The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-04-18
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC ,. HAsKIN. DireOeSr,
Washington. ID. g.
KING COAL is SICK.

experts altho there may be bitter
differences when it comes to prescrib-
ing and administering the remedy that
is to put the old king on his feet again
/ Hearings before congressional COM
mittees and widespread newspaper
and ma gazine discussions have been
the means of registering in the public
mind the idea that there is something
radically wrong with the coal industry
aside from the controversy between
the operators and miners over wage
rates and working conditions 1t has
been apparent indeed, that the miners
at least are determined to draw public
attention TO what they consider funda-
mental weaknesses and defects in the
. industry, rather than permit it to be
concentrated on the question of wage
they seek TO avoid an error of policy
which they made two years and a
half ago.
In 1919 the miners in the bitumi-
nous fields carried their fight with
the operators to the point of a strike
or shutdown without taking the public
into their confidence as to the why's
and wherefores of their action. All
that the people of the country were
permitted to know was that the miners
had made wage demands which the
operators would not grant and that as
a result there would be no coal pro-
duced for an indefinite period The
people knew, of course. that winter
without coal meant hardships that
would speedily become intolerable;
they did not know, they were not in
formed and they did not inquire
whether the strike was justifiable or
unjustifiable- Consequently the miners
went into the fray without that sup
porting public sentiment without
which it is claimed that labor never
has won and never can win such
struggle with capital. The strike of
1919 was lost before it was fairly
started.
This year it has been evident from
the outset that the miners were WOO
ing public opinion, and it is to that
end that their leaders have gone to
such lengths to explain the coal in
dustry. Thus attention is directed to
their president, John L. Lewis, when
he goes before the house committee
on labor and tells the committee and
the country that the coal industry is
q diseased industry
OYermanned and Overmined.
BY a diseased" industry economists
mean one that has something organ
ically wrong with 1t. or that has been
developed in a way to>make it struc-
turally weak. In the case of the coal
industry it is sah that the primary
trouble is due to extent and method
of development. First of all, there
are too many mines and too many
miners. The coal needs of the coun-
try, including both domestic consump-
ton and exports, are not to exceed
100000 tons per year, according
to experts of the United States geo
logical survey. while the annual pro-
ductive capacity. of the bituminous
mines is in excess OF 700, 1000 tons
There are mine workers to man these
mines, hence the coal industry may
be said to be oYerdeveloped to an ex-
tent anywhere from 80 to 40 per cent.
This means that all the coal that
the country requires can be produced
in approximately 215 days operation
OF the mines in a year that has sos
working days and 365 days in which
the miners and their families must
live 1t means also that the overhead
expenses of the operators go on re-
lentlessly when no coal is being pro-
duced, thus adding a big item to the
coast of coal which the public must
pay. Just what the total item of lost
man power and lost expense of man
agement may be is a matter OF APP
Proclamation, but experts agree that it
is well in excess of half a billion dol
lars annually.
Mr. Lewis computes the labor loss
alone at 60,000000 man-days each
year and he told the house committee
that the productive value of one mans
labor for day was not less than $40.
There may be differences of opinion as
to this, but Mr.. Lewis points to the
.
miners in support of his figures and
it is certain that the productive value
of labor to society as a whole must be
in excess of what the labor actually is
paid.
Three reasons are given for the
present over-developed condition of
the bituminous industry-first, the
wartime demand for coal which led
to the opening of many mines and
the extension of many others that
80
or increased in capacity; second, the
demand for coal: third, the |
dependence of the industry upon
transportation and the system OF allo- !
eating coal cars on the basis OF the |
capacity of the mines.
The first of these reasons is so gem |
orally recognized that it needs no ex-
PLANTATION. The effect of the seasonal /
for coal on the development |
of the industry is apparent when at /
tention is called to the fact that the |
demand ranges from 16 per cent be- |
low normal to Is per cent above a |
spread of 81 per cent, and that the |
mines must be prepared always to /
take care of the maximum demand. |
That something might be done to |!
and regulate the demand for |
coal is indicated by what has already |
been accomplished in that direction in |
per cent as compared with the 81 per
cent in the United States.
The Car Problem.
No industry IS SO dependent upon /
as is the soft coal in /
dustry. Coal. when it comes out of l
the mine, must be loaded directly /
from the mine car into the railroad /
car and moved away from the mine, /
for storage at the mines is impractical /
and uneconomical. Hence the oper- |
ator is absolutely dependent upon the /
number of cars he can secure from 1
the railroad for the regularity and ex-
tent of his production. In the alloca-
ton of cars by the railroads the mines /
are rated according to their maximum /
productive capacity. and cars are as
signed on that basis.
.