The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1922-05-12

reau of Information and Education.
! These articles are based upon per-
sonal Investigations by Mr.. Hopkins.
An interesting battle is being
waged between the bituminous coal
! operators Ga small group of men
closely interviewer with the banking
and railroad clique) and the miners,
numbering in all say 100000 men,
for the possession of our fuel sup
plies which of course belong to the
country at large.
The consuming public. with sur
priSing equanimity, is placidly
watching the gambling away of its
patrimony without even realizing that
It is entitled TO voice in the pro-
ceedings. II. however the people
knew the objective points which both
the operators and the operatives are
seeking 20 reach. their complacency
would * rudely interrupted. 1t Is my
purpose therefore in several articles,
Of which this is the first, to throw
little light upon the situation as
Il actually exists.
The operators own q great many
mines which. from natural causes,
cannot produce coal at a minimum
or reasonable cost. They also own
many mines from which coal can be
mixed very cheaply. but instead Of
working the productive mines TO their
| full capacity and closing down the
over supply Of unproductive mines
they are seeking, through artificial
| means, to grade down the wages Of
labor and to scale up their prices
20 the consumer. so that the unpro-
| ductive mines will De artIfIclally
placed on a par with those from
which the coal can be extracted at q
normal cost.
With this object in view the oper-
| ators have refused TO agree to a ma
| tional wage scale basis applicable
to the entire industry, and are de-
handing that they make their wage
agreements locally with each mine
| or community If they succeed in
this they will be able TO arbitrarily
fix the wages Of labor in each local
ity and they will break up the or
gained resistance of the labor
unions. The public will then be COM
PEELED to purchase coal at prices
which the operators will be IN a
position to arbitrarily dictate. which
taken in conjunction with their local
wage agreements, will be sufficient
to equalize the shortcomings of their
poor mines.
The operatives. on the other hand
smarting under the injustice OF the
deplorable and unnecessary condi
tions of living to which they are sub
iected. and confronted with the neces
sity of stabilizing their wages anC
periods of employment so as to at
ford them an income that will supply
the necessities of life, are hoping t.
bring about through the bituminou
strike a unified control of tn,
bituminous industry similar to tina
\ which already exists in the anthra
| cite fields as a result of the anthra
cite strike of 1902. Their theory il
based upon the knowledge that i
the operators are able to gather il
the loose threads of the bituminou
Industry and consolidate the contro
in the hands of small group of fl
nancial prestigitators, as they hav
| done in the anthracite industry, am
if at the same time the power of tn
union remains unimpaired, they cal
between them adjust prices an
| wages to their mutual satisfaction
| The operators can then pad thei
profits by doubling the price o
bituminous coal and make the con
| sumner pay the bill, Just as tn
householder realizes they have al
| ready done with anthracite coal.
IL 1t will then be observed that il
striving to achieve these obiectiv
points both the operators and thu
| operatives are acting from purel.
selfish motives. Perhaps this is onl!
natural. Greed on the one hand, ant
privation on the other, have forced
them into a struggle in which tn
consuming public has so far taken n,
part, and in which it can therefor,
hardly expect that it's interests viii
fbe seriously considered.
IL But nevertheless the consumer
have a right to demand that thei
coal shall be mined and delivered a
| their doors with maximum of eff
cheney and at the lowest price con
sistent with the rights of those wht
mine and deliver it. This means tina
the coal must be extracted from the
mines from which it can be extracted
from the mines from which it car
be produced with the greatest facilit!
and the cheapest cost, even though
this eliminates some of the unpro
ductive mines.
1t means that the miners must b(
lproperly and comfortably housed, anC
must receive a living wage baseC
upon a standardized cost of living
tso that they will be able to work
efficiently. 1t means that having
/ standardized the cost of living this
{ must be taken as the first irreduc.
lible item in figuring the overhead
costs; for without labor the Goa
would remain in the ground. and il
We fail TO pay labor a wage suffi'
Gent to meet its daily requirements
we impair it's efficiency, invite fric-
| ton, and lay the foundations for the
inevitable strike.
| The coal operators, however. like
the railroad executives, instead OF
putting the human element first
bring this in as the last item in their
| schedule of costs. Whatever is left
after their other overhead charges
1 are paid is allocated to wages. If
the balance is insufficient their pay
roll is reduced. In other words, their
payroll is based on what remains OF
their income after other expenses
are considered instead of being based
upon proper estimate of the cost
of living and recognition of the
fact that this is the one item which
cannot be reduced
| The purpose Of this article is sim
tply to call attention to these facts
preliminary to my description of the
present living conditions and some
constructive suggestions both in re.
gard to this and the wage scale
which will appear in my next article
III A German aeronautical expert