Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-04-13
NEVER AGAIN SUCH A COAL
CRISIS
Up to Uncle Sam to Prevent
From the Albany Times-Union
February %, 1928

49, -O'
Maybe the next time there's a coal
strike in this country newspapers that
held their peace last summer, from
fear of offending their good friends,
the railroads, and allied banking in
terests, will speak out in open meet
ing and tell the truth about conditions
in the coal fields and thus save the
people from freezing again-maybe,
maybe.
Maybe the next time there is a coal
strike the President of the United
States will think it worth while to try
and bring about arbitration so that
the health of the people will not be
jeopardized again as it has been this
winter-maybe.
There was once a President of the
United States who did this and his
name is Theodore Roosevelt. When
Mr.. Baer, king of the railroad and
banking clique, who run the coal
mines to suit themselves without a
thought of the public, said, in sub
stance, that God and 1" run the coal
mines, Theodore Roosevelt showed Mr..
Baer that he was somewhat mistaken;
that God may have made the mines,
that Mr.. Baer and his friends might
own the mines, but that the little old
United States had something to say
about the running of the mines and
the running of the railroads in the in
terest of the people of this country.
That is what President Harding
should have done last summer. If he
had, people would not now be SILVER
ing and suffering.
Maybe the politicians for fear Of
offending certain stubborn and cock
sure labor leaders and losing some
votes last fall hesitated at the pro-
pitious moment to say whats what"
and to press a more conciliating and
propitiating mood upon the miners
why, maybe, these politicians will have
a little more sand in their craw next
time, maybe.
Maybe, our Solons and Warwicks
will bye and bye wake up to the fact
that the public comes first, before any
class, clique or combination.
For twenty years Rip Van Wrinkle
slept; for twenty years u political
leaders have been seeing ghosts where
there are only shadows. No set Of
men-coal barons, miners or whatnot
have a right to cruelty the public;
and this, all classes and all combina-
lions must sooner or later be taught,
no matter what the lesson costs.
In this dispute, however, truth
aoyoDo1o tho statement that tho Onq1
barons were far more to blame than
the miners. After some foolish hesi-
tation the miners were willing to con-
ciliate, to arbitrate, to settle by rea-
sonable adjudication. But the coal
barons would not listen. Like King
Louis, they exalted themselves in
grandeur and assumed they were the
State. These coal barons would not
listen to Cancellation, would not hear
of arbitration, would not heed the APP
peals of government boards or the
y of philanthropic-minded bod
les. They were determined to fight
the strike through to a finish.
They did. They now fill their pock-
cts through exorbitant prices for coal
and the public bears the scars and
wounds of the fight. From beginning
to end the coal barons consistently
and persistently acted the sentiment,
even if they did not utter it, that "The
people be damned!"-and today the
people are damned in the throes and
pangs of the biting, gnawing, racking,
qexcruciating and tormentful fingers of
frost and cold. Maybe, the people of
the United States will stand a repe-
tition of such a penalty, maybe, and
maybe not.
The other day Senator Walsh. of
Massachusetts, made a speech in
which he said the present coal situa-
ton is a disgrace to the government
of the United States. That such a
situation could exist, he said, was a
serious indictment of the efficiency
and the functioning of the government
to foster and protect the welfare of
the people.
He said a Republican President and
a Republican Congress were primarily
to blame, but he also mercilessly ar
raigned Democratic Senators and
Democratic Congressman for not fore
ing the hand of the Republicans last
summer and for not waging such a
fight as would have compelled an ar
bitration of the coal strike and averted
the suffering and misery which the