The New York herald., 1922-04-02
SUNDAY. APRIL 2. 1922.
The Coal Strike.

SO0A NkAk nv
On the face of it the nationwide
coal strike of union miners is colos-
less at 10000 mines have been called
out in both the bituminous and the
anthracite fields. Twenty coal pro-
ducing States are affected. with the
number OF men under strike orders
in each ranging all the way from
100000 in Pennsylvania and $4,000
in Illinois down to 10000 in West
Virginia, $4,000 in Kentucky and a
few thousand or few hundred in
States like Iowa, Kansas, Texas and
Wyoming. This, however, has the
seeming as strike achievement Of
being a bigger thing, measured by
fact.
While the strike of union
miners apparently is 100 per cent.
complete, as the union leaders de-
clare, Governor ALIENS Kansas In
dustrial Court having failed to keep
the men at work in his State, the
strike itself is not responsible for
taking all the 100000 men out OF
their jobs.
AS matter of fact, tens of thou
n sands Of the union miners 1Vw on
strike in the bituminous districts
have been out of work for months
because there was no market for the
coal from their mines at the prices
asked for IL to cover the cost of get
ting it out of the ground and ship
ping it to industrial centers. Tens
4 of thousands more have been averag-
ing only two or three days a week
to supply local consumers TO whom
the coal could be delivered in linn
tied quantities without a long rail-
road haul and heavy transportation
charges on top of the excessively high
mining costs.
n This slack trade which has long
caused widespread and distressing
unemployment in the unionized bi-
luminous mines has made its infiu-
ence felt to a lesser degree even In
the anthracite fields, which are vir-
tually all under union sway. At the
same time vast stocks of reserve
coal have piled up at the mines, in
the storage yards of the railroads.
which are the heaviest consumers OF
coal, OF other public utilities and OF
" ,,,fIlu and fact tories
With more than 100000 tons OF
this surplus coal in hand and mild
weather only few days distant, and
with the non-union mines already
supplying half the present coal con-
sumption OF the country, there Is no
ground for fear of an early coal fam
inc. Already reports are coming OF
the speeding up of non-union produc-
tion. While il is too soon to say what
can bo accomplished in the way
Of increasing the non-union output
OF soft coal il is possible to work
double shifts in hundreds Of the nom
union mines operating hitherto with
only day single shifts.
able as a whole to make fair profits,
even in the recent industrial depres.
sion, because Of their lower produc.
tion costs, and they have been stead.
lily capturing more and more of the
business formerly held by the union
labor producers. IL would not be un-
natural for them in situation like
this to grasp the opportunity to
double their business and earnings
wherever possible.
IL Is not improbable that when non
union mines get themselves speeded
up an adequate supply Of btu
minous coal will be assured TO the
country for many months. Such
development might bring settle
ment OF the strike in many soft coal
districts. But only time will tell how
such a situation can work out.
The anthracite situation is an en-
tirely different matter. With no non.
union operation of the anthracite
mines worth mentioning the hard
coal supply after the exhaustion Of
.:;e existing surplus can DO obtained
only by getting the union miners
back TO work or by putting non-union
workers in the mines. Neither Of
these choices is Of immediate con-
Germ 10 the public, for hard coal is
largely used for domestic heating
purposes. and this will not become
Blessing problem again until the
arrival OF frost next autumn. In the
meantime the anthracite operators
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