Evening star., 1922-07-21

A coal commission will be appoint
ed lin due time" to go into the coal
mining situation. Notwithstanding
tae refusal Of mine workers and
minority of operators to accept such
arbitration. it was made known at
the White House yesterday when tel
egraphic correspondence between
President Harding and Gov. sproul of
Pennsylvania on the subject was
made public
The Pennsylvania governor tele-
graphed he hoped the President was
merely withholding appointment of a
commd ssion until it could be deter
mined whether satisfactory produce
tion would result under the program
which has been adopted by the ad-
ministration. If this does not occur
within a reasonable time" the gov
ernor's message said. Il respectfully
urge the prompt creation OF your
commission, either as originally pro-
posed or in modified form"
In reply President Harding said:
You may expect the selection of a
commission. because the American
welfare will not permit those who
assume to serve it to deny for any
reason the supply of such a necessity
as iuei anu theTeUy Jeopdruize hihci
lean life and health and happiness"
Public In Authority.
After stating that it might be de-
commission as originally proposed.
Mr.. Harding said that "the commits
sion will come in due time" adding
that There is an authority above
all workers and operators, and that
American public
l,.a ff.anf
preston"
Gov. Sprouts telegram to the Pres
ident follows:
Il wish to report strong public
sentiment in support of your invita-
ton to operators and miners to re-
that you are meFeiy withholding the
appointments of your commission
long enough to determine whether
satisfactory production Will result.
If this does not occur within rea-
sonable time l respectfully urge the
prompt creation Of your commission,
either as originally proposed or in
modified form. If voluntary produc-
ton fails Pennsylvania will welcome
exercise by you of full executive au-
thority. Meanwhile l renew my
pledge of hearty cooperation"
President Harding's reply was as
follows:
Your telegram relating to ap-
pointment of coal commissions not
withstanding mine workers and
minority of mine operators declined
to accept such an arbitration, is re-
ceiVed.
Temporary Suspension.
Matters are temporarily in suspen-
sion because when arbitration was
denied there was but one consistent
thing to do as l saw it. and that was
to invite production. You may expect
the selection of a commission, be-
cause American welfare will not per-
nit those who assume to serve it to
deny for any reason the supply of
such necessity as fuel. and thereby
jeopardize American life and health
and happiness.
Moreover. there was a third party
to submit it's case to the commission
the great American public. The pri-
mary object was the prompt and just
ending of a dispute. The broader pur-
pose was a searching inquiry into the
coal industry, to learn all the causes
of dispute and find way to avoid
them in the future. 1t may be desira-
BILE to modify the form of the COM
mission as originally proposed, be-
cause it was first designed to meet
most promptly the eXigency then ex-
listing. l wished a settlement at the
conference table where all could be
heard and all be represented on the
commission.
1T has seemed to me that time to
appraise the situation. the opportu-
nifty to measure the unQuestioned fair