Ogden Daily Standard | 1919-12-12 | Page 4 | Garfield's Resignation

I GARFIELD'S RESIGNATION. TNo man in public life has made a better record than Dr. Garfield, and It is to be regretted that be has seen j fit to resign as fuel administrator on on the ground that the settlement of the coal strike was not in keeping with his views. Dr. Garfieldi s said to hold to the opinion that the placing of the whole question of settlement in the hands of a commission made up of one coal operator, op-erator, a coal miner and a third person per-son to represent the public, would result re-sult in an increase in the price of coal to the public. But what would Dr. Garfield do in .an emergency such as confronted the ; country as late as last Tuesday? Would he allow the battle to be fought out, and suffer the horrors of a nation without fuel at the beginning of winter? The miners could not be driven to work at the point of a bayonet and the operators could not he compelled to provide a higher rate of compen-'Bation, compen-'Bation, without violating some of the sacred rights of personal liberty. Most fortunate for us was the de- mmtm i Cision finally reached by the miners tnd endorsed by the operators which illowed the reopening of the mines. Two weeks more of fuel shortage would have brought disaster to more than one large Industry and misery o the people generally. When the commission begins to consider con-sider the terms of the contract to be entered into and the price to be paid for coal, the members should give' thought to iho statement of former Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo, that the coal operators have madte extraordinary profits, and if that bet I true, they should insist on an agree-1 ment which will not increase the cost of coal to the consumer. A sudden upward movement in the price of coal w ould tie an added irri-1 tation to the many sores that now affect af-fect the public in the form of high cost of living, and would make for more unrest