The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-04-20
Frederick Haskin's Letter
tspeaa Correspondents of
WHAT THE COAL STRIKE COSTS

Shutdowns are of necessity incom-
plete and VIGOROUSLY inaccurate.
1t may be significant to note. how
ever, that a large steel mill In
Youngstown, Ohio. that had been
closed down for long period was
scheduled to resume work the first
week in April and did not do so be-
cause of the strike and threatened
coal shortage. and that other large
steel plants in the Pittsburgh dis
trict were closing down or reduc-
/ ing their scale of operations within
a few days after the strike was
called.
/ To the wage loss Of all these
workers is to be added the produc-
tive value of their labor had they
been employed. for every man at
; work produces something of value
to society that is lost irrevocahlv
when he is idle. Naturally each
mans productive value depends
upon the nature of his work, and
to arrive at this item in the cost
of the coal strike one mans esti-
mate-or guests as dependable
as the next Perhaps the most
Illuminating conception of the
value of time usefullv employed is
conveyed in the old copybook aph,
orism, Lost. Yesterday. somewhere
between sunrise and sunset, two
golden hours, each set with 60 dia-
mond minutes: no reward is offer
ed for they are gone forever"
A Loss Everybody Shares.
But every member of society, be
he business man, professional man,
farmer, workman OF parasitic idler,
must share in this loss ocCasioned
| when a days wage is not earned
and hence cannot be spent and the
product of a days labor has not
been realized and is gone forever.
Everybody has seen a town or
small city largely dependent upon
one business or manufacturing es-
tablishment go dead" when that
establishment sUspends operations
for a period, and a like deadening
effect. more or less serious, must
be felt in every section of the
country when so essential an in
dustry as coal suspends operations
or is only partially productive and
hundreds of thousands of wage
earners go on an indefinite vaca-
ton.
This deadening effect, moreover,
according to economists, began with
the first serious threat of the coal
strike. They point out that with
the opening of the present year
there was a very general deteTmin-
alton to pull the country out OF the
slough of business depression and
bring about that return to nor
malcy'' of which so much has been
heard and so little realized for
many months. Men in all lines OF
endeavor were planning to get un-
der full swing again, and perhaps
to extend or expand their opera
lions. New enterprises were pro-
iected. bankers were more optim-
istic. credits were becoming easier,
capital was seeking work to do in
stead of a hole in which to hide.
The road to prosperity seemed open
again.
Then came the controversy be
tween the coal miners and opera
tors, with a practical certainty OF
strike on the first of April. Better
wait and see what happens instead
of up and at 'em!" became the
watchword in the business and
commercial world. and there again
is found a very indefinite but none
the less real item of loss that is 10
be added to the cost Of the coal
strike.
Lost profits to coal operators,
lost freight revenues to railroads
IAN enormous sum in the aggre-
gatel; lost prohts to all middle
men and dealers who handle coal,
and lost profits to sll industries
and businesses affected adversely
by a real or threatened coal fam
inc. are ether items in the total
bill which the country must paw
because the men who own the coal
and the men who dig it would not
set their house in order before
March 81
1t will be a long time before any
one will hazard an estimate as to
what this total cost is in cold, hard
cash. but one thing has been made
certain already-it will he enough,
optinists among members Of CON
gress and other leaders in public
affairs agree, however, that what
ever the bill is it will not be too
much if it arouses the public until
measures are taken 10 avoid sim
liar debacles in the future.