The courier-index., 1919-12-19
Coal Shortage Becoming Acute and People Demand That
 the Strike Be Ended.
MIDDLE WEST IN DISTRESS
Miners Officials Cited for Contempt of Court-Diplomati Relations With Mexico Likely to Be Severed
 Soon Supreme Council
 Calls German Bluff.
By EDWARD w. PACKARD.

"Give us coal, and quickly" was the imperative demand of great part of the American public last week. So serious had the fuel situation become that it seemed a settlement of the dis pute between the operators and min CTS must be forced by dire necessity. In the northwestern and middle West by a severe cold wave, and the people of that part of the country especially, actually became alarmed by the pros pect of freezing to death. Plans for ending the strike at least temporarily were as numerous as the planners, but almost the only steps really talk en were for the conservation of the existing supplies of fuel. It is true that in some of the western states the operation of the mines was taken over by the state government and volun- teer miners were put at work under protection of the state troops. This was most commendable in principle, but naturally the concrete results in the way of coal to burn were not ex- tensive. Chicago, and Illinois general ly, felt the pinch more acutely than most regions, and prominent men gathered and devised regulations to curtail the use of coal. The, state public utilities issued these regua- tions formally, and Governor Lowden proclaimed them, and also planned to ask the federal government to adopt the same rules for the entire country They cut the working day of stores and factories to six and half hours, and materially reduced the heating and fighting service everywhere. AL ready the regional coal committee had cut off all new supplies from nones- sential industries. These rules prom ised, within a very short time to throw out of employment many thou, sands of men and women.
 New York city was not suffering from the soft coal strike, because the law permits it to burn only anthracite, but it was worried by rumors that the hard coal miners also might strike soon. In general the Atlantic coast states had enough fuel, and Director General Hines was shipping hundreds of carloads from there to the dis tressed middle West.
 The federal government got into action again by filing in the district on,rt af Tpdfoponal;c In foc,,,. +s ~,, charging criminal contempt of court against S4 international and district officers of the miners union. These leaders, who include Acting President Lewis and Secretary Green. were sum- moned to appear in court Tuesday and answer the charges. Of course such proceedings may result in the punish. ment of the accused men. but will they get coal for the would-be con. sumer? That is what the latter is in terested in just now. and that only He is thoroughly disgusted with the whole wrangle and Is no more in sym pathy with greedy operators than with greedy miners. In his view. both sides are criminally inconsiderate of the public needs. and he demands that they be forced into compromise. The suffering and financial loss to the peo pie already have been immense and cannot now be checked entirely even if coal mining is resumed at once. But the people do insist that they be kept warm from now on.
 Toward the end of the week hope arose that the warning operators and miners might reach an agreement. A number of the largest operators form ulated a new wage scale offering slightly more than the IA per cent