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Show f THE COAL STRIKE Uncle Sam jstill has the big strike on his hands. The coal miners who belong to the unions have quit work, if they had work, others who had no job have agreed not to take one be- fore the difference between the mine owners and the miners are settled. Some non-union miners have quit out of sympathy. As a rule a strike means higher prices for the consumer to pay when the trouble is over. This does not make the mine owners mad by any means. They are more than likely glad the strike is on. The poor public pays the penalty. There ought to be a court of some, kind instituted where the miners, the coal mine owners and the public could be heard and a square deal for all secured, and then have work go on sensibly. It is an admitted fact among those Interested in the coal industry that there are one-third too many coal mines and coal miners. Under our . present system of mining and selling coal, there are times when all the mines and miners are needed. Then there are times in the slack season when only about one-third of the equipment equip-ment or miners are needed. It is estimated to do away with the excess men and mines by el-- el-- imjnating as far as possible these fluctuations. The railroads, rail-roads, who use about one third of the coal produced, will be required re-quired to buy and store their coal in the summer months when the demand is slack. Special rates for the public should be tried in the effort to have the coal bins of the nation filled dur- 'inffthe summer months which would ' relieve the demand when cold weather arrives. There is but little doubt that the coal industry in-dustry is the victim of profiteering profit-eering by mine owners and sales companies and overcrowded by the workers in it. Which of the two evils is the worst it is hard to say, because the public at large is not blessed with any too much information on the subject. Therefore any plan of relief which is intelligent, orderly order-ly and legal will be welcomed by all. "v'; |