Arizona republican., 1922-06-08
GOVERNMENT.
EFFORTS To.
SETTLE COAL
STRIKE FAIL
Hoover Discloses For First
TimeGovernment Efforts
To Bring Operators And
Miners Into Conference

WASHINGTON, June Efforts Of
the government to bring operators
and. miners together with a view to
settling the coal strike now in prog
ress were disclosed for the first time
today by Secretary Hoover in state
ment sent tc The senate on the COM
pliance with resolution of inquiry
introduced recently by Senator Walsh
Democrat of Massachusetts.
quite informally and repeatedly"
Mr.. HocveTs statement said, "sug-
gestiens as propositions on whether
the disputants might well confer and
hope for settlement have been made
through the department OF labor ana
this department or both, but thus
far these suggestions have been
without result"
The secretary prefaced his state
ment with the declaration that the
efforts had been made to the best of
his belief that governmental agen-
cies have no legal authority to term
mate or intervene in the strike.'
Measurable success has been OBJ
tained, however, Mr.. Hoover added,
in the governments efforts to pre-
vent large price increases resulting
from the industry's tieup through in
formal conferences with the operat
ors. He made the same point clear in
a telegram sent from Youngstown,
Ohio, today, 10 the coal section of
the commerce department, in connec-
tion with press reports that Senators
Borah, Republican of Idaho, and
Walsh, Democrat of Massachusetts,
had held conferences with delega-
Of rot f1il xI-it1 q vic
TO RESTRAINING" coal prices.
Il am delighted to learn. the tel
egram said, that Senator's Borah
and Walsh have taken on the job
of restraining coal prices with the re-
tailers or other parts of the coal
trade. The field is clear for any ac-
tion they may desire to take, as no
action has been taken beyond the
responsibility | assumed in public
interest of asking each individual OPP
orator that he should in the future
not exceed the last Garfield war
scales with changes up and down
as the altered conditions would war
rant, and ! have made the statement
that such changes would not exceed
a maximum price in the average of
25 cents below the Garfield scale in
some districts or about so cents
Keeping Prices Down
THE result has been to reduce the
strike prices as much as So in GER
tain districts and should save the
public from a further ascent to 81
or $12 in the mine prices as in 1920.
IF congress will provide better
emergency method, | will indeed be
glad if they would do so, as the adj
ministration has no power but per-
suasion, and the willingness of the
majority of the operators to coop
crate. In the meantime as many re-
tailers have upwards of 80 days sup
ply on hand of pre- strike coal. much
of it from districts of short rail haul,
] hope the senators will get the re-
tailers t. comply with my request
that the retailers do not mark up the
prices of this coal to the public
Mr.. Hoover, upon his return here
tomorrow is TO meet with operators
from Fayette county, Pennsylvania
TO discuss a maximum fair price of
coal at the mines in that district.
The report sent by Hoover to the
senate, answering the question as to
the departments information on "the
present supply of mined bituminous
coar' said:
The latest information we have is
canvas of the situation at the
opening of the strike on April /, by
the department of commerce and the
geological survey, partly depending
upon various trade associations. No
Continued on Page Two)