The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, March 9, 1931, Page 2

'HE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1931 2. PUT ON SOUNDEST BCONOMIC BASIS IN MANY DECADES} Larger Workings Have Been| Developed Along More Scientific Lines FEWER MEN ARE EMPLOYED) ‘Increased Projects Showed In- crease From 748 in 1923 to 827 in 1929 By FREDRIC J. HASKIN Washington, D. C., March 9.—The bituminous coal mining industry has been going through the most drastic period of reorganization of any ma- Jor industry in the United States and is on a sounder economic basis than it has been in many decades, accord- ing to a survey which has just been completed by Ethelbert Stewart, Unit- ed States Commissioner of Labor Sta- listies. Long regarded as wastefully con- ducted, the industry has been forced by the pressure of the times to clean | house. High cost mines have been forced out of the picture while the larger workings’ have been developed aiong more scientific lines. Except for the period of the World war when every sort of fuel was bad- ly needed, the bituminous coal indus- try has been seriously over-produced. This was true before the depression of 1930 began. The competition of electric power in manufacturing which reduced the demand for fuel oil and natural gas for steam had been steadily pressing the bitumin- ous coal industry into a position of diminished importance. The full measure of the recession which has taken place is shown by compilations which Commissioner Stewart has just completed. In 1923 there were 9331 bituminous coal raines operating in the United States and reporting to the Bureau of Mines. ! Tn 1929, the latest year for which full and accurate figures have been ; checked, there were only 6057 mines in operation. This represents a de- crease of 35 per cent. The decrease, however, was chiefly fn the number of low grade, high cost mines. Mine operators have fol- lowed the policy of concentrating the efforts on the development of the larger mines having richer seams. Where a company owns extensive coal properties, those workings most difficult to operate are closed down. Declines In All Groups Tn the class of mines producing from 100,000 to 200,000 tons of bitu- minous coal a year there was, be- tween 1923 and 1929. a decrease from 935 to 660 in the number of those operated. This was 29.4 per cent. There were in 1923 mines producing between 50,000 and 100,000 tons of coal to the number of 1176, By 1929 these had decreased to 668 or 43.2 per cent. The greatest decline took place in the group of mines producing be- tween 10,000 and 50,000 tons a year. Tr 1923 there were 2742 of these mines ia operation; in 1929 only 1361. Here a decrease of 50.4 per cent. In the group producing less than 10,000 the decrease was from 3730 in 1923 to 2541 in 1929 or 31.9 per cent. Against these sharp declines in e group producing less than 200-, 000 tcns must be set the large mines with output in excess of that figure. The number of these mines increased ‘rom 748 in 1923 to 827 in 1929. This was a gain of 10.6 per cent. Some of these large mines produce at the rate of more than 1,000,000 tons a year. There is a large measure of economy in concentrating mining operations at one large producer rather than distributing effort over several smaller mines yielding in the aggregate the same tonnaze of coal. Each mine must be a complete unit. A 50,900 ton mine must have about the same equipment as a 1,000,000 ten mine. Sidings and spurs must be constructed from the main line of railroad which carries the coal away. Breakers must be maintained to Pandle the cutput of the small mine as well as the large. Each mine, « large or small, must have its power plant for pumping and lighting, oper- ation of shaft lifts, and general utili- ty. The consumption of coal has not diminished in the period since 1923 appreciably. But in view of the fact that during that period there was an iacrease in population of about 15 pei cent and a far greater percentage advance in manufacturing produc- tivity, the fact that the bituminous coal mining industry has not in- creased along with other factors is tantamount to a recession. Work With Fewer Employes ‘The year 1920 was one of tremend- | ous industrial activity. In that year came the crest of the post-war boom. Bituminous coal production amount- | ec to 568,667,000 tons. By 1925 this figure was down to 520,053,000 tons although in that year industry was moving at a brisk pace. Use of elec- trie power, though, was greatly on the increase. In 1928, distinctly a boom year, production was down to STICKERS His) JACKET nae HIS, MOTHER Syed Hs PLAY; FIND IT NECESSARY TO MIGRATE TO NEW AND LESS CROWDED FEEDING j GROUNDS, AND Hosts OF THESE TIN'Y ANIMALS| H SET OUT TOWARD THE SEA. NOT REAUZING { THE EXTENT OF THS FEET OF BARTH— WORMS IN ONE | Oay/ Wi PEOPLE’ S FORUM ithey believe in America for Ameri- {iness, why not equally good for agri- | that? Surely, he knew it better than -American agriculture. Fditor's Note.