New-York tribune., 1922-11-20
Standard Coal
" age Rejected
BY Both Sides
Ieyeling of Pay and Output
Would Ous-Soviet Soviefs.
Mine Workers Reply TO
COMMISSIONS Questions
g;g Labor Issue Is Seen
Operators Insist the Survey
shossld Separate AnaI1ra-
cite From Sister Industry

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1s.--Anshracise
s,sl operators sent to the Federal
,,oa, Commission to-day responses to
81 preliminary questionnaire which
~, hody sent out in beginning it's
..s,l a fact finding in the coal indus
.ve chile at the same time a committee
I; .hs United Mine Workers, represent
nc employers in both bituminous and
antbrae,te regions, made public the
waion's conclusions upon some of the
came points
ar ene important point, arising from
tse commissions requests for views as
- tas possibility of standardizing mine
vaees aad units of output from work
ers, both communications agreed in re-
iecting the proposals as impractieabie.
They we're also in substantial agree
rent ID treating q second proposal of
.he commission regarding the possibil-
It's Of closing down high cost mines in
srder TO MAINTAIN production from
aore economic mines. The anthracite
employers considered the general scar
eisy of anthracite required continua-
ton OF operations in every mine which
esgld afford output, while the miners
<Hfe fAS% COutu De
nusted to regulate the whole subject
md to close down the more expensive
Gperations.
Emphatic on Separate Inquiries
The operators letter contended en-
;sstlcaily that the anthracite industry
Aould be considered as separate and
.gtonomous" from the bitnminous in
astry to prevent it from becoming,
is it has in the past, the victim of
shor disputes with which it is III no
ay concerned"
Signed by S. D. Warriner, president
Il the Lehigh Ceai and Navigation
Company, and five other employers, it
reserved answers on number of the
nineteen topics propounded by the
.ommission to give more study to them,
ors dealt specifically with labor situa-
tens as Of most immediate Importance.
aWe are unconvinced of the wisdom
os practicability of attempting to
standardize the cost of living for an
aividual worke rs" the letter said with
respect to the commissions sugges-
tens on labor.
Neither the wages OF mine workers
or Of any other groups of workers can
Be considered Independently of other
Sagss. At the present time mine
workers are receiving q scale of wages
far above that paid in other industries,
sith the result that the workers in
these other industries are paying
tribute to the mine workers
Cite Prices as Big Issue
Ii the matter of coal prices the OPP
esstsrs said zone OF the many sources
Il Understanding" is the great DIFF
terence hetween the mine price and
the ssnSumers' price, the latter includ.
ing expenses of transportation and
ehsigeA of miadlemen and retailers,
orer Rhich the operators have no
coatr8i.
The admissions II suggested, should
fvsstgate ali these items. Anthracite
nnirg, it was said briefly, is not sub
lett 10 irregularity, while the methods
followed in it result in only negligible
waste Of coal.
The miners letter, signed by Ellis
ssarles, Thomas Kennedy, and John
Moore, the unions official committee,
dealt sharply with the suggestion that
coal mines might be closed by govern
mental action If their operation was de-
eided Unnecessary and uneconomic.
Normal competition" they said
operation, and close down expensive
ones"
With the Standardization Of cost of
living" and work output suggestions
OF the commission, the union committee
indicated disfavor.
Worse Than Soviet, They Say
"How this commission can hope to
standardize the cost of living without
az ssts same time standardizing the
level OF living Of mine workers is be-
yond the comprehension of this COM
mittee," the letter said. at seems to
os 1t would be impossible to stand
ardl2e the cost Of living unless each in
oividuai mine worker was required to
accept and adopt standard, identical
levei Of living for himself and his
'amiiy. Any attempt to establish such
standard would out-soviet
any system, either paternalistic or
conmunistic, that we know of -.
We do not believe it is possible to
standardize the amount of work a man
can or should perform in the produc-
tlon Of coal. Conditions vary in every
mine. Seams of coal vary in thickness
Some mines experience difficulty with
water and gas. Methods in use one
place would be impossible in others
Each mine is peculiar to itself as far
as working conditions are concerned
What might be regarded as a standard
OF work in one place would be fla.
grant misfit in another"
It was suggested by the miners com.
nistee that the commission, through
women Investigators, determine actual
eSpenditures on living by miners and
their families. The effect of organiza-
ton upon the operations in coal, it was
aiso suggested, should be ascertained
ey direct application to persons con.
esrned.