The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-08-05
Coal.

There is little comfort in the atti'hde
Of Mr. c r Amcs assistant attorney
general Of the United states, who saya
! the coal trouble We are experiencing Is
mostly psychological and that the
shortage is mostly Pigment Of the I'M
aEination. According TO Mr.. Ames, the
lively scramble for coal Is Ike run
on n bank--there is not enough coal
on hand 20 satisfy everybody AZ once.
but there is plenty to run on II the
people will only he sensible.
II is true that demand makes prices,
But in this case It IL n demand that
can not be put off The coal bins or
the country are actually low-far lower
than normal at this time Of year. Many
industries have had to cut down their
working hours. and some have stopped
business altogether for the lack Of coal
These arr facts that come out whenever
one reads about the coal situation.
When prices seemed too high on
clothing, II was possible for the indie
pendent consumer to wear last winter
suit another season. II is another kind
OI nFODpntllhH W hhii AhSN "''NN'
again. Coal must be had.
The coal shortage Is not the fault OF
the miners 1t is the fault Of the rail-
roads which cannot haul II. The effect
Is the same as underproduction. though
in the exact sense there is plenty OF
coal being produced.
II is an axiom in political economy
=. - t, NnaaQgity
the prices are going to go up in pro-
portion. For while It seemed as II
the United States in its majesty had
the will and had the power to set aside
this law OF commerce in favor OF Its
people. There is a Lever act, about
which we have heard from time to time,
whose purpose is grandiloquently set
forth as being ITO provide further for
the national security and defense by
encouraging the production, conserving
the supply, and controlling the distribu-
ton of food products and fuel" Sec
ton 1, subhead Il, OF this act, which
is the business end OF It. makes 1t un-
lawful to exact excessive prices for
any necessaries." such necessarles hay-
ing been previously defined to include
coal
We have a law. and We have a husky
force OF attorney generals and assist
ants and camp followers to see that tn
law is respected. but still we have ex
tortion practiced In the coal business,
In Baltimore the operators are gettInt
SIS a ton for coal that 1t took less
than IS TO dig out Of the earth. Re-
Gently the hills OF New England were
set ringing with the cry that piracy
thievery, thuggery was going on be-
cause a lot Of coal had been delivered
in Boston harbor at SCI a ton, which
somebody calculated brought the Goa
men profit Just $500 per cent in ad-
vance Of the normal profits they coulc
get before the war.
There can not be much in the argu'
ment that high prices in coal are due
TO too much exporting, The British, II
is true, have mostly withdrawn from
the foreign markets, and Italy and othel
European countries are clamorlng fol-
our coal at any price. Nevertheless
the figures for the first half OF 1926
show that less than per cent OF the
coal deliveries in this country wer,
to foreign shippers.
Perhaps the intricacies Of the Goa
business are battling TO our department
OF Justice, Otherwise one would thini
that now that the attorney general Il
out Of politics he might have time Il
inform himself about coal and thet
inform his hendhmen and set them t'
work on the coal profteers,
As repression measure the Lever nc
seems to have enriched the pronteerl
beyond the dreams OF avarice