—The Tribune welcomes letters on subjects of interest. Letters dealing with controver religious subjects, which attack indi- viduals unfairly, or which offend good taste and fair play will be We will respect such requests. Wer of letters as may be necessa Editor of The Tribune: Is the President of these United | States becoming a mere figurehead? To one on the ouiside, it would seem | to appear exactly that way. Time was, and not so long ago either, when a president's word was jlaw and congress would not have thought of going against his wishes. But, the modern way is different. ‘a man of straw, a political football, {something we have to have to take the place of a king—and about as juseful. It is a sad thing when | president is so lacking in good sports- | manship as to veto any measure con- | taining so much good as the Soldiers’ Compensation act, and that his veto ‘was over-ridden by congress was a | just rebuke to him. | no differexce when it comes to voting ‘for our trave veterans, and efter the | huzzas and acclamations the boysre- | ceived while they were “doing their | duty,” it is but righ we should show | our apateciatior. in something more | than lip applause. | It would scem as though the Old | Guard was losing its hold and a inewer and stronger element werc taking its place. The denia: of this just compensa- tion on the grounds that the country j could not afford it would seem like | mocke te the men who were paid a pittance for offering their all, and |who in many cases were drafted, taken from their homes and friends and forced to give up all their pos- | sessions, whtle others more fortunate | were permitted to remain at home, profiting from their sacrifices. This | plea also sounds much like hypocrisy | when we remember that hundreds of millionaires were made almost over- night by the bloody sacrifices of these | boys. RG War is a terrible thing, a wicked | thing, and seemingly a useless thing. | But as long as men’s passions are permitted to get the upper hand, as | long as men are but pawns in kings’ | hands. and as long as men are the | Selfish, grasping creatures they are | today, war cannot and will not be | abolished. | Peace means brotherhood of man, working for the right in all things and sacr:ficing for the good of all. Greed has filled its pockets with sordid gold, wrung from the bitter tears of the mothers, sweethearts and wives, Many of our boys lie at rest on for- jeign soil. We can never bring them 1 again as far as 532,352,000 tons. | The sources of this huge tonnage have shifted from the large number of small mines to the large produc- ers. Only 209 mines or 3.4 per cent of the total number operating in 1929 produced 29.6 per cent of all the | bituminous coal used in 1929. When mining efforts are concen- tvated at large producers it is possi- | bie to work practically full time. In former days, miners were idle al- most half of the year, finding em- ployment chiefly in the winter time est. There has been a tremendous sav- ing on labor to the coal operators in {spite of the fact that they are pro- | 1923, In 1923 the 9331 mines operat- ing reported employes numbering } 704,793, In 1929 the 6057 mines oper- | ating had employes numbering only 502,993. The shift in method, there- workers or 28.6 per cent of the total number employed in 1923, This has contributed to unemployment as the miner is something of a specialist who does not readily adapt himse! to other types of labor. ‘Those who have retained their em- ployment, however, have better and at a smaller number of mines has meant much more continuous em- ployment. The average number of ys worked at the bituminous coal mines in 1923 was 179. In 1929 this s been studied. It is not unlikely that a similar trend will be followed in returned to the writers, All letters MUST be signed. If you wish to use A pseudonym, sign the pseudonym first and your own name beneath it, | The president seems to have becom: | | Republican or Democrat, it makes | 500,745,000 tons and in 1929 it was up | | when the demand for coal was great- | {ducing almost as much coal as inj; fcre, cut down the force by 201,800; steadier jobs. Concentration of work | ¢; eserve the right to delete such parts ry to conform to this policy. back; we can never prove the love we have for their bravery. But thou- sands of their brothers are still with pee! many of them hopelessly crippled and maimed from the fields of shot ; and shell. Many others are unem- , Dloyed, their wives and little ones in | actual need. ! No man worthy the name would begrudge these men the few dollars a ‘grateful’ government has doled out | to them. | How much Is life worth? Silver and gold, rubies and dia- | monds, | Of value untold? How much is life worth? | The lilt of a song, The sound of his footstep, A heart beating strong! How much is life worth? Aye, no one can tell, ! ‘Save one he called mother— | She knoweth it well. | SOLDIERS’ FRIEND. To The Editor of the Bismarck Trib- ; une: | This communication is intended merely as a wedge on a most import- | 8nt subject of vital interest to us gil. ; Not many months ago, the press, | particularly the eastern press, was | full of information on the great pros- | Perity we were enjoying. Now they j have given up the prosperity propa- anda and fully admit the true con- i dition, but assure us, that prosperity ‘is just around the corner. | It is rather amusing to observe the. different and strange methods some | folks can think of to bring