The Washington herald., 1920-02-03

Echoes of hearings before Presi-
dent Wilson's coal commission drift
to the study of a professor-priest
at the Catholic University. and
color his meditations. He Is DR..
Roderick MacEacheh. who passed
twelve years in parish work about
Ohio coal fields and learned the
A B Cs of this particular problem
of capital and labor. When speech
became a barrier he went to Eu-
rope and made himself fluent in
twelve languages. in order that he
might speak to the miners in their
own tongue as he spoke to the
operators in theirs. Afterward he
organized and managed the relief
work which essentially operated to
the success of one historic strike
in Ohio's coal industry.
DR.. MacEachen at first was averse
to being interviewed on the present
situation. but he finally consented
~ ANRAy ~ q VI
which were put to him. His an
swers throw much light on tricks
of the operators trade" and are es-
sentiaIly a vindication of the min
ers' position. DIR. MacEachen does
not believe that profit t-sharing
system is a corrective for the ex-
isting evil. but personally advocates
a novel form of government owner
ship. The interview with him fol-
lows:
False Industrial Standards
.. How long were you engaged
in ministerial work among the
miners?
\. My experience with the miners
covers a period of twelve years,
ending the summer of 1916. Up to
that time my knowledge of the sit
uation was first hand. Since that
time l have studied conditions only
from the outside.
Q. What is your opinion Of the
present controversy between the
miners and operators?
A. 1t is my opinion that both are
victims of false industrial standards.
In the present order of things, the
operator, however virtuous and hon.
orable, is forced to become a Shylock
in order to compete with others. He
is compelled to exploit labor so as to
be able to obtain his share Of the
markets. The miner becomes a mere
pawn in the chess-Game of the op-
orators to produce dividends on their
1t seems to me the min
ing industry has been. like other in
cJstries., a form of gambling.
Q. What are the evils that pro-
duced these conditions?
A. To my mind there are just two
fundamental evils: the false vaIua-
tion of mining stocks and the undue
of labor Among the
properties. personally known to me,
some most fragrant cases of false
exist. For instance, one
company bought 10000 acres of coal
at an average price of $50 per acre.
They then expended another quarter
of a million on equipment; afterward
they sold s2.OOO.OOO worth of stock,
on which they must make a profit.
1t is evident in this case that when
they make per cent prsfit they are
really making "A per cent profit on the
actual investment. OF course, 1 un-
derstand that these figures would not
harmonize with the figures in their
books. Today the coal will probably
be listed at $50 per acre and the
equipment will be rated at $4,000.
But the false valuation does not
the whole difficulty. In this
particular region about $500 tons are
mined to the acre. Thus, there are
approximately 10000. 900 tons in the
tract mentioned above. At the rate
of 5000 tons per day they will have
enough coal to run them 100 years.
SO for approximately 100 years profits
will have to be made on that quad
rupled investment.
However, in justice to the operator.
I should admit that he is only fol-
lowing a practice, which is not con-
sidered illegal in business by the
civil authorities today.
Remedy for False Valuation.
Q. What remedy would you sug-
gest for false valuation of stocks? :?
A. The same as we have for
counterfeit money and raised
checks. l see no difference between
counterfeit stocks and counter
felt money or raised checks.
understand the practice of
watering" stocks for organiza-
tion, good will and the like. But il
is q dead weight that is put on in
dustry. The "fifty-one>p cent con-
trol' of corporations fsS a tempta-
tion to make men dishonest. The
government must. some day, pro-
tect the little stockholder against
the majority" stock waterine's
should be a felony in our statutes.