Evening star., 1925-08-28
Coal Strike Ordered.

The issuance Of the anthracite strike
order. effective midnight. August 81,
does not come as surprise, though II
is matter of regret Were it not for
the consuming public. which must rely
on coal to prevent suffering and illness
during the Winter and to operate the
industries of the country, the struggle
between the miners and the operators
with results confined to themselves,
might be viewed with equanimity.
Now that the strike has been ordered
and there seems no prospect Of pre-
venting a suspension Of work in the
mines. the question is, how long will
1t continue. How long can the mine
operators and the mine workers stand
a stagnation of the industry? The
resources Of the operators for long
pun are the greater. and the suffering
entailed upon the miners through the
loss of a million dollars a day will be
felt with increasing severity as their
individual resources and the unions
strike fund decreases. Two years ago
the anthracite workers went out on
strike. but through the good offices OF
Gov. Pinchot of Pennsylvania an
agreement was reached in a short time
end the suspension of work was for
three weeks only. BY that settlement
the miners received a 10 per cent IN
crease in wages. Today. however, the
operators insist that the business does
Of I4 fy,- @h- do
manded. but rather a decrease.
The strike comes at time when the
consumption Of coal has been at its
lowest ebb for five months, and the
production has been in a measure for
the accumulation of stocks" to be
used during the coming Fall and Win.
ter. This is helpful to the consumer
who, warned Of the approaching strike,
has laid in his Winters coal. or part
of It. The stocks OF coal above ground
are greater by far than IL the suspen.
sion of work had come, for example, in
March or April. Under these condi
tions and with the addition Of substi
tutes, the public should be in a posi-
ton to stand a strike now with less
discomfort and suffering than at times
in the past.
But because the public may not suf
fer so much is no argument for the
use of the strike in an industry that
after all is vitaily necessary to the
people. There should be some better
system of adjustment Of industrial
controversies. The strike is an ap,
peal to force. 1t is war, in which the
public generally, as in most wars, is
the great sufferer.
With the fullest light, with all mat.
ters pertaining to the industry dis.
closed, the peaceful settlement Of con
troversies between operators and min.
ers should be possible. The great trou-
bic in the past. and today, has been
that one side or the other. or both
sides, has not been willing to submit
it's case for adjustment on the actual
facts. To decline to submit case for
such kind of settlement is an admis.
ally is inclined to view with suspicion
the declination of either the operators
or the miners to arbitrate before an
impartial tribunal controversies that
arise. This year it happens to be the
miners who refuse arbitration, though
in the past the operators have de,
clined to arbitrate.
If the strike is Of long continuance
the question of credit allowed by the
storekeepers and business men in the
anthracite district will become a fac.
tor. If the miners resources are close
TO an end, and he cannot obtain credit
then the situation becomes still worse
On the other hand, If the consumers
of anthracite learn, as they may, that
they can get along pretty well with
substitutes for this fuel, and market
for anthracite dwindles more and
more, the pinch will come upon the
operators as well as upon the miners.
Should a strike of the bituminous
miners be called out of sympathy for
the anthracite workers and in part to
gain better conditions for the soft coal
miners themselves, the condition in
the country would become vastly more
serious. But such a strike would be
condemned from one end OF the coun
try to another.