OF the man OF
upright character against the slanderer and
detractor? Is 1t not for comforting the
greatest amount of peace, security and hap
we have laws enacted for and calculated to
settle every dispute In society from domestic
infelicity to murder. labor disputes alone
excepted, and yet / defy man to point to
any other dispute In society so farreaching
ir its Injurious effects labor dispute
reaching the destructive stage OF strike or
lockout. Murder, fncendiarisn. dynamiting,
bankruptcy, starvation, destitution and the
breaking UP of otherwise happy homes. be-
sides each and every time digging wider the
gulf that already separates the employer
from the employe-hatred upon one side
contempt upon the other, yet each absolute
ly dependent on the other.
l say and without the fear of successful
contradiction that there never Will be nor
can there be any real measure of industrial
peace that will insure or establish progress
sive stability or insure complete public con-
fidence until we have a special court or
courts established by law for at least the
compulsory investigation of labor disputes
in their inception not after the strike. when
the damage Is done, but before the strike.
before passion has been aroused and reason
dethroned This does not mean compulsory
arbitration, but investigation and concilia-
ton, II that be possible.
Surely II a strike or a lockout must oc-
either or both sides by which the public is
made to suffer, the public ought at least
to know why, wherefor and by whom they
are made to suffer. r ii. SCCLLlN.