The Washington times., 1923-09-01
Of DATA
SWAMPSCOAL
PARLEYS
Hi
Both Sides in Fuei War Offer
Statistics 20 Prove
They're Right.
Continued from First PageD

Continued from First Page.)
will do them no harm and will do
the miners no harm. The miners
will calm their nerves by getting
away from the mines for a while AMI
doing a little autumn hunting and
fishing, and the diplomats of the in
dustry will do their cruising for
peace on the good old ship.
Preparing Statistics.
Last night from twilight till dawn
the special private personal statisti.
cal stevedores of Captain Pinchot
were filling her up with new. sup
plies OF ships data on miners in-
comes and operators profits.
The question of those profits has
become a leading question In the
combats of the ships company.
AS the stevedores finished their
work and retired to their hotels to
sleep, the captain appeared, ana 90
did the two crews.
Bosun Lewis with his crew Of
miners, which operates the atar.
hoard aide of the ship, came with
new packages of data OF his own;
and It was believed that among
them was a special prize package
consisting Of a new quotation from
the United States Coal Commission.
Yesterday Bosun Warriner, from
the larboard or operator side OF the
ship, quoted passage IRON Us
works OF the United States Coal
Commission on the happiness OF
miners.
According to this passage. the
miners get such good wages that
"fhev need not suffer for shelter
food. clothing. or other decencies
and comforts of life" a.
The operators, however. did not
quote the whole Of this passage.
According to the rest % It. the
United States Coal Commission
speaks as follows:
"On the other hand many OF the
families of the miners hslpers or
laborers have q very uncertain ana
inadequate di1tres9.
1t il supposed that Bosun Lewis
today is taking these words on
Board to hurl at Bosun Warmer
In harmony with their established
practice Of many years.
Both Sides Prepared.
According to this practice each
aide has an equal humber Of pack
ares OF facts and arguments. and
he peace negotiations so on until
all these packages have been used
When. for instance, Bosun Lewis
hurts at Bosun Warmer the OLD
familiar package containing Gaia
regarding the higher daily wages
of bitun1inous miners, as compared
with anthracite miners, then bosun
Warmer gets up and hurts right
hack at Bosun Lewis the old "a.
iaIiliar package containing data on
the larger number of days OF work
In the anthracite industry, as COM
pared with the bitunninous industry.
Thus the day passes; and at
night-fall the ship comes back to
the dock, and the two weArted
mariners address the assembled
waiting reporters and say:
1.-THE outlook IL dismal. In 1920
by this time we had used up -
per cent of our established infOr.
nation. Now we have used up 6S
per cent. A stoppage Is loomang.
The new feature today Is that
besides the piles Of information be.
longing to the two crews there 10
new pile of Information stacked
high on the bridge and belonging
to the. captain.
Visiting operators who are friends
Of the members OF the operators
crew have arrived here with new
data on operators profits which
they are endeavoring to convey 10
the captain.
Question of Profits.
They point out that the central
question Is precisely, How much
money do the operators maker?
They point out that according to
the figures collected by the United
States Coal Commission the oper'
ators, in the last ten years have
made an average Of not more than
so cents of margin" per ton OF
coal sold.
They point out that the public
seems to think that thN operators
get the whole OF this SO cents.
They wish the public to be told
by Captain Pinchot that the United
States Coal Commission specifically
points out that the operators by no
means get all OF this so cents.
On the contrary, the following
items, among others, have TO bel
paid out OF this so cents by the
operators who get it:
The cost Of selling expense; the
cost Of uninsurable hazards: thel
cost OF interest on borrowed money!
and the cost Of Federal taxes.
They contend that these costs
will amount TO at least half of the
so cents.
They. therefore. claim that the
net profit of anthracite coal opsra.
tors as a class, is not more than
% cents ton.
They claim that this is a smaller
return on their investment than
many people get on bonds which
they buy and then worklessly keep
in a safe.
They wish Captain Pinchot to
hurl this fact today from the
bridge at Bosun Lewis and fell him
with 1t.
Lewis will then have to get the
answer to II from the statistical
longshoremen of the miners union
tonight: and he will hurl that an
swer at Captain Pinchot on the
ships next trip.
Seen As Thrilling Drama.
The ship can make many trips
before there Is any danger Of freez-
ing for the public or of serious fl.
nancial los& from this stoppage for
the industry.
The present spectacle is not one
Of freezing danger but of thrilling
drama
Never before in the whole history
OF the Anthracite Peace ship YVES
she so full of all the statistical
nI1 q ariA1S ne nrrI1n,nnt nLA