Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-09-16
COSTS AND CONSEQUENCES

THE patience of the American people -
i great. But it is not inexhaustiole. i.
the coal operators Of the country anu
especially those in the anthracite field, sup,
pose that they may safely devote an ln'erN"'
Of stress and uncertainty to frank ana open
proftccring they are Crievously mistaken.
The very worst thing that the coal men
could do would be to believe that they may
nut fuel in class with musical comedy
tickets or circus lemonade and impose All
the costs that the traffic will bear IN
period of accidentally stimulated demand.
The suggestion Of an increase Of 81 ton
on domestic anthracite has bad sound. it
reveals the men who have made 1t In llSnt
which no fCats of argument or rropaganua
can make favorable. The operators nave
spent lmitlesS time and money in efforts 10
convince the country that they are eihcleht'
that their desire is to deal fairly with con.
sumrrs and that they have been content
with reasonable profits, and that mine own
erS are not disposed to encourage the ABUSES
Of mOnopolstic control In view OF sucn
professions as these the present campaign
for Federal and State sanction for higher
coal prices seems ridiculous or worse. There
Is no moral or technical justification for snCh
demand. The cost of mining coal has de-
creased, with the cost of coal distribution.
The miners have returned to work at the
strike and throughout q period when an
thractts was available In the most expensive
domestic sizes at approximately $12 ton
IN the retail market. Mine equipment and
machinery have decreased In price. Freight
rates are down. Everything Is down but
coal. That, we are told, must 60 higher.
The producers OF coal cannot complain II
they are accused on every hand OF desire
to capitalize the hardship Of the masses or
tho people and exploit helpless public to
tho last limit OF its endurance.
II happens. however. that the public has
endured about enough of this sort Of thing.
It is now. and has been for more than year,
extremely sensitive 10 manifest wrongs and
injuSticCS in the coal business. 1t IS paying
as much il will ever consent 10 pay for
coal. If il is once convinced that further
sacrifices will be necessary it will decide that
peace between the miners and mine owners
IS too costly: that the root of the trouble is
bad management. and that coal ought to be
produced without the enormous brlbes which
operators and workers alike seem to require
from the cOu>umcrs. Then the goose that
has bocn laying golden eggs for the mine
and railway corporations will be dead.
Anthracite mining was deadlocked for
almost half wear because Of demand OF
the miners for a wage increase that would
have added about twenty seven cents to the
labor cost Of n ton Of coal II the dollar
advance asked for by the coal men were to
be allowed they could grant the wage which
they refused the miners and have seventy
three cents additional for their own pockets
from every ton of coal.
There is no acute shortage of anthracite.
There is no reason why there should We one.
The strike was called at time when great
reserve stocks Of all sorts Of coal we're In
storage and when the public had every rea
son to expect reduction in retail costs
because of plentiful supply. The six
months Of idlencSs served to create an i'm
precision of present or future shortage in the
coal markets. Anthracite held 10 peak
prices and even displayed tendency To 90
higher. Yet this coal was mined at relatively
low cost. The owners protited largely by
the period Of idleNcsS just ended. Now they
seem determined to further exploit the
psychology OF the strike after the strike is
ended and 10 continue the pretense Of a coal
shortage.
Secretary Hoover. in a blunt statement
Just issued. observes that the cost Of the
railroad strikes will be borne ultimately not
by the railroads but by the farmers who
couldn't move crops and the consumers who
found the cost of living going up in conSe-
uucnra The cost of the coal strike will
similarly fall not on the miners or the oper-
ators but upon the unorganized pubic in
the cities.
If the corporations in control Of basic in
dustries continue to invite the cnmity and
suspicion of majoritics in tho industrial and
agricultural areas alike they should not COM
plain If. before long, Congress and State
legislatures are overwhelmed with demands
for radical legislation and Government con-
troll OF rails and mines alike.