The Connecticut labor news., 1922-03-31

Coal mine owners contribute one
 mill per ton to the fund for publicity
 and in the effort to subsidize the press.
 Complete information about the l publicity methods of the National Coal Association is contained in the
 report of the hearings before the l U. s. Senate, in 1921. Following
 are a few quotations from the pro-
 ceedings of one of the meetings of
 the National Coal Association: 1 MT. A. M. Ogle says: l We know from our experience
 that you get results from paid adver-
 Using. It is not guess-work, it is not surmise, it is positive knowledge that we have gained from the experience
 that we have had, in the changed at
 titude of your newspapers. We a1e paying for that We are contributing;
 they know 1t, and they reciprocate, | just as you reciprocate to the people
 with whom you do business, where it
 is mutually profitable"
 l MT. Bockus says:
 "A five per cent. increase III the selling price 1 don't believe IS going to be very serious on anybody. The l trouble with us IS that we operators !
 bills. 1 think that the operators l should regard this as part of their | selling expense and increase 1t only | five per cent. and then they would I not take 1t very ser1ously."- MT. Barker says:
 l II am convinced If we want help ful publicity, if we want useful articles
 written it will be to our advantage to patronize those mediums from whom we are asking those favors, if we can
 do it with profit to ourselves we
 ought to do it, etc.
 MT. Brewster says:
 "I saw an example of the benefit
 of this particular publicity, which has just taken place. The matter that MT. Peadoby had sent out by the Asso- papers, and each one of the papers wrote an editorial on it. The next l day after those editorials appeared, ! five contracts were delivered to our ! office which had been hanging fire" The director of publicity wrote the following to MT. Jenkins, vice-presi l dent of the Hutchinson Coal Com
 pany: Tt is not straining the fact-and this is imparted in the utmost conh- denCe-tO say that the Associated Press, preceding the meeting, in which emphasis was made of the fact
 that unreasonable prices have not
 generally prevailed throughout the l coal shortage emergency, and in which stress was also laid upon the l matter of inadequate car supply at the mines during the coal shortage, l with it's relation to the whole situa- l ton, was to a very large extent the ! I-fn # h. l licity department. The great advant- age of this report, from the operators viewpoint, lay in the fact that the National Coal Association nowhere was quoted as authority for the Asso 1 ciated Press statements, the Associa ted Press making them on its own re- sponsibility. In this way they were of more convincing effect than had
 they been qualified with the interfer- ence of partisanship"
 Congressman Huddleston, speaking before the committee, said: "When l see newspaper publish an expensive advertisement today in behalf of a selfish interest and come forward tomorrow with an editorial calling attention to it and backing it up, it is pretty hard for me to think it is entirely innocent" Following IS a sample of the buy now" propaganda which has been
 widely used by the coal operators to
 maintain prices and manipulate the economic situation to their own ad- vantage in times of labor contro- versy:
 "All users of coal should stock up on this commodity early in the season, and where it is pos sible to do so, it will be wise for users of coal to stock up until June I, 1922. The reason for this is that miners settlement is to be made at that time, and the lack of transportation, to- gether with the uncertainty caused by the miners settle ment, will no doubt, bring about
 an unusual demand for coal the latter part of 1921 and at the beginning of 1922. The buyer who takes advantage of the mar
 ket during the first half of 1921 will be wise"
 | Tn addition to Durcha sing space in