The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1920-03-26
INCREASED COAL PRICES.

/ INCREASED COAL Prices.
1t is difficult for the average lay
mind to reconcile the efforts of the
national administration to reduce the
high cost of living" with its attitude
toward additional wage increases
which inevitably, must contribute to
an advance in the cost OF living. La
Dor cannot be paid more and more all
the time and expect also to- enjoy
cheaper commodities and snecesHi ties
LOT life. These two proposition posi-.
lively win not harmonic because they
go counter to an economic law as old
as the world.
| The people OF America, the consum-
6fs OF; coal, and indirectiy' all are com
rsniners ofacoab must pay an increass
| ed price for coal as the result of the
action of the administration. After
Fuel Administrator Garfield had
awarded an increase in wages to the
miners of fourteen per cent, all of
which was to be paid out Of the profits
Of the operators, President Wilson
| took the matter in hand and appoints
ed a. commission to investigate and
report on further increase. This
commission has divided In its. find
ings. The representatives Of the pub
b .N W r + .- !. .H
lie and the operators have agreed to a.
twenty-five per cent increase in wages
while the representative of the miners
reported for a thfrtyfive per- cent
wage increase.
1t matters very little to the public
which report is finally acctepted for
there will be an increase in the price
of coal to met the advanced wages.
Except comparatively few farmers
who still have wood to burn everyone
must pay this increase. Indirectly the
farmers who have wood will likewise
contribute to the increase in the price
of coal. 1t is one of the basic products
Of the nation. 1t enters into practical
ly every manufactured article. 1t is
one. OF the chief items in the cost OF
transportation. An increase in the
price of coal, already one of the dear
est commodities we have, means tax
upon every family In the land. Labors
ers as well as capitalists must pay'it.
None can escape
Therescan be no reduction in the.
cost of living as long as International
administration ignores economic
laws. Investigations, lectures, after
dinner speeches, appropriations and
prosecutions will not reduce prices as,
long as the administration is constant
ly encouraging efforts to add to the
cost of production. There is no way
under heaven to force men to sell
their commodities for any length of
time at less than the cost of produc-
ton. The farmers are doing ii in
many cases now, but they are not go
ling to continue to follow so ruinions
a policy and already there are signs
of decreased production Of hogs and
cattle. q
Labor gains doubtful victory
when it constantly adds, to the burden
of living, which it with all other
classes must share. through its UNI
reasonable demands. 1t is doubtful
il under existing conditions, laborers
are very much better off at existing
wages than they were two or three
years ago when their pay check was.
much less but when dollar would
buy hundred cents worth of commo-
dities. Labor is the chief item in the
cost of practically every thing that
the human family must have. When
that item of cost is constantly boost
ed there must inevitably follow an