The New York herald., 1922-07-31

every day Many are already expressing
the fear that the plan resorted Ia by the
Pr. eident when his coal settlement was
turned down, namely, 10 give protection
10 the operators who decided TO reopen
fl.eir mines, hitherto has not been pro-
ductfve of great results. According TO
the Geological Survey, the increase In
! tonnage for the week was only 100000,
n mere drop in the bucket as COM
pared with the diminution OF the coal
surplus and the shortage from week TO
week.
THE Administration Is confident that
the rationing program now In force.
together with he ALLEGATION OF equip
ment, will lead TO the supply being used
70 the best purposes and put an enecti'e
stranglehold on profiteering.
II is the hope of the Administra-
tion, that even If the bitter eHders
stand pat and decide on a finish iight
ON their roads the number VIII De so
small that they will stand isolated TO
the condemnation of public opinion.
which, il is predicted, would be visited
on them If they wreck the peace PRIV
gram of the President.
That these executives have con-
siderable amount of support from large
employers generally IS indicaled py eN-
p.essions from chambers or commerce
reaching the Senate.
These take the stand that the restora-
tion Of seniority TO the strikers to the
disadvantage of the men who UNDER
took to take their place In good faith.
would be establishing a precedent that
would be dangerous.
II was indicated to-day that Senators
close to the Administration, among them
some of the Eastern Senator'S who would
be most interested in the stand taken
by the "die hard" executives of railways
feel that the position taken by Presi-
dent Harding based on the superior
claim of the public welfare, gives him
leverage of incalculable importance
if the executives should throw down the
Agauntlet TO him in this fight.
N VIII Not stand Idle.
While some took the view that the
President would stand by and allow the
strike to take its course IL this effort
should fail. the more generally accepted
view was that he positively would refuse
TO throw up his hands, the intimation
being that there are other weapons In
the armory which would be used not
withstanding the conservative tempera-
ment Of the Chief Executive.
Already the Administration has in
augurated the policy of safeguarding
the public from profiteering by dec
laration that only those coal producers
who accepted the basic price agreed on
as fair and equitable should have cars
in which to move their coal to market.
The Government thus has established a
veto on profiteering by the mere exer-
else OF powers accorded the Interstate
Commerce Commission when national
emergency is declared.
In connection with the recalcitrant
railroads it is important that coal allo-
cation by the Governors of the States
does not apply to Interstate commerce,
which means that coal to the railroads
is to be supplied by the Government,
that is, by the Presidential committee.
In case the die hards" raise the flag
OF revolt 1t Is to be expected that there
will be developments which will show
the country that there Is much more at
stake than the mere question OF SEMI
GRITTY; that in fact the issue at bottom
is becoming more and more one as to
whether the public interests as Presi-
dent Harding states. are paramount or
whether certain executives can run their
roads as they like.
The crisis In the railroad and coal
strikes has been definitely leading 10 a
reappraisement OF the Governments at
htude toward means of maintaining in
dustrial peace To certain extent at
least the trend has been further away
from the Harding theory on LESS Gov
ernment in business and more toward
the theory that not less but more power
should be given Governmental bodies
as the pivots Of industrial relations. Out
of the crisis has grown the conviction
that the railroad labor board will be
strengthened and overhauled and that
there will be a board OF some kind to
do for the coal industry the public SER
Vice which the railroad labor board was
intended to do for transportation and
which will speak with as much 1nality
as the President wants the railroad
labor board to speak.