The New York herald., 1922-06-30
FRIDAY. JUNE 80, 1922.
The Coal Strike at Washington.

xnG SOdi Stl ihC dS w doAliliSkO kOils
When the President of the United
States asked the coal mine owners
and the coal strike leaders to come
into conference along with him the
! mine owners could not refuse and
the strike leaders could not refuse
in Difference to his office. When at
that meeting the President of the
United States requests them to go
into conference among themselves
fuse to take up and discuss at his
request every point in dispute.
But, as matters now stand, there is
no influence and there is no authority
to compel meeting Of minds hold
ing irreconcilable differences over
fundamental principles and facts.
1t is not to be forgotten that while
the bituminous operators and union
leaders have failed to get together
even for discussion nothing like that
has balked a settlement of the an
thracite dispute. The anthracite
owners and the anthracite unions
were in conference long before April
/, when the men walked out. They
have been in conference ever since,
round after round. and nothing has
come of any of it. The reason for
this is of vast Importance to the
American people.
Unless, in a word, the operators
surrender on the overshadowing
question of the present controversy
the owners and the strike leaders,
II the unions mean what they say,
cannot reach settlement among
themselves. And II the owners do
surrender on this overshadowing
question they will be damned with
the American public.
This overshadowing question is
whether labor costs and other pro-
duction costs shall come down so
that the soft coal price to the con-
sumer can stay down where the non
union producers have brought it and
so that the hard coal price to the
consumer can come down where it
ought to be and where. before this
issue is ended, 1t has got to be.
The leaders Of the anthracite
unions mining all the hard coal that
is produced have not merely opposed
a downward wage readjustment that
would lower the price paid by the
consumer for his hard coal; they have
insisted upon further wage increase
that would make the already heavily
overburdened coal consumers pay
millions more for their anthracite
The leaders Of the bituminous
unions are striving not merely to
hold up their wage scale, already so
inflated that it puts the union mine
with its dearer product out of the
market in favor of the non-urion
producer, who, with his cheaper
product, Is now supplying 60 per
cent. OF the country's soft coal needs;
the leaders Of the bituminous unions
are striving as well to increase the
labor costs of these non-union mines
so that American consumers will have
to pay more for ell soft coal
The object OF the strike was to get
the inflated union wage scale intro
duced everywhere. The purpose of
the union strike leaders at the Wash
ington conference is TO get the in
nated scale introduced everywhere.
II all coal labor costs don't go up
the union cost must come down.
That so per cent. of the country's
coal consumption capacity now taken
care OF by the non-union product
tells why.
A.-' IN situation like this, where the
union leaders are determined that
coal prices shall go on up despite de-
fiation in everything else, the mine
owners cannot surrender without in
spring the public with the determi-
nation, and the just determination,
to take the national coal business
out of the control OF the men in
whose. hands 1t now lies.
A Federal arbitrator representing
the President---for the matter Of that
the President himself-could not de-
eide this coal dispute In such way
as to raise coal prices when they
ought to be lowered, without launch
ing an irresistible public movement
for the naturalization Of the coun-
try's coal mines.
Either the conference called by the