Evening star., 1925-08-29
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL J.. COLLINS.

The die is cast We have crossed
| the Rubicon. II the coal bin is not
already filled. it will perhaps remain
empty until the drawbridge is low
| cred and we can get back on the
| other side.
| This is the dilemma in which Presi
dent John J.. Lewis leaves the Ameri-
| can householder in calling strike
| of $4,000 anthracite coal miners, 10
! begin next Tuesday. In addition to
the $4,000 who quit work there are
| 10000 who remain on duty to keep
the pumps and fans going, so as to
protect the mines from deterioration.
| All of this concerns only the anthra =
! cite field but it is said to be part of
| the agenda to follow with a general
strike of the bituminous coal miners
also.
While it is true that the miners in
| the hituminous field are not so well
! orga nized as in the anthracite mines,
| experience in previous strikes gives
| warning that the non-members of
| unions probably will show sympathy
| with the union walkout and follow.
| comprised only 10000, but 900
miners struck.
In the light of income tax reports
| it is seen that the bituminous oper-
| ators appear 10 be doing fairly well
| for themselves. even in the face of
| paying the miners by the hour three
| and a half times the wages paid 20
| years ago, and more than double the
| tonnage rate. One-third of the oper
| ators earned 100 per cent net profit
or more; out of the total of 3,541
| opera tors. half reported profits ex
| an
| mission finds that the bane of the
| industry lies in the fewness of days
| in which the men are employed, ow
ing to the overdevelopment OF btu
minous mining. The total capacity
of bituminous mines of the country is
q. billion tons a year, but the actual
output, for the last six years, has
| averaged only 1876, 6,692000 tons-less
than half efficiency
! The result is that the miners are
working less than half their time.
Union Fields Non -un. Fields.
Days Annual Days Annual
ro,n.r. me-, WORKED earp'ss 6s w9Ek ssrDEs
2ss5,as f@sds d.y s,T sS sa is5 is5 fsss is fSSSS
| X X y
The condition of overdevelopment,
which reduces the number of days en-
ployed in the year, has not improved
| in the last 20 years. In the decade
from 1900 to 1910 the average num-
ber of days of employment was 218; in
the decade to 1920 it averaged 22O
| days. In the five years following 1920
the average has been only 169 days
out of the total of sos work days in
a year. Yet the wages are required
to be sufficiently high to support the
miner and family in idleness during
the rest of the year, and the consumer
must pay enough for his coal to cover
| that waste of time.
! This is an understatement of the
economic facts, for there Is a range of
| cost of mining. in different mines
from S1.50 to $3.50 ton, and the public
must pay on the basis of the average
cost, instead Of shutting down the
high-cost mines and using only the
product of mines which can be eco
nomically operated. 1t was proposed
in the case of the last strike that Con
gress pass a law prohibiting inter
state commerce In the product Of any
mine which was not kept in operation
a certain number of days each year.
The argument was that the provision
would tend to close down the less
profitable mines and encourage the
stabilization of the business, SO that
there would be fewer miners EN-.
ployed. but they would have full en-
ployment.
Economists state that the bitumi-
nous industry employs now 700, 900
miners to do what could be easily
!done by 100000 or even 400, 900. Wages
could be increased for those needed
as well as more days of employment
given, while the cost of coal to the
public would be radically reduced
There is no other industry, unless it
lbe Grain farming wherein the workers
are idle five months each year and the
public is expected to make up in
lprices for the prolonged waste of time.
With the exception of farming and
Transportation. >-coal mining is the