Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-09-04
BY ROGER W. BABSON.

BABSON PARK. Mass. September
<.--Not much was said in the news
papers at the time of the settlement
IF the anthracite strike this Spring
as TO the extent of labors defeat i'll
this conflict TO make as little talk
as possible, out of respect to labor
was z part of the agreement and all
parties to the agreement acted &C.
cordingly. Since then. however. the
settlement has become fully public
and the defeat which the la Dor in =
terests suffered has been gradually
recognized. and all. from Mr.. Lewis
down to the lowest paid miner, re-
greet having instituted Tie :, :4hc.
As yet the same thing cannot be
said of the miners strika in England.
The general strike called in sympathy
with the miners was a distinct fiaScU.
but the miners strike has not yet
been settled There Is still "A great
shortage of coal in England. The
railway service there is greatly cur
tailed, and coal is being rationed
out, to the great Inconvenience If the
public generally. The coal commis-
sion however. is hard at work and
viii probably recommend Il settle
ment which will lie satisfactory to all
parties. | hope this settlement. how
ever. will be much more than a com =
promise hetw cen the owners of the
mines and the operators. 1t should
go to the root of the problem and
eliminate large number of workers
ard shut down number of mines.
This is the only practical settlement
possible. and the same thing might
he said Of the bituminous situation
in the United States.
Jacksonville Agreement.
AS already stated. there is nothing
20 worry about in connection with the
anthracite situation in this country
for some time to come. With the BIZ
luminous situation. however. the con
ditions are entirely different The
Jacksonville agreement, which expires
March 81 1927. has been a thorn In
the flesh of both the mine owners
and the operators ever since it was
enacted. Moreover. this agreement
has been very embarrassing to the ad.
ministration at Washington. which ~
said to have approved it AT the time.
but has not insisted that it be lived
up to- The facts indicate that the
Jacksonville agreement, which was
made in good faith between the mine
owners and operators. has been lg
nored by certain of the large mine
owners who signed it and that the ad-
ministration has winked at this bad
faith. For this reason both the mine
owners and the Government will be II
an awkward position until March 81.
1927, when the Jacksonville agreement
expires. This is why we see almos
nothing in the papers today about
what is going on in the bituminous
industry. After March 81, 1927. how
ever, the doors will he wide open anC
a free for-au fight may be expected.
Although little appears in print.
those who have visited Ohio and adj
Joining States know that gradually
the unions are losing their power over
the bituminouS mines Every week
some new mine which formerly va:
union mine Is being quietly opened
as non-union mine. Latest stats
tics indicate that only about 20 pc
cent of the bituminous industry is
now unionized. The plan is to have
this nearly all eliminated by next
Spring 1t is very probable that an
official strike will be called in the bi
luminous industry on March 81, W.
but from the way things are working
out. I fail 10 see how this strike car
amount to anything.
Government Legislation Probable.
There is one thing That Such q
strike might do, namely. get the Gov
eminent interested in real. honest
solution of the coal problem. In an
ticipation of this the administration
will doubtless present in Congress al
it's next session bills for the settle
ment Of the coal wage disputes SINH
lar TO the bill which was passed al
the last session concerning the settle
ment of the railway wage disputes.
Readers. however. must not expect
that this has such Il good chance o.
passing as did the railway labor leg
islation which was approved by both
sides. The probabilities are that tho
coal bill will not be approved by MI
Lewis and the other labor leaders.
The important thing for the public
10 remember is that our coal troubles
are far deeper than appear on the
surface. Although we read merely
Of struggles between capital and la
hor. the real difficulty is much more
serious. The facts are that there arr
at least ~ per cent more men engaged
in mining coal than are needed an