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Show allies who owe this country a matter of ten billion, or more, squarely on a level with Germany in respect to ability to pay. The article says nothing about the desire of the debtors not to pay, hence The Citizen proposes to discuss the proposition briefly from this stand- It little wonder that there is little or no response to the ope frantic pleas that next winters supply of coal be purchased Those able to purchase their coal now at inflated prices are wak for a fall in price which they realize must come. point. Secretary Falls cryptic words to the coal operators should Great Britain and every other foreign nation associated with this a far reaching effect. He holds a club in his hands, and he will ft country in the late international fuss, is now bending every effort presumed, be ready to use it in' behalf of the public if necessa to the development of foreign trade and extension of their foreign Operators who have maintained war prices for coal, when al markets. From the moment of the signing of the armistice Great every other commodity has been cut to the bone, will do Veli Britain and all the rest of the war torn nations have sought every remember the secretarys meaningful statement when the opportunity to regain all their foreign customers, particularly those comes. Here is what he told them : Sooner or later you may where American exporters had secured some of the trade. The yourselves in competition with the government in the matter desire and the effort being put forth to regain and to extend trade prices. It is for you to say whether you will with be but in to itself is of allied not on the part the censured, nations, government now, or whether you will be compelled .to do it. American taxpayers will scarcely look with complaisance upon delay When one of the strong men of President Hardings cabii in payment of interest charges on the allies debt to us at the same chooses to use such direct language in dealing with a class of pn secure to efforts frantic such time when they are making e foreign eers still clinging desperately to the old miasma of pejji markets and using vast sums of money to promote the ventures. prices, is it not about time the citizens took concerted action to sgTtlie Loaded down with the most gigantic domestic tax ever levied tain him. No one except, those obsessed with socialistic sophis? .$1 on any people, paying tribute to money changers for having loyally wants the government to engage in the coal business. But if it (this supported the governments Liberty loans to finance the allies, is it the only alternative to secure a square deal for the public, let ushojertS any wonder that the taxpayers now demand that Great Britain and that it will be extended to the coal mines of Utah where operatr the rest of the debtor nations, at least pay over to this country the expenses have been deeply cut and where e prices are st$ V interest on their loans and take this much of the burden of the war in vogue. dementia from off their shoulders? They realize that for every dollar And you are being asked to lay in your supply of winter coal 1 w in interest held back by a foreign debtor, they must pay that much the old 1920 in obtained under a direct of that an threat if 1 price in national taxes to keep the nation functioning, and besides they vance of 50 cents per ton in the next few weeks. How do youli nationals of alive the. hungry know they must contribute to keep this sort of profiteering when no less a personage than Secretary J of war. the because and small nations stript of wealth provider one of the stalwarts of the administration, has told the coal barockj, not to an only that they must lower prices to the consumer or stand for goven unholy attempt' They sense in this proposition urc but war the worlds for of full burden America, the upon paying lay mental competition? Think it over. use nations .a juggling of accounts, so that the European may American interest money to gain their own ends in promoting THE OIL SITUATION. foreign trade relations. Another evidence of the way in which Great Britain is using Price of crude oil to the producer has fallen to a minimum Americas interest money to extend her foreign trade is given by the United States and . the industry is at a low ebb. A President Jonathan Bourne, Jr., of the Republican Publicity AssoRepresentatives of the petroleum institute state that there ciation, who recently said : in this, country and the present output must bjerd Britain used Great methods of the An impressive illustration by curbed through further decreases in prices for crude oils, if neccileb! in promoting her commercial interests is seen in the subsidizing j T sary. of the British coal industry. The normal production of coal in the The total quantity of petroleum imported this fiscal year intjng which of is about 70,000,000 the about 270,000,000 tons, United Kingdom country will be nearly six billion gallons, against about thradi The is it co-oper- ate -- war-tim- war-tim- ; m Fa! s oVer-producti- on . tons is exported to European and South American countries. United States produces a little more than half a billion tons annually nations. Great and exports less than 18,000,000 tons to trans-oceanBritain has been maintaining government control of the industry under a guarantee against loss, with the result that prior to the strike mines were marketing coal at less than cost of production and, according to reports from Europe, the British treasury was called upon to pay some ten million pounds sterling to make the guarantees good during the month of March. This was a subsidy of $40,000,000 in one month in an effort to enable British coal to regain or retain its markets in Europe. The period of control has expired, the strike has just been settled, and British officials have agreed to a resumption of the subsidy. ic billions in 1920, approximately two billions in 1919, a billion andmii half in 1918 and one billion gallons in 1917. p whicbos a The rapid growth of petroleum imports into country of the mineral oil of the world, ife I produces more than two-thirexplained, as the growing disposition of world industries and comoi merce to move the natural products to points having the best facitf ties for transforming them into condition for the use of man. j. Material change in sentiment in favor of fuel oil, as oppose to coal, has occurred among present and prospective users, because j&j the abundance and cheapness of fuel oil in the United States. Recent statement of a British official, that the British navy woulij v soon be entirely oil burning, and the conversion of some of the biftg gest ships in the British merchant fleet to oil burners, shows ttopj !il; trend of fuel oil consumption in England. Yet England is not ift dependent in regard to oil supplies, like the United States. With increased oil production, fuel users who were diverted tt t coal during the war, are rapidly returning to oil as the more etliciiill ita and economical fuel. ds 1 GOVERNMENT ACTION FORECAST TO LOWER COAL PRICES. Bring down the price of coal or the government will bring it down for you, was the substance of the scathing ultimatum of Secretary Fall to the anthracite and bituminous coal operators at Washington recently, where they had gathered to discuss the national coal situation. Having delivered this ultimatum to the coal men the secretary, disgusted with their pained expostulations and attempts to costs, left the room, slamming justify the present range of war-tim- e the door with a resounding whack as he went. It is quite beyond peradventurc of a doubt but that the secretarys words and his actions will meet with the warmest approval of the public. The price of coal must come down to the consumer or many families, all over the country, will go cold next winter. tai LINCOLN RECOGNIZED VALUE OF MINES. il r A few hours before Lincoln was assassinated he sent to tb miners in the West the following message: Now that the rebellion is overthrown, and we know il nearly the amount of our national debt, the more gold and silv1 Abrams we mine we make the payment of that debt so much easier. ham Lincoln, April 14, 1865. His message continued: |