Evening star., 1919-10-05

penalty clause De "Tlltcu INV ehAiS
agreement entered into by the United
Mine Workers of America The pres
! ent automatic application of penalty
clauses, applying both to operators
and to miners, and by the government
made a requirement contingent TO
the government approval OF our
Washington agreement, is an OUT
growth of the inability of union o1n-
cials to prevent illegal strikes in Vlo-
lation of their orders or contract OBJ
legations. The provision has been ef-
fective and present conditions of un-
rest and radicalism make such polio
ing power in the hands of the respon-
sible officials of the contracting par
ties more than ever imperative. Sucn
penalty clauses contain no terrors 1or
those who in good faith abide by their
self-made agreements.
go You demand a change from the
long stablished customs of having
wage agreements expire in the spring.
when there is least danger and incon-
venience to the public, to an explra-
ton November 1. which is the time OF
maximum demand for coal. You de-
mand other items, none of which have
apparent constructive merit. but all
of which tend to increase cost and de-
crease production. Wemust also dis
miss these points as undesirable.
\ 4 X X
In sharp contrast to many .investi-
cations" by congressional committees.
which droo1 along
COAL INQUIRY for weeks at a
DID NOT DRAG. time. fill pages
with printed testi-
mony and often "get nowhere" is the
recent inquiry set on foot by the Sem
ate committee on interstate commerce
in the bituminous coal situation. Con-
fronted by the seeming menace OF
coal famine in the bituminous region.
the committee started in to ascertain
the cause, and, If possible. work out
remedial and preventive measures.
One Of the first things it discovered
was that there were no statistics OF
coal production available now. as dur
ing the war. Some economical gen.
tlemen up in Congress. it seems. had
few dollars expended by the geologi-
cal survey in obtaining statistics of
coal production and distribution.
What the committee said about those
Economists" who were, probably. at
that time puhing around. with their
chests all swelled out over having
saved some dollars that nobody asked
them to save, and which threatened to
entail immeasurable damage and dis
tress by the saving. would not be At
for publication.
However. the committee proceeded
to make a rough guess from what gen.
eral data could be obtained Of the
state Of affairs. And they were found
to be bad enough. Needing 100000
tons a week. it was found that in Au-
gust the production had fallen to
100000 tons week. Several reasons
were found for this situation-one was
q shortage Of cars during the sum-
mer; there had been no market: pur-
chasers had not bought from the
mines. and. consequently, mines had
closed down or curtailed production.
+ +
The director general Of railways
was then called in He admitted that
many cars needed
IDLE CARS SOON repairs. but work
PUT TO WORK. had not bee n
pushed because
there was no market for coal
He wanted to know how much coal
would have to be moved. There was
where the committee found that the
economists had put statistics out of
business, but they managed to rake
up guess.
Then the director general proceeded
to busy himself. The committee cor
responded with mine owners by wire,
sending hundreds of messages. asking
how many cars were needed. The re-
plies were sent to the director gen.
eral of railways. and he allocated The
cars. sending the big hopper cars
where they were needed, and the
smaller cars being otherwise dis
posed of. This squirt of cooperation
procured immediate results. The 49,
900 cars out of repair and idle were
reduced to $4,000 and still more COM
ing out Of the shops. One peculiar
incident was disclosed Of large num-
Der of brand-new cars cluttering up
the sidetracks because they had not
been stenciled with the names Of the
roads which were to use them. The
hitch in this case was removed. the
stencils slapped on and the cars put
to work.
But here is still better news: the
Senate committee has served notice
ON the oper-
INTO COAL PRICES. question Of
prices will be
taken UP. This Investigation will
be carried further" the committee
said, "and we will take up the ques-
tion of prices. and we are going to
recommend that through some agency
Of the government the facts needed
by the government and the Congress
for its information shall be pro-
cured; facts tending to show tho
needs of the consumers, the carrying
capacity of the railroads and the
state Of production" Notice was
given of an amendment to an 'appro-
priation bill Of $4,000 to enable tho
geological survey to keep up its sta
tistics.
It is noted that while the Senate
| committee was taking these heroic
measures to prevent a threatened
" resolving in convention upon q