The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-01-26
PRICE Of COAL
HIGH ENOUGH
SAYS CART IEL-
Public Should Not. Be Asked to
Pay More for Fuel
CONDEMNS SETTLEMENT
Agreement That Ended Strike "un'
sound In Principal and Menace
to Our Institutions"

Chicago. Jan. 25.--Dr. H. a. Gar
field, former fuel administrator, in
an artic e written for Farm and Home
declares the compromise which ended
the coal strike to be "unsc und III
principle and menace to our institu-
tions'
DR.. Garfield says:
The wages now paid to nine work
ers are sufficient. The opportunity
that should be the mine workers can
not be secured merely by the In
crease in wages.
In prc of DR.. Garfield ci'es the aver
age of $3.50 per annum, earned by the
lowest paid miners working lS0 days
In the year, while for 200 days work
the average miner in the bituminous
field OF Pennsylvan a, Ohio, Indiana
and Illinois earned $3.50 In 1918 and
$1,000 ast year. This is more by q
considerab sum than the ayerag
net receipts OF the farmer and many
others who may or may not work 900
DAYS or more in the year." He said:
The public ought not to be asked
to pay more for coal IL Is I'M.
possible to increase the wage Oh
the mine worker without melting
the workers IN every other industry,
Including of course, agriculture, to
demand an increase in wages. TN
would send the cost of living upward
In a vicious spiral VIII ch will in the
end prove hurtful to the working
man. The purchasing power 81 me
dollar and not the number of dol ars
received Is the important factor.
The public is the chief suff 'rer
when the capital and labor engaged
In the production of commodt es
necessary ,tc the support OF life faii
afighting. In these cases. certainly
the interest of the public is vital ana
therefore paramount. We may admit
the right to strike on the part or
labor and the right Of capital to boy
colt, but In each case the right of the
pub &c to live is paramt unit and VIII
be asserted
We are now called upon to con-
template an arrangement with
group opposing the government
which, however it terminates, is
unsound in principle and a menace to
our lnStltutlSHS.
To guard against affairs represent
ing the strike stage DR.. Garfield urg
es a permanent fuel administration as
consultiye and advisory tribunal
Mine operators of the Central COM
petitiye field announced today that
in presenting data this week to the
coal strike settlement commission
their records will be aid" before the
public view for the first tine a
statement by the central competitive
field operators says;
Before the commission finishes
hearing the SIDE of the operators,
intimate records and data, never
before revealed, touching upon the
wage issue and dealing with yarl-
Gus features of work in the mines.
will be aid before it.
The operators will produce fig
ures to support their ins'stence
that their profits have net been ex-
orbitant, as the miners have main
tanned. In some filds the opera
tors vii show their profits have
mot resulted in even reasonable
return on the capital invested
Their figures will show that, be
cause of the IA per cent increase re
Gently granted, many mines have
been threatened with bankruptcy
Payroll evidence will be cffere .
to show that the miners. in most
fields. can make from $40 to $12 q
day, and that s15 day can be earned
readily in the richer mining districts,
which operate from $50 to 275 days a
year. 1t will be shown that compare
tivey few of the men in the field
work steadily and that II they did
their yearly earnings would be in
creased by from Is to 20 per cent.
This. they will show, would not add
one cent a ton to the present produc-
tive price of coal.