Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-05-21
THE MATTER OF FUEL

the QaWulnS COnNlCtlOu tudt we dtS
between the devil and the deep sea
in the matter of fuel with which to
keep warm. Wood required for such
purpose is not available; electricity
can't do it; anthracite is virtually In
control Of a close corporation inclined
to demand the pound Of flesh. There
10 an abundance Of soft coal and
ways undoubtedly may be devised
for reducing II to more convenient
form for shipping and storage, In
which event the present users Of
anthracite could more easily be in
duced to use the bituminous variety.
But here we como head on
against the force which made the
Herrin massacre, the force which
has defied the county Of Williamson.
state Of Illinois, which declares that
miner not belonging to the union
shall not mine coal though human
beings freeze by the thousands. the
force that received the aid of a
strike in the field Of transportation
and menaced this country last win
ter.
The United Mine Workers are out
to control the soft coal industry. and
strangely enough one Of the ways by
which it is seeking this control is
by and through government owner
ship Of the coal mines and the
political control it would have
through the forces of labor. 1t was
by means of it's political grip on the
situation that it was able to pro-
tect the murderers at Herrin. 1t
is defiant in its success. This great
country is powerless to bring those
criminals to justice. The United
Mine Workers enforce the check on
system on every union mine by which
1t Is said they have war chest OF
fifteen million dollars. Naturally,
they, being determined to rule that
industry, fix their own wage and defy
the law, are determined to get con-
troll of the union mines when
they will have clear field for en-
forcing the DEGREES Of super
government.
The brief of the Bituminious Oper-
ators' Special Committee detailing
the facts of the Herrin massacre and
the failure to secure convictions for
the twenty murders there committed,
charges that The United Mine Work
ers, las an organization. planned
and executed the crimes by terrorism
and the use of a special check-off tax
approximatlng 100000. together
with community intimidation, pre-
vented the guilty from being brought
to justice"
"Eut," one says: this is only the
story of the mine operators" Yes,
It makes no pretense of being any
thing else. But who can deny the
facts that the massacre occurred
that trials of the murderers failed
that funds of the United Mine
Workers were used to protect the
,murderers and to make it appear to
the world that these murderers were
but soldiers fighting to save the
workers of the world from slavery?
Such conditions as these confront
the user of coal, whether for the
keeping: of his home or for the fires
under the boilers of industry. And
that is not all confronting US. There
is evidence that the operator is fully
as greedy. He will hesitate no more
than the United Mine Workers to
take as much toll as he thinks the
traffic will bear.
In the anthracite field the owners
have of late been raising royalties
and it is stated that Gerard College
assumedly a benevolent institution
and owner Of anthracite fields. has
raised its royalty demand from forty
eight cents before the war to $3.50
cents per ton today. When Massa-
chusetts passed a law to prevent the
shipment of rock and slate in place
of anthracite the shippers replied by
sending the coal elsewhere, there
being plenty of demand for 1t. The
public is the orange and the com.
bines, whether unions or combina-
tions of capital, are determined tt
suck it dry. Greed is at the helm o.
fuel production in this country today
1t would be silly to try to blink thu
fact, though in justice 1t should b.
said that reports about the retail
dealers show that many of them deal
fairly and honorably and some los
money in so doing last winter. 1t 1!
one thing to eXtort money from thos'
living far away and entirely anothe
to so out and rob your neighbo
with whom one has chosen to maxi
his home and his business.
And are We to freeze another win
ter? Probably not. though we ma,
undergo great suffering. II not then
later. unless the promise Of solution
of the problem is brighter tn IN RICH
at present. A Government commits
sion is gathering statistics and 1
said to be doing rather better thai
expected, but statistics neither min
nor transport coal and a com
mission is a long time at what
ever job 1t undertakes. It vii
be better to do our worryin,
about fuel for the next winter this