OCR Text |
Show I STRIKE IN THE COAL MINES. As April 1 approaches the public is eager to know whether there is to be a coal miners' strike The oper ators are Insisting on a 38 per cent reduction re-duction in wages and the miners are holding firmly to the present scale. In the meantime both sides are pre paring for an open rupture. It is evident in the district covering cover-ing Utah and Wyoming, that a strike is inevitable In the railroad yards at Ogden enough coal is stored to meet the needs of the steam lines for a period of three months or more Private Pri-vate dealers have large stocks on hand For months the mines have been pushing production to the point of accumulating a large surplus. Even without a strike, the mines will be un able to operate because the markets have been over supplied This points unmistakably to a close down, regard less of whether (he men strike, and, no doubt, the operators will invite a walkout. I With the country extremely dull and employment unobtainable, the miners seem doomed to defeat, and, if they are beaten down to lower wages, coal prices should drop. Ogden never should be required to pa $9.50 a ton lor lump coal. There was a time when j the consumers were offered the high est grade coal at $4.75 a ton. Railroad rates also should be cut. With lower wages to miners and a lower railroad charge, the price of coal in Ogden should come down out of the clouds. |