The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. EAsKIN. Director.
Washington, ID. c.
COAL AND CHAOS.

7
all the horrors of coal famine is
largely matter of politics and point
OF view. But one conclusion you can
not avoid If you look fairly at the
facts. Our failure to get an adequate
and continuous supply of coal is due
largely to the fact that our great in
dustrial system, of which we boast so
much, is poorly and even stupidity
organized. And for this we are ali to
blame.
Until the last few years the uIti-
mate consumer has been chiefly in
terested in the price OF coal. He has
been able to get coal by paying the
price. He has been led to believe that
this price represents an undue profit
for somebody. Mr.. McAdoo says the
/ the operators retort, Search us,''
But recently the all-important ques-
ton OF what price we pay for coal was
eClipsed by the still more important
question of whether we were going to
get any coal at all We have 46 per
cent of all the. coal in the world
enough of it to last us for several
centuries. There are enough work.
men In the country to dig it, And yet
we have been threatened with freezing
both this winter and last.
This state of affairs suggests that
something is wrong with the way we
go about digging and distributing our
coal. Investigations which have been
made recently by government experts
strongly support this suggestion.
There is something wrong with our
coal-production system. And the set
tlement of the strike will not by any
means remedy that trouble. lack
of intelligent cooperation between
operators, the miners. the railroads,
and the consumer is al the bottom of
the problem, according to the best ex-
pert evidence available.
Let US start with the public The
public, including both domestic con-
sumers and factory owners, has been
accustomed to buy its coal when it
needs it, which is in the winter. The
result is that we must have enough
mines and enough miners on the job
to supply that maximum winter de-
mand 1t follows inevitably that in
the spring and summer, when the de-
mand is lax, mines and miners are
idle. They are in fact idle from one
fourth to one-third of the time. This
is one of the things that the miners
are kicking about. They want to be
assured OF five days of work a week
at least. Some of the dear public still
think that-the. miners want to work
five days week at most. AS a matter
of fact the miners want to work more.
not less. It is discoura ging to go to
work in the morning and to be told
that there will be no work that day,
and no pay, because there is no mar
ket for the product. Yet that it what
the miners are told again and again.
In some of the Ohio mines. the miners
were given only about 200 days of
work last year. In New Mexico they
worked over 800 In most places they
worked about $50 days.
So the miners are idle in the spring
and summer for lack of a market, and
they are idle part of the time for lack
of cars to handle the coal 1t is quite
evident that if the spring and summer
market could be stimulated. the
miners could be kept busy then. and
the winter rush could be to some ex-
more cars available, and the miners
would not be idle in winter. The
miners would have continuous work
and we could have a continuous coal
supply.
The present state of affairs has
often been blamed on the operators.
1t has been stated that they should
provide storage facilities for coal at
the mines. Then coal mined in the
warm weather could be stored until
needed. But the technical investiga-
tions made by the bureau of mines
do not bear out the theory that the
operators are to blame They show
that the storage of coal at the mine
is attended with serious difficulties.
many thousands of tons-is in danger
from spontaneous combustion. That
is, it may take fire from the heat
which is generated by oxidation. And
again. storing coal at the mines means
handling it twice instead of once, as
is done if the coal is put directly into
the cars This mean an extra cost to
be passed on to the consumer. And
he is bearing enough extra costs now.
It also means that the coal will be
value. Coal loses value from this
cause every time it is handled.
The logical place to store the coal,
therefore, is in the bin of the con-
sumner, and not at the mine. The
small supply used by the domestic
consumer (meaning you and me) is in
no danger from spontaneous combus-
ton, and the amounts needed by the
average factory are not in such dam
ser either if properly stored. There
fore, the consumer should buy his coal
in the spring and simmer as much as
possible. and store it.
During the war We were all urged
to do this On the grounds of patriot
ism. But we had already done so
much on grounds of patriotism that
we did not heed the appeal to any
great extent. Now Director Manning
of the bureau of mines comes forward
with a more practicable suggestion.
He suggests that the coal be made
cheaper TO the consumer in the sum-
mer than in the winter. Here is
method We can all appreciate.
Owing to the laws passed by con-
gress against price-fixing agreements.
the operators of coal mines cannot
agree to set a lower price in the warm
weather. But = Director Manning
Observation-Disclosures
1.-THE George M