coal trade bulletin - Clpdigital.org

THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN, 21
COAL MINING INSTITUTE HOLDS SUCCESSFUL WINTER SESSION
AND ELECTS OFFICERS
The twenty-ninth winter session of the Coal
Mining Institute of America, the oldest organization
of its kind in the United States, convened
Dec. 4 in the assembly room of the Port Pitt
hotel, Pittsburgh, with a large number of the members
in attendance. President W. E. Fohl, a
mining engineer of this city, presided. After a
short address of welcome by the president a business
session was held.
A resolution for a committee to co-operate with
the state bureau of mines in regard to an investigation
of portable electric mine lamps was adopted.
Among those at the opening session were: Dr.
Edward W. Parker, statistician of the United
States Geological survey, of »\'ashington, D. C;
C. L. Clark, of Wilkes-Barre; R. N. Hosier, of Indiana;
John I. Pratt, state mine inspector; Dr.
W. R, Crane, dean of the mining department of
Pennsylvania State college; F. H. Shallenberger;
Thomas K. Adams, mine inspector, of Mercer;
Jesse K. Johnston, of Charleroi, and Elias Phillips,
of Dubois.
Following the business session Mr. Harrington
Emerson, of New York, read a paper in "Efficiency
of Bituminous Coal Mining" that elicited some
considerable discussion.
Perhaps the most important part of this discussion
came from T. L. Lewis, ex-president of
the United Mine Workers, who said that he agreed
with many of the declarations of the speaker, and
who broadened out to a somewhat general discussion
of the relations existent between the mine
operators and their working forces.
One thing he said was that until such time as
the coal mine operators get together in an united
body they will be afflicted with the arbitrary demands
of miners, for the reason that the miner
thinks, and rightly, he asserted, that if the mine
owner does not get a remunerative price for his
coal it is no concern of the miner, who places a
value on his labor; and he maintains that the
mine owner should place a remunerative price on
his coal. He declared that coal is being furnished
to the consumers of this country at a price that
does not compensate the owners of mines, and
that, as a result, there is always contention between
the miners and their employers when there
should be peace, harmony and co-operation.
Coal is a necessity of life, he declared, and because
it is the men who produce it should receive
a fair rate of profit on its production. He asserted
that its heaviest cost to the ultimate consumer
is in transportation and distribution, and
he resented with scorn the prevalent opinion,
voiced througr press and from platform, that the
coal mine owner and operator is a man of sin,
without conscience and devoid of feeling for humanity.
He asserted that in his long experience
w ith mine operators he had never found men of
more generous impulses or feeling, nor any who
were less open-minded to reason and the relation
of facts to conditions which confronted them and
their working forces.
This was followed by a paper on "Safeguarding
the Use of Electricity in Mines" by Clyde G.
Brehm, electrician of the Oliver & Snyder Steel
Co., of Uniontown, Pa.
The final paper of the afternoon session was
one by Jesse K. Johnston, of Charieroi, Pa., on "A
Study of Wages and Selling Price of Coal in the
Pittsburgh District," which contained some important
and hitherto unpublished statistics.
The annual banquet was held at 6.30 and along
with the dinner some additional discussions were
had.
Mr. Lewis amplified his ideas advanced during
the afternoon and urged, with citation of facts,
statistics and an eloquent appeal, the organization
of the mine owners into district, state and
national organization. He said that the miners
are organized, that that is a fact; that there will
always be a miners' organization, and that the
coal mine owners must realize and recognize this
fact. He said it is useless lor mine owners to
delude themselves with the dream of being able
to operate their mines on a non-union basis, because
this is an age of organization in all departments
of business life; an age when men of intelligence
recognize the benefits that accrue from
working en masse for the achievement of desired
results, and that the man who attempts to oppose
this idea will find himself not only in a minority,
but who will meet the fate of those who fight
against natural laws.
There were several non-union mine managers in
the meeting, and in their comments they generally
agreed with Mr. Lewis' generalities, but dissented
from his conclusions. However, the sentiment
was that there should be an organization,
and there was commendation of Lewis' declaration
that strikes are not only a stupid and ridiculous
thing, but entirely unnecessary. He said they
are economically wrong, outrageous, and unnecessary;
because they can be avoided by the exercise
of intelligence.
Among those who spoke during the banquet, in
addition to Mr. Lewis was Mr. H. M. Wilson of
the United States Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh sta-