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Show COMPLEX SITUATION IN BITUMINOUS COAL INDUSTRY w.it ninssum: i:rri:crrs n aiinoumaIj inchuasi:. Cut In Price or Soft Product Would Mean Itr-durtlon of Wages Which tho Country fs Not Yet Itcndy to Itccclvp fJovrrnmcnt Slust of No cosslly Conlluun 1'ricc Fixing. Correspondcneo Tho Bun. IIOSTON, Mass., Nov.' SS Thn war's termination presents n highly complex situation In thn bituminous coal industry of tho United fitntes, m)s today's Ha)den-Hlnn news letter. War pressuro has effected nn abnormal abnor-mal Increase In tho soft coal prodil-Hon prodil-Hon I'nr example. In the nlno months to flcptcmbcr 10th the United Htates mined 447,900,000 tons of soft roal This suggests a tolnt for all or 191 or 616.000,000 In 696,000,000 tons, the latter riguro representing n gain or S 0.000.060 tons or 1H per rent over the tons mined In 1916 Itrnndly speaking, speak-ing, tho country so far during 191 hns been producing soft coal nt n rat of 126.000.000 tons In exiuss of tho 1911 total. This Is, of roursc. nn abnormal growth nnd clearly promise prom-ise derided over production wero It to bo continued. The complexity of tho situation Is better appreciated when It I recalled that thn natural peottotnle method of ohcrklng this over production wo.ild bo n cut In price or bituminous. Ilut hero tho question of wages assume vltnl Im portnme. Prolmbly 70 to 76 per cent of the nvcrngo coat of soft conl represents re-presents labor. And wage paid In the different soft conl fields have advanced ad-vanced 100 to 136 percent since 1911 Any drastic cut In wage would quick-I) quick-I) bo measured In strikes and miner might very properly object to n sudden sud-den sealing down In w aires nt n time when tower rood prices seem Immediately Im-mediately Impossible nnd perhaps not possible In nny major wny for a ymr or two lu lew or our International obligations to feed the war hungry people or Klirope.. Our object In sketching this dilemma. dilem-ma. Is not only In show tho particular problem or nn essential labor Indus-ID Indus-ID like bituminous coal, says tho letter, but tn suggest tho ncttvo probability prob-ability that tho confuilon Is so great Unit tho government must or necessity neces-sity cnntliiuo to rrgulate coal price for some time to come Thn fuel administration ad-ministration ha a. legal exlsleme until un-til peace Is signed, so that no legislation legisla-tion would be needed tn mnkn such regulation possible It I nenernl opinion that what Is likely to hspi-cu will be tho establishing or minimum nnd maximum prices. Such n regulation regula-tion would glv'o quality roal Its Innings, In-nings, nmphasls on production has ii fur eliminated mimlderntlon of quality. Hut with ltfned demand It I ii innrnl certainty that quality coal will liavo first call. In fact, as con-ill con-ill lions oxliled up to thirty days ago roal of Nor) Inferior grade was being sold at the same prices n hlghgrado coals. Many or these lowgrndo mine wilt bo automatically driven out of hualiipss. Porno over production will be eliminated by this process of ro-emphasis ro-emphasis upon quality Thero I belloved to be a good opportunity op-portunity to build up n large export business In quality sort toal Italy, rrnnra nnd Houth America would bo glad of large tonnage or American It Is n quwrtlon or transportation and prlco ugreemrnt |