MjkitCH 18, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



47 



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FUEL FEUD FAILS TO FADE 



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TWO SIDES IN DEADLOCK. 



Coal Commission Reports. 



^l)lce Friday, March 12, when Presi- 

 dent Wilson received the majority and 

 minority reports of the bituminous coal 

 commission, the trade has been watch- 

 fully waiting to see what improvement 

 can be made in an apparently hopeless 

 situation. At that time, it seemed that 

 the President could do little, if any- 

 thing, more to bring the miners and 

 operators together and that, consequent- 

 ly, the miners would probably quit their 

 jobs voluntarily April 1, when the pres- 

 ent working agreement will expire. 

 Whether the miners strike or whether 

 the increase recommended by the com- 

 mission in the government-fixed price 

 of coal becomes effec- 

 tive, the cost of heating 

 greenhouses next winter 

 will assuredly be great- 

 er. 



The President had 

 urged the commission to 

 come to a unanimous de- 

 cision, but J. P. White, 

 representing the miners, 

 held out to the last for a 

 reduction of hours from 

 the present eight per 

 day to seven, if not to 

 six, as originally de- 

 manded by the miners. 



has been a steady increase in the cost 

 of living since the first of this year, in 

 spite of the fact that the government 

 represented to labor last summer that 

 living costs would be reduced and that 

 the government would see to it that this 

 was done. Further promises of reduc- 

 tions in the cost of living would fall on 

 deaf ears as far as the coal miners are 

 concerned, because they have had their 

 experience with such promises in the 

 past, all of which have gone unful- 

 filled. Nothing short of a substantial 

 increase in wages and improved work- 

 ing conditions will be acceptable to the 

 United Mine Workers of America." 



A further indication of the miners' 

 feeling is given in the resolution passed 

 unanimously March 9 by the biennial 

 convention of District No. 14 of the 



Majority Beport. 



Recommendations by 

 Bituminous Co£d Commission 



The majority report, 

 signed by H. M. Robin- 

 son, chairman and repre- 

 sentative of the public, 

 and Rembrandt Peale, 

 for the operators, rec- 

 ommends a twenty-seven 

 per cent increase in 

 wages over what the 

 men were getting when 

 they struck last winter, 

 an 8-hour day, an imme- 

 diate increase in the 

 maximum government- 

 fixed price of coal, 

 amounting in some fieilds 

 to 70 cents per ton, and 

 the removal of all gov- 

 ernmental restrictions of -^ 

 the price of coal and also of all gov- 

 ernmental regulation of distribution, 

 beginning with the new coal year 

 -Vcril 1. 



ff the miners stop work April 1, it 

 will be because of their failure to win 

 shorter hours and a greater wage in- 

 crease than either the fourteen per cent 

 firanted by governmental decree or the 

 twenty-seven per cent recommended by 

 the majority of the commission. It is 

 Hot planned, however, to make the tacti- 

 cal mistake of last winter and call a 

 formal strike, thus exposing the lead- 

 "s, if not all the miners, to injunction 

 rroceedings. The workers would simply 

 I'lit work voluntarily. 



That the attitude of the miners is far 

 i'om conciliatory is indicated by a 

 ■■-atement issued by the headquarters of 

 ' "e United Mine Workers of America at 

 ' "lianapolis March 9. It said: "There 



A twenty-seven per cent increase over the wages 

 which the miners were receiving when they struck, 

 this increase being thirteen per cent in addition to 

 the fourteen per cent advance given the miners when 

 they resumed work. 



An 8-hour day, as at present, instead of the 6-hour 

 day demanded by the miners. 



An immediate increase in the maximum govern- 

 ment-fixed price of coal, amounting in some fields to 

 70 cents per ton. 



The removal of all government restrictions of the 

 price of coal and of all government reg^ation of 

 distribution, beginning with the new coal year this 

 spring. 



unconstitutional, on the ground that 

 this act was passed to aid in the prose- 

 cution of the war and cannot legally be 

 applied to such a situation as this in 

 time of peace. William Howard Taft, 

 who recently rendered an opinion to the 

 Smokeless Coal Operators' Association, 

 is one of those holding this view. 



When Attorney-general Palmer wai 

 asked by representatives of the Wes: 

 Virginia anthracite coal operaton 

 whether he would consent to a removal 

 of all price restrictions April 1, he re- 

 plied that he was not the fuel adminis- 

 trator. In reference to a possible suit 

 to test the application of the Lever act 

 to this situation, Mr. Palmer said that 

 he would stand pat. 



While controversies in the anthracite 

 field are of interest to fewer greenhouse 

 owners, it may be noted 

 that the settlement here 

 is expected to be reached 

 independently of what is 

 decided for the bitumi- 

 nous mines. A general 

 conference of operators 

 and union men in New 

 York city has appointed 

 a subcommittee of eight, 

 consisting of four opera- 

 tors and four union men. 

 This subcommittee has 

 held several sessions, 

 considering the miners' 

 demands for a dosed 

 shop agreement, a 6-hour 

 day, a S-day week and a 

 sixty per cent increase 

 in wages. The complete 

 recognition of the union 

 by the operators is 

 among the most impor- 

 tant of the demands. 



Express Bates. 



United Mine Workers of America in 

 session at Kansas City, Mo. This reso- 

 lution pledges to the district's presi- 

 dent, Alexander Howat, the delegates' 

 support "at any time he might see fit 

 to call a strike." 



Operators Opposing Lever Act. 



But the miners are not the only ones 

 to express dissatisfaction with the way 

 things are going, especially with the re- 

 sult of the government's participation 

 in the controversy. The operators have 

 for some time been distinctly restless 

 under the price restrictions of the Lever 

 act and it is reported that if these re- 

 strictions are not removed April 1, 

 some of the operators plan to defy them 

 and sell their coal for the best prices 

 they can get. They have been advised 

 by counsel that the application of the 

 Lever act to the present situation is 



While the prospects 

 for obtaining coal for 

 the next cold season are 

 thus by no means pleas- 

 ant, either as to prices 

 or as to quantity avail- 

 able and promptness in 

 securing it, not all the 

 clouds in the sky are 

 over the fuel field. The 

 American Railway Ex- 

 ])resa Co. filed a petition March 13 with 

 tlio interstate commerce commission, 

 asking for increased express charges, 

 ranging from ten to seventy-five per 

 cent. The company asked for a flat 

 twenty-five per cent increase east of 

 the Mississippi river and north of the 

 Ohio river. Between points in that dis- 

 trict and other sections of the country 

 the increase would be ten per cent. Th 

 largest increase sought was for aetut 

 hauling, for which the company asked 

 seventy-five per cent additional in th( 

 eastern district and fifty per cent else 

 where. An increase of thirty-three and, 

 one-third per cent was asked for termi-. 

 nal handling of shipments^ more than 

 half of which would be turned over to 

 the railroad companies. 



Not only will such disturbances and 

 price increases as these affect the green- 

 houseman directlv, but the trade as a 



