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Summer Meeting of Mining Institute of America.
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24)
above, the operator is usually the recipient of
the rebuffs of the public. The press has much to
do with the reputation and misinterpretations
w-hich the public place upon the coal operators,
calling them Coal Barons and other terms which
hold them up to more or less derision and place
them in a false light before the public. Many
people, without any knowledge of the facts in
the case claim, without any apparent thought of
truthfulness, that the operators make a great
amount of money out of their property, at the
sacrifice of everything that is manly, including
the killing of their employees and charging the
consumer exorbitant rates for coal. Statements
of this kind made in the public press are permitted
to go without being contradicted by any
person for several reasons.
lst. A contradiction by the operators would
not avail them anything because the people who
would be willing to believe
SUCH A CONTRADICTION
w-ould not have the matter brought to their attention
in a way that they would give it any
consideration.
2nd. If it were denied, the denial would not be
brought to the attention of the public anything
like as vigorously as the statements made originally,
unless the operator would pay for the space
necessary, which would under those circumstances
not have the same effect as the original statement.
It is therefore of little or no use for the operator
to undertake to contradict these statements.
Again many yellow journals, including a number
of the cheap magazines, have published articles
in connection with the coal mining industry that
are gross fabrications and mis-statements of the
facts, in order to sell their publications. The
general reading public, however, are not able to
judge of these matters and therefore get the impressions
which are sent forth through the columns
of these journals. All of which tend to
create a feeling of animosity against those who
have probably much more than their share of
the burden to bear.
3rd. The operator is forced often times by a
number of conditions to sell his coal at a price
that means no profit to him. When this occurs
it is only a question of time until some person
suffers.
4th. The operator also deals with the labor
around the mine and in his negotiations with labor,
either personally or through representation,
such as the labor unions, he is oftentimes forced
by reason of circumstances, public opinion, or
other considerations beyond his control, to grant
prices for the labor which will not be at all war­
THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. 45
ranted by the price at which he must sell his coal.
5th. Another matter which is a serious one to
the operator is the position which our Government
is advocating and which posterity also demands
from him, namely the conservation of
fuel. As conditions exist to-day, taking for example
in the Pittsburgh District
FROM 40 TO 60 PER CENT.
of the Pittsburgh seam of coal, including as
the seam roof coal and all, is lost in the mining,
for the reason that the operator could not
sell this coal for a price that would be equal to
that of the cost of production, and yet the demand
is upon him just the same to mine this
coal in order to protect the fuel supply for future
generations. Under the present existing
methods of operation, a greater percentage of the
recovery of coal cannot be expected or accomplished.
It therefore becomes a matter of importance
that the Government should in some
way assist in solving this problem, and not place
the entire blame and burden on the operator.
6th. The most serious problem, however, that
confronts the operator is that if he should attempt
to join with his fellow operators in some
sort of combination, by which the industry can
be put on a more equitable basis, as to the amount
of coal produced, the wages paid, the price at
which the coal is to be sold and various other
matters which are of vital interest to all persons
concerned, he will at once be haled into court
as attempting a combination in restraint of trade
under the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. The result
is that the operators in each district or each operator
alone, must decide a number of these questions
alone, which can only be decided by them
equitably by their joining in some sort of union
so that all interests in connection with the matter
should be protected.
THE POSITION OF .MINE LAHOR TO THE BITUMINOUS
COAL INDUSTRY.
There is no part of the business of producing
coal that comes more directly in touch with the
people at large than the question of conditions
that surround the mine labor at the mines. This
applies to his conditions of living, whether the
house which he occupies be comfortable and commodious
for his family, whether the rent which
he pays for it is fair and equitable, and not so
high that he is not able to pay for it without
being burdensome to him. Whether the cost of
food stuffs and clothing shall be at a price that
will enable him to properly clothe and feed his
family. Whether the conditions surrounding his
work, at or in the mine, are such that he is
given the greatest amount of safety compatible
with his work. Whether he shall be given employment
regularly, and last of all whether, considering
all of these conditions, he shall receive
a fair price for his labor, in order that he may