about this seemingly elusive condition we call prosperity. For instance, they “Buy Now,” when that is just what ls us. We have lost our buying | pcwer. | The big question of interest to us yall is, “How we bring back the ' buying powet Here is food for , thought. |, We all know, or should know, that ithe only thing that will bring pros- j Perity back to the agricultural sec- j Uon, isgbetter prices on what we pro- |Guce on the farm. There has been a | lot of printers ink wasted and a lot ‘of talk about “farm relief” without |aim or purpose. This is perhaps a j hard thing tu say, in view of the |™any bright minds devoted to this | Problem, But we can judge a remedy | only by results. Relief has not been cheained. To the contrary it has been ‘getting worse and worse ever since the farm board tackled the job. In this farm relief business why ‘not take a lesson from industry? If their method was adopted, success. ; would follow. How do they manage? | They have grown enormously and we jan truly say we live in days of giants, giants in business of all kinds. | How did they get so big? Was it through free trade with the world? No, not that we have heard of. You know a business giant is not a hit-or- miss proposition. - He has attained is size through organization, plan- ning and executing along lines of profit. Let us take a leaf out of the book of big industry. Here it is: On page one, vol. one, we read as | follows, “first we monkey with the | tariff, jerking that up so high that no ; foreigner can climb over it. Secondly, se lace on our prices so it will make 0 difference whether we sell all we | Produce or not. We'll still make a ! profit.” | There is nothing wrong in getting ;® Profit. It is an absolute necessity to business success. Agriculture has been termed the biggest giant of them all. The dif- ference is that a business giant rep- resents. organization, while the agri- cultural giant gives us a picture of If | confusion, an overgrown jellyfish. To , obtain shape and form there must be j organization and a backbone and a Lead for planning and executing. In his, I believe, agriculture should, end eventually must,~take lessons. from successful industry. The farm board failed, not because they did not know business, but be- cause they were unwilling to adopt the methods of business in dealing with the farm problem. ‘They were far more concerned about the tail, than the dog’ that is surplus, m | further depress the world Mr Legge certainly did all he do to boost the world market, but ‘The “world market,” what is it, or | where is it?) We have been told that it emanates from Liverpool, but in- | fiuenced by everything and everybody on the face of the earth. Every wind that blows, every whim or notion of &@ great gambling horde, every rumor, true or false, makes no difference. | Weather, or report of weather, or the changing sands of Sahara ail influence the world market, Is it j; any wonder that the farmer is in the small end of the horn as long as he must depend on a market based on | such @ “Will-o'the Wisp proposition?” I agree with big industry when cans. If that is good precept for bus- culture. Did not Mr. Legge know any of us. He has not been presi- dent of the International Harvester company for nothing. But, to adopt the plans of business in agriculture would be a brand new innovation, And here is the joker. They are per- haps afraid to adopt a policy that would practically amount to a second declaration of independence, a sever- ance of all foreign: entanglements in This, how- ever, must be done before there can be any lasting farm relief. To organize agriculture for profit and prosperity would mean an undis- turbed American market for Ameri- | can farmers; prices fixed at a rea- sonable profit over cost gf produc- tion and maintained for reasonable | periods of time. This would be simi- Jar to methods in business, thus put- ting agriculture on parity with busi-| ness, the only way it can be done. The whole country would vibrate with new life in consequence of the buying power being restored. Who will measure demand for pro- | ducts of the farm, mill or factory! when buying power becomes general ‘mong our people? We will, in all Probability, not have any surplus to/| worry about. Meanwhile, agriculture would be mindful of reg- ulating production to demand. Fixed prices would benefit all the people: Prosperity restored to all: Fires re- kindled under the boilers of indus- try: Labor reinstated, pay checks in ‘Thus we are able to understand the | far-reaching importance of a healthy ; agriculture. It is the keystone to Prosperity in the United States. It | is a giant of sufficient size to paralyze everything else in this country when | sick and suffering. ‘This is what we have to learn, and | the sooner we learn it and take steps |to restore agriculture to full health |and vigor, the sooner will this fair |land of ours blossom like a rose. | Yours Respectfully, O. L. Sateren, Fifty years actual residence in North Dakota. Editor of The Tribune: The check for over $100,000 given jby the Northern Pacific Railway company to the county treasurer, which was reprinted in a recent issue of the Tribune, should cause each and every citizen of Burleigh county to |do some