The Elk Mountain pilot., 1922-05-11

klnS, Executive Chairman OF the Com
mittee of 48, for the National Bureau
of Information and Education. These
articles are based upon personal in
vestigations by Mr.. Hopkins.
An interesting battle is being
waged between the bituminous coal
operators Ia small group of men close
ly interviewer with the banking and
railroad clique) and the miners. num-
bering in all say 100000 men, for the
possession of our fuel supplies, which
of course belong to the country at
large.
The consuming public, with sur
prising equanimity, is placidly watch
ing the gambling away of its patri-
mony without even realizing that it
is entitled to voice in the proceed
ings. If, however, the peopic knew
the objective points which both the
operators and the operatives are seek
ing to reach, their complacency would
be rudely Interrupted. 1t is my pur-
pose therefore, in several articles, of
which this is the first, to throw lit
tie light upon the situation as it ac-
tually exists.
The operators own great many
mines which, from natural causes,
| cannot produce coal at minimum or
reasonable cost. They also own many
mines from which coal can be mined
very cheaply, but instead of working
the productive mines to their full ca
pacity and closing down the over sup
ply of unproduct tive mines they are
seeking, through artificial means, to
grade down the wages of labor and to
scale up their prices to the consumer
so that the unproduc tive mines will
be artificially placed on a par with
those from which the coal can be ex-
tracted at nominal cost.
With this object in view the opera
tors have refused to agree to ma
tional wage scale basis applicable to
the entire industry, and are demand
irg that they make their wage agree
ments locally with each mine or COM
munity. If they succeed in this they
will be able to arbitrarily fix the
wages of labor in each locality and
they will break up the organized re-
sistance of the labor unions. The pub
lie will then be compelled to pur-
chase coal at prices which the opera
tors will be in position to arbi.ra-
ri 1u fat yx,t ri fol-
tion with their local wage agree
ments, will be sufficient to equalize
the shortcomings of their poor mines
The operatives, on the other hand
emarting under the injustice of the
deplorable and unnecessary condi-
tons of living to which they are sub
iected, and confronted with the ne
cessity of stabilizing their wages and
periods of employment so as to afford
them an income that will supply the
necessities of life, are hoping to
bring about through the bituminous
strike unified con troll of the bitumi-
rous industry similar to that which
alreay exists in the anthracite fields
as result of the anthracite strike
of 1902 Their theory is based upon
the knowledge that if the operators
are able to gather in the loose
threads of the bituminous industry
and consolidate the control in the
hands of small group of financial
prestidigitators, as they have done in
the anthracite industry, and if at the
same time the power of the union re-
mains unimpaired, they can between
them adjust prices and wages to their
mutual satisfaction. The operators
can then pad their profits by doub-
ling the price of bituminous coal and
make the consumer pay the bill, Just
as the householder realizes they have
already done with anthracite coal.
1t will be observed that in striving
to achieve objective points both the
operators and the operatives are act
ing from purely selfish motives. Per-
haps this is only natural. Greed on
the one hand, and privation on the
other, have forced them into a strug-
ole in which the consuming public
has so far taken no part, and in
which it can therefore hardly expect
that its interests will be seriously
considered
But nevertheless the consumers
have a right to demand that their coal
shall be mined and delivered at their
doors with maximum of efficiency
and at the lowest price consistent
with the rights of those who mine
and deliver it. This means that the
coal must be extracted from the
mines from which it can be produced