The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-03-26
MINE STRIKE WILL . COST PUBLIC MORE
 THAN S65,OOO,OOO
Managing Director of Ameri- can Wholesale Coal ASSo- citation ItemizeS Expense
 of Probable Tie-Up
Rv HARDFN COIFAX


 Washington, March 25.-The forth coming coal strike, if it lasts from 50 to 90 days, will result in a dead loss to the nation of not less than $65,000,000, no portion of which can ever be recovered, according to the calculation of George H. Cushing, managing director of the American Wholesale Coal association, who has compiled for the writer an itemized bill of expense.
 The public, of course, will pay every dollar. Directly, the cost will be paid by the operators and the miners. Indirectly, 1t will be passed on the last cent to everyone using coal or the products of it's use.
 MT. Cushing's sfigures are regarded as extremely conservative. They prob ably understate the total. They con template strike lasting for shorter period of time than many of the par ticipants expect it to last. They ig- nore entirely the false-though ap- parently obvious items-losses in wages to the miners during the strike period and losses to the railroads in freight collections while the mines are idle. The miners will get back their immediate losses in the form of steadier working time after the strike ends; the railroads already have got ten much of what they might be eX- pected to lose in freight charges dur ing the strike. This has come to them in the form of freight on many millions of tons of coal that they would not have hauled had there not been a strike threat,
 Collecting Wages Now
 By the same process of reason, the miners already have collected in wages a sum materially greater than they would have collected in the ab- senee of strike threat. They have mined from 5000 000 to 1000, 900 tons of coal week during the past 10 weeks or so, in excess of normal re- quirements none of which they would have mined otherwise. By the total of their wages for digging this ex cess coal they have collected in ad- vance on their losses during the. strike period
 Here is the way MT. Cushing fig ures the. S65, ,000000 dead loss total;
 l. The amount of coal placed in storage is estimated at 60,oO0,0OO tons. The labor and other costs ot placing this coal into storage and taking it out are estimated by Mir. Cushing at 50 cents ton. The total for this one item is s30,000, GOO.
 2. There are about 7,500 mines in the country These mines must be maintained during the strike period. Mir. Cushing estimates the cost of maintaining idle mines for 60 days at S45, 900, ,000. As much of this work would have to be done anyhow, Mir. Cushing, has charged slightly less than one-fourth ox the total up against the strike. The total is plac- ed at s10,500,000, chargeable against the strike.
 3. The 6O,000.000 tons of coal in storage has been hauled by the rail- roads at the prevailing high freight rates. Mir. Cushing expects lower ing of the rates and mas made allow ance, for the difference between what the rates are now and what may be reasonably expected to. prevail after April 1, This figur is placed con servatively at 12ls cents a ton. The total of this item is therefore $7.500,- 900.
 Prices VIII Advance,
 4 During the strike, about 5,000,- GOO tons of coal a week probably will be produced by the non-union mines. Prices, MT. Cushing expects, will ad- vance abouth 25 cents a ton on the total estimated production of 50,00O,- 900 tons during 10 weeks The total of this item is $l2,5000, U0u.
 5. The cost of holding conferences between mine operators and miners, including expenses of delegates, prep aration of material for use at con ferences, attorneys fees, estimated costs of all future meetings. confer ences and joint and other assem- blages of negotiation until the strike end are placed by MT. Cushing at $2,- 500,000.
 G. As the last item of expense, Mir. Cushing has estimated the Interest on money on storage coal which would have moved except for the strike. He has placed this extreme ly low. at $2.00O,000.
 Part of the $65,000.000 estimated cost of the strike has been paid all ready by the public, part will be paid during the strike and part thereafter,
 The two items that Mir. Gushing did not include in his estimate mount into imposing totals. On the basis of union claims that 600,OO0 men will go out, the weekly loss in wages during the continuance of the strike would approximate 15,o0O, ,O0O. .The railroads will be out, he esti- mates, about $s,o00,s00 a week in freight revenues.
 The total of those two items IS s24000, ,0OO week, purely an esti- mate. That represents the approxi- mate total that the railroads and miners will be out each week during the strike. It is not a loss, however, for part of it has already been col lected and the rest will be after the strike.