The Caldwell tribune., 1922-12-22
COAL INDUSTRY
0VERDEVELOPED
At 7 HIS I I'M {
Biggest Question Arises
As Result of Too Many
Mines and Miners In
United States.

WASHINGTON-The studies al
ready made by the United States coal
commission all point to the fact that
the bituminous coal mining industry
is overdeveloped. TOO many soft
coal mines and too MANY miners" de-
scribes the situation in plain English.
In this coal mines more capital is
invested and more miners are en-
p1oyed than are needed to produce the
coal the country requires. This con-
dition, of course, involves waste on a
countrywide scale.
How great is the present initiation of
the industry can not be stated exactly
at this time but unquestionably the
initiation is excessive. Estimates of the
excessive mine capacity range from 80
to fully so per cent above the country's
normal demand which for the last five
years has averaged about $40 million
tons year. Figured on the basis of
their actual output for the best week in
1918, the capacity of the soft coal
mines was then 685 million tons. Since
1918, unfortunately, the mine capacity
has been further enlarged, and another
estimate of it can be made from the
average daily output last year: 800
days work at that rate would have
resulted in $40 million tons being
mined, or fully 90 per cent more than
the normal needs of the country.
Must be Debated
How to deflate the coal industry is
one of many problems, before Pres-
dent Harding's coal commission, and
its reports may be expected to present
facts bearing on this question. 1t
seems plain enough, however, that the
industry should not be further in
flated by opening new mines. The
facts already presented furnish valid
argument against continuing to enlist
rev capital in the business, thereby
opening new mines that are worse than
unneeded, for they further spread and
thus overtax car supply and shorten
the possible working time of mines in
the vicinity that are already we'll
equipped to ship 50 to 100 per cent more
coal than they ship now. Indeed, the
ratings of mine capacity reported to
the railroads for the purpose of OBJ
tanning cars would Indicate that the
bitwninous mines of the country have
a total annual capacity OF not far from
lion tons needed
Exceptions may possibly be made
here and there to the ban which the
investing public should put on coal.
mine development. A local market
not well supplied with coal may war
rant the opening of nearby mine,
which would thereby help to relieve
the burden on transportation facilities,
but it is believed that such exceptional
conditions are rare. In the public land
states OF the west, unfortunately, the
federal government itself has not been
able to discourage coal mine develop
ment, for, under the leasing law, the
lessee OF government coal land is re-
quired to open the mime and to pro-
duce coal on a scale proportionate to
the acreage leased. There seems to
be no legal warrant for refusing a lease
to a bona-fide applicant, even though
the public interest does not seem to
indicate the need of more coal. The
result will be that the west will soon
find its coal mines and coal miners as
badly off as those in Indiana and Illi-
nois, where the working time is too
short to pay adequately either owners
or workers.
Keep Money Away
If the public can appreciate the
strength of the evidence already avail
able on this subject of over develop
ment, refusal to invest in new coal
mining ventures under present condi-
tions will be recognized as both good
business and good citizenship 1t is
plain enough that the country needs !
not more coal mines but more work |
for the coal mines we already have.
One potent reason that coal is NOT |
cheaper TO the consumer is that he is 1
vast surplus of invest
nent and capacity. The large excess
can not for long lower the
rice of coal, however, simply because