Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-08
THE EDGE-cAlpER REPORT

SENATE committees of investigation have
~ rumbled on monotonously for genera
tons. There is not a year in which they
do not cover tons Of paper with questions
and answers relative to all the debatable
things under the sun. from the home life Of
the boil wccvil to the subconscious trends In
party management, without making the
country in the least wiser. There was an
occasion not long ago when n committee OF
senator's had an opportunity to do the coun-
try a very great service. 1t went s%olemnly
and In state to Pittsburgh to investigate the
conditions and causes Of the steel strike.
which happened to be the most significant
and the most threatening industrial conflict
ever organized in the United States. II the
senator's learned anything useful they kept
it to themselves on that occasion. The
precedent Just established by Senator Edo
and Senator Calder, who probed deep into the
shocking system Of graft that recently dis
organized the coal markets. il therefore all
the more admirable. Mr.. Edge and Mr..
Calder have been frank and they have been
courageous. They deserve the gratitude of
the public. These two members of the Sen
ate's reconstruction were not con
tent with writing long and pussyfooting re-
ports. They found that the coal graft Is
destructive. dangerous and shamefully I'm
just. and they have said so. And what Is
more. they spoke in terms that the ~grafters
can understand when they threatened to
agitatc for government control OF all mines
If the conditions of which they complain are
not promptly rcmedicd.
Government ownership Of mines and rail
ways and other essential utilities. with poll
ticians functioning in the places now occu-
pied by private owners and experts. would
he something very much like a catnstrophc
for the United States. Yet the communities
in New York and. indeed. a very large part
of the whole industrial Fast. have Of late
been threatened with catastrophe bcrause OF
the limitlcss greed Of spectators. who by
jobbery and ~jugglcry Of ono sort and an
other got control of coal supplies in transit
and denied fuel to industries and utilities
because they could obtain famine prices for
II in the export markets. Iawlessness
highly organized and destructive alike to the
public interest and to the interests OF pri-
yatc coal corporations fourished for a time
in almost all the great avenues of the BIZ
luminous trade. Instead of the orderly and
fair distribution sought by the government
and by business men at large for the sake
of easier economic reconstruction and re-
adjustment in this country. the needed sup
plies Of essential fuel were restricted, jug.
gled, cOrnered and finally auctioned in quar-
ters where the highest bids were obtninnble.
Essential utilities were threatened with
paralysis. Factories and mills were denied
coal necessary to continue operations. Men
who could establish favorable working agree
ments with others whose positions enabled
them to exert influence in railway operating
systems or in Washington cleaned up in
credible profits. and the rush of the prof
itcprs' soft coal was such for a time that
even the supplies of anthracite for which
householders waited were held up. The
essential causes of all this were the need of
coal In other countries and inadequate rail
facilities which at times hindered distribu-
ton in American markets. But the prof
iteers appear to have been busy at every
point from the mine mouths to tidewater.
When coal miners struck they were made
to face n terrible fire of propaganda devised
to show that they were unfair or bolshcvistic
or intent on forcing coal prices to the skies.
We are able now to understand how sincere
many of the operators and distributors were
in their protestations Of concern for the con-
Stunning public. Mr.. Calder and Mr.. Edge
should continue the campaign that they have
started. II there is a new sort OF anarchy
in the United States we ought to know all
about II. Private owners in all essential
industries ought to be the first to applaud
the report Just issued in the name OF the
Senate committee on reconstruction. For
the worst enemy of private ownership is'the
private owner who develops the instincts OF
q bucCaneer.