Show BUREAU OF MINES RAPPED FOR ITS paternalistic proclivities charge of a most flagrant instance of bureaucracy was laid at the door of the chief of the safety division of the united states bureau of mines b by y harry L gandy executive secretary of the national coal association washington wahington D C in in an address at the recent annual meeting of the pittsburg mine operators association of ohio at cleveland mr gandy made a severe arraignment of efforts for the expansion of governmental activities at washington at the same time he stated 1 I am optimistic enough to believe the people generally are coming to a friendly regard for the bituminous coal industry and that both the federal and the state governments with the exception of some bureaucratic chiefs are showing a more sympathetic understanding der standing of the efforts the operators are making to provide a continuous supply of fuel for the industries and the homes the attack on the bureau of mines was based on the proposal of the bureau to make a nationwide conference on safety one of officials offic bals in which neither the operators who own the properties and who pay the bills nor the miners who do the work and take the hazards shall have any choice in support of the statement that the bureau of mines proposed a conference of bf this nature the speaker read a letter to the president per pared by director T T read of the safety division of the bureau of mines for the signature of secretary work of the interior department in which these sentences appear 1 I have not suggested that representatives of coal producing companies be included as delegates to the conference because it is believed that their inclusion as such would lead to protracted discussion that would probably result in failure to take effective action representatives of the organized crafts of the coal mining industry have also not been included for the reason that they cannot well be invited to participate unless a si similar m i invitation is extended to the operators this proposal is one of the most extreme examples of bureaucratic effort said mr gandy that has come to my attention in more than twenty five years as a close student of public affairs the bituminous coal industry has more than employed emp loyes with or operating concerns scattered through more than twenty states on which for plant and equipment developed and reserve tonnage the engineers valuation committee of the united states coal commission placed a valuation in excess of eleven billion dollars and yet the bureau of mines proposes that no one from this industry shall have voice or vote in a conference which so vitally affects its interests and the lives of the men employed in it A conference of officeholders only if you please to pass on a question as far reaching as this As an official of the national coal association and a representative of the bituminous coal industry I 1 do not concede to the bureau of mines or anyone else a more intense desire that the lives of employed emp loyes be protected wherever pos isble varying conditions require different treat ant the operators have their all at stake and certainly if for no other than a selfish motive they would be and are striving to make their mines safe here anew I 1 pledge the industry in this effort for the safety but not to the extent of undertaking to agree to what a handpicked hand picked conference of officeholders might say without the voice and consel of those who live this problem in their everyday every day life the speaker in reference to the proposed legislation by senator oddie od die for a bureau of coal economics economics remarked if thre there ar are e an any y lines of statistical act activities aviti e s overlooked ov er looked in this measure then my knowledge of the industry is at fault is found in the the attempt to provide compulsion suggested withdrawal of railway transportation from those companies which decline or refuse to report the fact that til time me and again the supreme court has held that the production of coal is not commerce and cannot be charged with a public interest by a mere legislative declaration and that the court held unconstitutional the first child labor law and the child labor tax law which also sought to use the interstate commerce power of the congress as a rather than a regulative measure evidently falls on deaf ears |