Great Falls tribune., 1922-04-16
In excess Of what the labor actually is

paul
Three reasons are given for the pres.
| ent over-developed condition of the
bituminous industry-first, the war
time demand for coal which led to the
opening of many mines and the ex-
tension of many others that otherwise
would not have been opened or in
creased in capacity; second, the sea-
sonal demand for coal; third, the de-
pendence of the industry upon transpor-
tation and the system of allocating
coal cars on the basis of productive ca
pacity of the mines.
The first of these reasons is SO gen.
orally recognized that it needs no ex-
PLANTATION. The effect of the seasonal
demand for coal on the development of
the industry is apparent when attention
is called to the fact that the demand
to Is per cent above, 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 stabilize and regulate
the demand for coal is indicated by
what has already been accomplished in
that direction in England, where the
spread is only s per cent as compared
with the 81 per cent in the United
States.
The Car Problem
No industry is SO dependent upon
transportation as is the soft coal in
dustry Coal, when it comes out of
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 uneco-
nomical. Hence the operator is abso-
lutely dependent upon the number of
cars he can secure from the railroad
for the regularity and extent Of his pro-
duction. In the ALLEGATION of cars by
the railroads the mines are rated ac-
cording to their maximum productive
capacity, and cars are assigned on that
basis.
Thus If railroad on a given division
has mines aggregating 100 cars daily
capacity, and on a given day has only
80 cars, each mine on that day will get
only 80 per cent Of its rating in cars.
Naturally it is to the interest of the
operator to have as high rating as
possible In order that he may be as
signed the greatest possible number Of
cars at the times when the demand for
he wants on call at his mine always
a force of miners sufficient to operate
his mine at the maximum capacity, al
though he may actually need such a
large force rarely or never and al
though in order to have the miners
constantly available the basis wage
rate must be sufficiently high to en-
able the miner to live if he is employed
only three or four days week at the
most. Here again is another big item
added to the cost of coal that might be
saved if the industry were developed
along sound lines.
Chief among the organic ills of the
diseased industry is the variation in
mining conditions. In one mine the
coal may be easy of access, thick of
vein. free Of slate, ct cetera, while in
in one comparatively |
close at hand-these advantageous con-
1itions are reversed. Accordingly, in |
he same field, and in contiguous pro-
1erties in the same field. one mine may |
De able to produce coal much more |
,heaply than another, although the |
wage rates and other such items Of |
production costs are identical. Obvious |
=, if there is no regulation of the |
industry aside from the free play of |
will put the other out of business, Or, t
f its advantage is not so decided, it |
will be garnering the big end of the
Profits and holding the more desirable |
md more efficient miners because it
an pay a higher rate or offer more
avorable mining conditions.
Thus it is that there is something
wrong with the coal industry besides
nd beyond wage quarreIs between the
perators and miners. Agreement on
lew wage scale or arbitration in event
# failure to agree. will not cure ills
which are in no sense attributable to
he relations Of employer and en-
loyed, for the public at last is learning
hat something must be done to estab-
sh conditions under which the nations
uel requirements are met without
omebody's paying for idle mines and
lie miners onethird of the time.