Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-05-10
PooIING BRyrIaH MINES.

2 oeuntfyf ana also the wages Of tina minars shall be
POOLED. The sit0atton lis that there III great disparity
among the various mines OF the United Kingdom az, to
productiveneae and cost OF operation, IN some nninne III
coal lies where It can be obtained quite readily ana at
oompafatvely sTnaii cost. In other cases, the revere. il
true. There are many Of the British coal mines In witch
the salleries extend tar underneath the bed OF the ocaan,
IN some cAses it is necessary TO travel great distances
from the mine sha1s before reaching the point Of labor.
In some mines the drainage problem il s narftcni. rv
Troublesome one, Al costly drainage :iastallationa have "a
De made in order to keep the galleries free from water.
the result is of course that one mine can produce coal
much more cheaply than another. 1t can pay higher
wages and deliver coal at the mouth at the mine at lower
cost, and still make a profit. &
The demand of the miners is that some arraurement
DC erected whereby the excessive cost Of operation in the
more dihhcult mines shall be compensated in some meas
ure by the ease of mining in others. The proposal is
ina. the mines are to be considered one enterprise, not
necessarily q government enterprise. but one industrial
unit and that the costs of each. and the returns from
eacn snail be equalned so as to produce Uniformity in
the price OF coal and uniformity in the wages of labor.
The mine owners oppose this plan and the govern
nent stands with them holding the pooling ARRANGEMENT
TO be unwise and impracticabie- At this distance it is
dimcut to reach anything like a satisfactory conclusion
on this subject. 1t is full of complications which one
needs to be On the ground to understand. 1t is a fact.
however, that in our railroad operation, we have adopted
In this country a pooling arrangement, in principle some
thing like that proposed for the British coal mines. Our
arrangement does not make one system Of all the rail-
roads in the country, but it does divide the country up
into districts and each district comprises a single system
Tor the basis of transportation charges and the figuring
Of costs and profits. Our pooling arrangement is not
absolute. Provision is made for certain variations. but
in principle it provides that in some measure the roads
more fortunately situated shall bear a proportion of the
more expensive operating costs OF the others.
Viewing the situation in a very general way as Is nee
essary. the/pooling arrangement proposed for the British
mines appears to have merit. 1t is obvious that If the
most difficult mines are permitted to make a reasonable
proht at the ordinary selling price of coal. those better
situated must make greater profits than arc conducive
to the public interest. On the other hand, if the stand
ard is that of the best situated hines, the less fortunate
ones must close. as they will be running at a loss con-
tinually, q condition which is impossible except f6r a very
short period. The closing Of these mines would diminish
the output Of coal and would advance the price to the
consumer.
Great Britain, like the United States is paying the
price of a past unwisdom. 1t never was necessary that
the coal mines be owned or operated by the nation. but
it would have been wise for the nation in each case to
retain a very close supervision over the work 50 as to
ensure its conduct in the manner best calculated to serve
the public interest. Instead Of that, ceal properties have
been permitted to pass absolutely into private control, and
the situation in Great Britain is perhaps worse than in the
United States because the trouble IS Of longer standing.
ENVELOPES.
How. many people are there today who appreciate
what a convenience the ordinary envelope is: Probably
very few, because there are few Of us who think Of the
time when there were 10 envelopes.
There comes to The Heralds desk quite regularly a
piece of mail which serves as a reminder Of the envelope
less age, 1t is the regular summary of crop conditions
prepared by the International Institute of Agriculture,
of which practically all civilized countries are mem bers.
and which has its headquarters at Rome. This little bit
OF printed matter ie published in the form Of a four page
folder of about letter size: The double sheet is prepaid
for mailing by being folded down from the top and up
from the bottom. quite in the ordinary manner, and then
the end Of one fold is inserved in the opening Of the
other-if the reader understands what is meant. 1t is
really very simple. a
The folder is then, in shape for mailing a portion Of
the imprinted last page being used for the address. Little
informal personal missives are frequently handed about
in that form. But they are not often sent by mail in
that way. In our grandfathers' time there was no other
way of sending them. In order to secure the desired
privacy a bit Of hot sealing wax was used to protect the
fold from opening, and if the sender were properly equip
ped he might have a seal ring with which to impress his
initial or monogram upon the soft wax. Every properly
appointed writing table was provided with its stick of
sealing wax, its candle, in the flame Of which to melt the
wax, and possibly its seal. Then some genius invented
a wafer. which would become soft when moistened, and
which was used in place Of the wax. Elderly people held
the wafer in contempt as an affectation. Regular wax
had been good enough for their fathers, and it was good
enough for them.l
The envelope is typical Of the newer age and the
newer correspondence. 1t is much more convenient. and
lends itself to the uses Of people in a hurry. 1t makes a
less powerful appeal to the imagination, which Is ap-
propriate. as we keep imagination out of most of our
correspondence.
~ EASrGATE,S REHFnCAT. F