, 1923-04-15

But is the coal problem settled?
Decidedly not" says Roger w. Bah.
son. the statistician who demands
that the coal problem be solved this
spring when 1t can be solved and
that we do not wait until ncxt winter
when It will DO too late to do any.
thing but rush around feverishly to
try to get enough coal to tide US
through the zero weather.
we are a lot like the man who
had a leak in his roof says Mr..
Babson. when It wasn't raining It
didn't need fixing. When It was rain.
Ing he couldn't FIX it. As a result we
have repeated tie-ups; in the spring,
scare talk by the coal dealers; in the
summer. strikesi and in the winter.
the actual shortage. The attached
table will give you a picture of the
situation as II Is. You will note thnt
there hasn't been a single year in
which strikes and lockouts have not
caused less in coal production which
meant higher costs to the
ut now looks rs though history
were going 10 repeat itself again. We
are threatened with another coal
strike this spring.
IF It is allowed to go into effect.
81 Will spell another shortags and
more suffering next year.
six sueh serious tie.ups in the last
twenty-five years are aplenty and
It is possible that We may arrive Mt
the solution OF tho problem by analyz.
ing the cause Of there several tie-ups.
In studying them, I and that they
are surprisingly alike. In each case
miners n operators ave had what
they thought was q real grievance
and real difference. In each case the
government has attempted to deal
with the problem by appointing a
commission
I'm 1897 public sympathy was
largely with the miners who had a
just grievance. As we get down 10
1922. however. we ind the miners
becoming quite able to take care OF
themselves. There IL little choice be
tween the miners and operators as
10 which was the eggrieved and
which the aggressor. Both now have
powerful fighting machines and both
apparently are actuated by the same
motive-to get all they a for them.
selves and to give as little as they
can. The third party in argument,
the great consuming public. has not
done so very well. In every single
instance on record # has taken o
of the beating and has meekly ap-
pointed a commission to patch up the
quarrel between the other two parties.
After being mauled and bled and
robbed by a half dozen operators and
a few thousand miners. the hundred
million consumers have begged Con
sress to appoint a commission. sim
ply because the thing always had
been done and It is assumed. thereof,
that 1t must always be done.
1T personally do not know much
about what went on inside the com.
mission meetings. One can only
Judge by results. and it Is evident
that little or nothing has been accom-
plished-
I'm 1897. for instance, a com.
promise was made between operator
and miner, on September 3rd. Wages
were increased 20 per e and miners
and operators agreed to meet in Jan
uary. 1898, for the purpose Of form
ing a wage scale and making an
annual contract. The strike WIS
very sucressful from the miners
point of view.
I'm 1902 through the mediation Of
B~TeSlQenL 1LOOBtNtlt lnt bdlhc was
settled on October 20, with the
understanding that questions in dis
pute would be submitted to a com
mission. A 10 per cent increase in
wages and a reduction of hours were
granted to the miners.
I'm 1906 the strike was finally
settled through agreement between
operators and miners Themselves.
Not through a third party.
ION April 1. 1910. 100000 miners
went out. The agreements were sub
mitted to the miners and rejected
The strike was finally settled on
September 8 Of hat year. A slight
increase was granted and certain
other concessions. The miners union
paid out se74,ooo in strike benefits
and mines were idle from April 1 to
August 8.
"a conference was called on octo-
her 16. 1919, in an effort TO prevent a
strike, but the operators refused 10
negotiate as long az the strike order
was in force. The miners contract
which really did not expire until
April, 1920. was disregarded. The
presidents appeal to the strikers
failed. The attorney general issued
an order restraining union officinls
from putting the strike into effect.