Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-22

of Uncle Sam to be without the requisites
they were manufacturing. and which they
were being urged to rush. The purchas-
ing agent of this concern has been to Wash
ington more than once, and has not been
successful in obtaining an interview with
Doctor Garfield, yet his company is exert
ing superhuman efforts to help the Gov
ernment and to help relatives and friends
in the army. We might add here that we
believe you could count the soft-coal Shy
locks on your fingers who would ask $50,
or half that much, for their coal.
Small Operators Are Hit
A large portion Of bituminous coal is pro-
duced by what we will term small oper-
ators, operators whose annual production
amounts to 900 tons or less These
are the men who are bearing the brunt
of low prices; they correspond to the in
dependent operators in the anthracite field
who are permitted to sell their coal at
price of seventy-five cents in excess of the
price set by the Government for the rail-
road-owned mines, or the big fellows"
We will take for example mine which
has certain fixed costs of $500 per month
chargeabe against the cost of operation
this item remains the same whether the
output is $4,000 tons per month or 5000.
Conditions are such that this mine cannot
produce more than 5000 tons per month,
making this one charge amount to thirty
six cents per ton Certain expenditures
would increase the output 1875 per cent
the operator cannot make this outlay of
money for the simple reason that he is
losing money on every ton Of coal he is ship
ping. He is an optimist, and believes the
selling price will be advanced. If il does
not soon advance he will have to close
down.
One large operator in Pennsylvania whose
coal costs slightly more than So on account
OF the very large output has not pound to
sell at the present Government price the
entire output being covered by higher-price
contracts. No one hears a complaint from
that concern they are making too much
money. Yet it is this company and some
others among the big fellows whose prestige
carries the greatest weight in the frantic
endeavor of Doctor Garfield to adjust
business in which he is not we'll versed
Illinois miners are already on strike de-
manding higher wages Collectively soft
coal operators cannot exist If they are to
sell all their coal at 80 and If the wage in
crease recently agreed upon at a conference
in Washington goes into effect. Unless
immediate action is taken this strike will
creep into Ohio, western Maryland and
Pennsylvania Then - calamity! Some
mines have already closed down, numerous
others are working at loss, believing in
democracy and confident that the adminis-
traitor will grant an increase. They cannot
exist long. The little fellows who weathered
the lean years and low prices Immediately
preceding 1916 have retrenched financially
some wholly and some only partially
During the period prior to the fixing of
prices these operators made fair profits,
which put many of them back on their
financial feet It gave them chance to
buy new equipment, for which they were
obliged to pay an advance of 100 per cent.
They built houses, improved living and
working conditions for the men and de-
veloped their mines for larger production.
Then came the low price. They have been
remarkably patient the last few months
under a campaign approaching almost to
persecution.
Wants Elastic Red Tape
Red tape Is a requisite necessary to con-
duct properly the business of any govern
ment but during this crisis where money
must be used freely to prevent the needless
waste OF human lives, this same red tape
must be very elastic; much more elastic
than red.
We have heard many complaints from
men who have gone TO the fuel administra-
TOR for infOrnna tiOn on va rfot1q p,,ltnog -