OCR Text |
Show DISPUTE MUST END. The soft coal mining strike now is in its twenty-fourth day, with both operators and miners haggling over settlement terms, despite their repeated re-peated professions of anxiety to get together, to-gether, compose their differences and end the tie-up in the coal mining industry. in-dustry. Particularly since the courts of the United States took a hand in tho controversy the disputants have loudly announced a readiness to get together to-gether and adjust matters. But they have boon getting together only to flatly flat-ly refuse to make any concessions which would permit of a realization of their expressed desires. Today may or may not see some steps actually taken in the direction of agreement upon proposals. The outlook is none too reassuring. re-assuring. Meantime essential industries are being be-ing curtailed; coal supplies are steadily stead-ily decreasing, with vigorous winter weather already set in in some sections sec-tions involved in the fuel shortage, while transportation is threatened with paralysis and genuine hardships of serious se-rious proportions loom up in all the soft coal consuming regions. "With a large section of the nation operating on coal rations there is no appreciable increase in coal mined in non-union fields and those few coal mines in which union men have returned to work. The Indianapolis court order suppressed nothing more than official direction of the strike. The strike order or-der was rescinded, but the mines are idle. The court injunction did not return re-turn the union men to the collieries. It would seem that the parties to this-.. dispute are overlooking entirely th& public interests, which are greater than the interests of operator or miner. It is enough to justify the suspicion that neither mine owner nor digger is really anxious to make concessions which mean a prompt resumption of mining operations. The miners have been charged with desiring by one means or another to throw operation of the collieries into government hands. What the operators may be driving for does not develop. It is reasonably clear, however, that this dispute must be ended quickly if positive disaster is not to be visited upon the general public now the hapless hap-less victim of a controversy in which it has no direct concern. If sane counsel coun-sel does not prevail among the warring conferees in Washington it is likely that something will happen which will give them cause to regret their mutually mutual-ly selfish policy. |