The Washington times., 1931-10-05
BY, C. EDWARD MORRIS
Copyright, 1881, by International
Nawa SeryiceO

Copyright, 1881, by International
News Service)
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 5. - The
house that coal built is crumbling.
The massive burden of unsound
Overdevelopment is caving in the
roof, precipitating one of the
greatest economic disasters IN
the history of American industry.
The. foundations of the house
are being undermined by large
scale substitutions of other sources
OF power-oil, gas, and water
power-for coal. IRENE d o u S
economies effected through tech
nical improvements by the largest
consumers of soft coal are further
sapping them.
Men in Sad Plight
The walls Of the house are be-
ing perilOusly strained from inside
by the pressure exerted upon them
by nearly quarter Of a million coal
miners who cannot make a living
at the only kind of work they
know how to do and for whom
there Is no place in any other Of
Americas depressed industries.
One hundred and twenty-five
thousand of these miners, at least,
are now hopeleSsly crushed be.
meath the tumbling debris of an
appalling economic debacle. Their
cupboards are as empty as their
pockets. Thousands Of them are
homeless.
Not a man of this stricken
army can reasonably hope to earn
as much as days pay in the
soft coal mines this winter. No
other employment for them is in
sight.
This means that, by the most
conservative estimates, 100000
sturdy working class people, de-
pendent for their bread upon
great basic industry, are doomed
to gradual starvation.
Some Work for Few
Another 100000 miners will be
kept lettering on the brink of
starvation's abyss by one or two
days work a week this winter.
OF all the soft coal miners in
the United States who might be
classed as employed" those who
earn $500 in 1881 will count them
selves lucky. The miner who
earns $1,000 this year to support
his family - and the average
miners family has three children
in twill be prince among his
kind.
The miners plight is only one
side of the grim picture presented
by the crumbling of the house
that coal built. The owners of
the house, the coal operators, are
fighting as desperately to stave
off business death as the miners
are for food for their hungry
children.
There is something approach
ing panic in their scramble to
dodge the economic debris tum-
bling about their ears. In their
mad rush to salvage their in
vested millions they are slaShing
out savagely at each others
threats with the double-edged
sabre Of disastrous pricc-cutting.
Fight for Survival
This vicious war for survival
among the operators is one of the
prime factors working against
stabiliZation of the soft coal in
dustries. They are unanimous in
asserting that. but none seems
willing to be the first to quit the
struggle Their continued enmity
growing more bitter by the
month, further weakens the en-
tire structure of the soft coal in.
dustry.
It cuts deeper and ever deeper
into the earnings Of the miners
already at a level which makes it
difficult for the employed miner
to maintain his home. For from
20 to 80 per cent of the cost of
producing coal is represented by
the labor. The remaining 80
per cent cannot be reduced.
Consequently the only way to
cut production costs is to lower
wages. Hence the steadily in
creasing force of the sledge ham
Hner blows falling on the miners
head.
Already his wage has dwindIed
TO the level where thousands of
miners declare, Il might as well
loaf and Starve as work and
starve." Already the operators
war has brought the price of coal
20 low that the mine owners as q
whole are not making one cent
profit on their investment of un.
counted millions.