Evening star., 1927-10-30

" - ~ II WOI IA Oll luSl
1t burns its way through the
years. The ancient civiliza.
~ tions made no such use of
combustion. A few sticks
kept the pot boiling, and a bag of
charcoal served the purpose of the
smith. Torches and oil lamps We're
convenient but not indispensable.
Man began to burn his world seriously
only 200 years ago.
The tradition is therefore that coal
and oil are commodities like marble
or leather, to be bought and sold in
the same fashion, chartered over, re-
fused or withheld. Quite inSidiously
they have become fundamental ne
ceasities for our social and economic
order. But the old ways of dealing
remain. We still treat them as Incl
dental commodities. Perhaps the old
methods have hung about too long.
We may now be on the road to very
profound changes in our dealings
with oil and coal.
In America the more prominent is
sue is oil. Both in England and i'll
America "Oil," Mr.. Upton Sinclair's
book, in spite of his peculiar methods
OF advertisement, has Crept inSidious-
ly and surely to a success. l find
quite a number of my friends read.
ing it. l see strangers reading it in
euo u am. SNluellllS Peopie "dilt
ideas about oil.
Mining Issue Is Urgent.
In Britain the more urgent aspect
of the fuel question is the coal-min-
ing issue. The general strike, fol.
lowing the coal lockout of 1926, set
tied nothing. In the labor debacle
that ensued, the miners lost most of
the points they had fought for; they
had to accept longer hours and a
lower standard Of living, and the in.
dustry readjusted itself to the con-
ditions of a declining industry. 1t
has continued to decline. There re.
main great numbers of miners unem.
ployed, and profits are unsatisfactory.
Coal trouble is becoming the chronic
ailment of Great Britain.
There was a phase in the British
coal drama when coal production
was subsidized. l believe that for
the effective permanent re-establish-
ment Of British prosperity there must
be return to subsidized coal. 1t is
the only way of reconciling two other.
wise incompatible needs-an abundant
cheap supply of the various sorts of
coal needed for British shipping,
transport and industrial activities,
and a decent standard of life for the
body of men needed to win the coal.
No doubt to those who hold to the
old-fashioned way of regarding coal
as something you can do without and
still play your part in life, it is shock
ing to think of the community paying
fer coal to be sold again at a loss
for that is what the subsidy amounts
to; but to any one who grasps its
altered status as a social necessity it
will be no more shocking than the
abolition of toll-gates and the pro-
vision of highroads at the common
expense. !
Transport Would Be Cheapened.
Suppose the coal supply were
firmly established on a subsidized
basis and the subsidy counter.bal.
anced by a countervailing duty on
the export of coal-because there is
no reason whatever why the British
taxpayer should pay in part for the
coal consumed by the foreign indus.
tTalist-what would be the effect upon
the community as a whole?
Manifestly there would be cheap.
ening Of transport, a stimulation of
the metallurgical industries, a cheap.
ening Of the cost Of power and either
q reduction of wages or an elevation
nary worker, enabling him to spend
the money he would save on coal on
manufactured goods.
cannot imagine anything but a
general stimulation of the entire
economic life of the community.
Cheaper transport and cost Of pro-
duction would invigorate the coun.
try's competitive export Of manufac-
tured goods and in it's turn react upon
the coal industry with an enlarged
demand for coal.
Naturally, a subsidized undertaking
will mean a controlled industry;
there is not the slightest benefit to
the community If either coal owners
ar coal merchants are allowed to in
tercept and absorb the subsidy. A
subsidy means compounded royalties,
restricted profits and scientific direc.
ton. And. as naturally, the recogni-
ton of coal mining as a public service
will change the status of the miner.
Result of Slow Development.
The present condition of the min
ing worker has been the result of
slow developments and, like most so.
cial arrangements that have grown
up slowly, it is a thoroughly bad COM
plex of laws, customs and tolerated
conventions. Only usage blinds us to
the absurdity of system by which a
man who has specialized in coal win
ming and who is ready and willing to
go into the mine and win his stint OF
coal for the community should not
have every facility given him to dis
charge his task. 1t should be posi-
Bile to calculate the cost to the COM
n1unity of a miner from his birth to
his death; it should be possible to
charge up to him his schooling, hous-
ing, keep, holidays, grave and every
thing else he requires and consumes.
1 Against this it should be possible
TO set, as an equivalent, so many tons
of this or that sort of coal. If he
wins less than that he is a parasite,
If more, he is robbed. And equally
it should be possible TO make his stint
of coal winning easy and convenient
for him, instead of leaving it as Ia.
sborious, uncertain, vexatious and hu.
rniliating as it is now.
Must Justify Existence.
Z It Is the business of civilized com.
gynunity to determine that equivalent
Between coal and consumption, and
arrange for the miner TO justify his
existence as consumer as easily and
spieasantly as possible, slowly OF
sanickly as he chooses. If he sees fl
TO work like the devil, long spells and
Aail the year round, and get it over and
DE assured of all his elemental needs
thereafter for the rest of his life
while he meditates, goes for walks
paints pictures or writes poetry. he
10ught to be able TO do so without
making existence intolerable for fel
low miner with a more leisurely con
8ceptlon Of his life work. A modern
civilized community ought to be able
to cater for it's laborers on such f1eXi
hIe terms. It ought to command Suf
Ancient intelligence to estimate ahead
Bwhat 1t will want in the way of Goa
and enlist it's miners on long-tern
Z .Aa..,nntr Cor dnfnifa amount ot