Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-08

The strike in the unionized bitumi-
nous coal fields, now in it's fifth month,
receives scant newspaper space in
competition with presidential politics,
Geneva conferences and the Sacco-Van-
zetti case. Two hundred thousand
miners are idle and most of the mines
In Illinois, Indiana. Ohio and central
Pennsylvania are shut down. This
week sees a new effort to settle the
deadlock between John L. Lewis, the
mine union chief, and the coal oper.
tors over the wage scale. Gov. Don.
ahey of Ohio has called a tristate
conference, with the governors of Hi.
nois and Indiana participating as me.
diators. Lewis and the operators have
consented to renew discussion with
open minds" Neither side is optimistic
of settlement, however. Meantime, to-
tai bituminous coal production up to
July % Of this year, according to the
Governments figures, equaled and
was even little ahead of the total
to the same date last year, due to in
creased activity in the non-union fields.
So danger Of a coal shortage is still
remote. It is a fact, however, that
the current weekly consumption Of
bituminous coal Is exceeding the
weekly production by about million
and half tons, so that the $4,000 900
tons of reserve bituminous in the
hands of industrial consumers last
April is slowly shrinking. Some pes.
simistic observers profess to think
that Mr.. Lewis is playing a waiting
game, and that when the Autumn
frosts come he is planning to call on
short notice a new strike in the an
thracite fields. expecting thereby to
force the hand of the soft coal barons.
OF the LOO delegates to the Repub-
lican convention next year, 492 will be
selected in presidential primaries be-
tween the 18th of March and the 10Th
Of May. These primaries are likely to
prove the real battle-ground of the
nomination fight. New Hampshire
will set the pace and sound the key
note on March 6. North Dakota will
vote on March 20, and Michigan on
April 2. The other primary dates so
| far fixed are April 8, Wisconsin; April
10, Illinois and Nebraska; April "a.
| Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio;
May 1, California; May 7, Maryland;
May 8, Indiana; May Is, New Jersey;
| May IS, Oregon; May %, South Da.
kota; May 20, West Virginia.
X X X X
Ex-Gov. Lowden continues to stand
| pat on his statement earlier in the
Summer, II know Of no man who has
ever run away from the Presidency"
He has forgotten the case of at least
| one man who did just that. In the
| campaign Of 1868 a group of influential
friends of Gen. William T.. Sherman
put forward the name of the great SOL
| der as presidential possibility. Sher-
- lit e,k, +ox~
not candidate. I will not accept a
nomination. II, in spite of that, I am
elected, will not serve" That ended
the Sherman boom.
X y X X
The boom for Will Rogers, as the
Democratic presidential standard-bear-
er, which was started in jest, seems to
have caught the fancy of more than
one serious-minded Democratic chief
tain. A political commentator discuss
mayor Of Beverly Hills listed his
qualifications in this order: % He is
honest. (2) He has a sense Of humor
81 He has plenty of cash. az He has
wide acquaintance. 90 He is popu-
lar with the masses. (6) He is a sue
| cessful (a) cowboy, (b) author, (c) actor,
ID mayor, (e) husband and father.
Perhaps when w. r. makes his per.
sonal appearance at the show being
staged by the National Press Club in
the Washington Auditorium on August
q, he will take that occasion to an
| nounce whether he Chooses" to run.
X X y
Careful compilation Of American in.
vestments in foreign securities, ex-
elusive of political war debts, just pub.
| lished by DIR. Max Winkler, New York
| financial expert. has been a reveal.
ton even to bankers His figures show
a total of $4,000, 100000 American dol.
lars now invested outside our own
country, without taking account Of
| war debts. This far exceeds any pre-
] vious estimate, and Is nearly double