tall thinking. Modern } methods must take the place of old- {time things. Some papers say the railroads are old-fashioned, and have failed to keep up with the times. How true is this? No person, having once seen the | modern up-to-date equipment of the modern passenger train, could even | think of such a thing. No one can deny that the automobile and the truck have seriously cut into the profits of the railways. And we must remember another thing. The rail- roads had to build their own “roads.” State and county did not help to de- fray these expenses. Millions and millions of dollars were spent in order that at all corners of the country could be bt tht together in one grand and glorious whole. Little towns, villages‘and cities were linked together by the magic power of the railway. Years passed and the au- tomobile arrived, taking thousands of dollars yearly from the railways. People who formerly had used the trains for traveling purposes bought a car and were “independent.” Later on, huge freight trucks and busses added more strongly to the compe- tition. Busses on regular routes and folks who had been com- Pelled to wait hours on a train found they had to wait but a few minutes for the bus. place of breadlines: Everybody with money to satisfy their wants: No! But busses and freight trucks took a heavy toll from the roads, and more doles by our government to un- | every year but adds to the damage. employed to drought or flood suffer- ers because farming would be on a paying basis and they would be able | Where the railways built their own roads the automobile traffic depended and lgte: demanded that the public, the counties and the state keep up the right-of-way. No one who has-treveled the roads the deep ruts causéd by some heavily- ladeh bus or truck. No doubt part of the damage.is caused by trucks from other states anc: the only benefit we can expect is the few cents received from the gas tax. Now, we know that the railways are paying their share of taxes, although we cannot be so certain as to the trucks and busses. I believe an ample tax should be placed on all such conveyanc’s to at least defray part of the expense of keeping up the roads. Any vehicle of the kind, used for freight or passenger service, should be taxed heavily enough to make their competition with the railways felt. I will venture to predict that all the. busses and freight trucks in, the county do not pay anything like one railway company. Are we using the ratlroads fairly? Are we doing to them as we would be done by? Like many of us, they are our pioneers, blazing the way to @ new empire, shouldering the bur- dens and cares that ever were the portion of a new enterprise. Do.we not owe them a debt of grat- itude for all th's? Who of us would care to depend entirely on automo- biles and busses for transportation? Let us take a lesson from other places where the railways are being aban- doned before it is too late. Make the. busses carry passengers for the same fare we ask of the railways, and where would they be? RAILROADER. Funeral Held for Woman at Goodrich Goodrich, N. D., March 9.—Funeral services were held at Goodrich for Mrs, John Mutschler, 64, who died in_a hospital at Bismarck. Katherine Mutchler was born in South Russia Jan. 2, 1867, and was married to John Mutschler at the age of 22. ‘The Mutschlers came to Amer- ica in 1893, settling in South Dakota, later moving to Goodrich. Seven daughters and three sons are left: Mrs, W. F. Strobel and Mrs. G. M. Tinker, Goodrich; Mrs. John Regier, .Eugene, Ore.; Mrs. E. E. Farmes and Mrs. H. N. Ray, Min- neapolis; Mrs. Ernest Bauley and Mrs. Merle Cooper, Ci yn; and Adolph, Carl E. and Reinhold Muts- chler, Goodrich. in muddy weather has failed to note | . recei from ed the the amount we ive annually i se ~ : I've ok en Paris se AUTOMOTIVE EFFORTS in 1868 By JOHN H. VAN DEVENTER | | exception of the steam | | With engine of machinery, p' mechanical “and in and «few other summons of a beam of | | jnal passage, with 188 house measures, “light just as summons. of faster ‘mile © m this would be working fatonee, "eis proposed to run | | on neat 500 revelations, Sepsed of 20 mileg an hour, Sp) 8 are at ‘to the feet steam man to present slip) revent the giant from ft ‘the inventor will clot nearly as ‘fo "the reet of ce '- ‘The cost of 00 though the mak \eceedin min ‘a. year without ry man is today. Our atomic power plants of the future may be Ke from an eyedropper, oF fuelless motors will tap ried by the ether waves. Man's Fashions Born Dasic types | | if i ractically rreryinit m4 f All @ few of the indicators ‘as are in felt un- enie the genic the legs ible a jumanity. this first makers —says © 1991, Liosrr & Mysas Toascon Co, ye you take me shopping with you every day” ‘The great Paris designer has turned out another creation. A model of | good taste! But good taste is no less desirable’in ‘a cigarette.- What you taste ; in Chesterfield is’ milder and better sobaccas—nothing else—in a blend and . For NINETEEN years, our “‘cross-blend” that cannot be copied! Just as there is only one Paris...there is only one Chesterfield. Research Department hes - Kept intimste touch with every new development of Science é that could be applied to the inanufacture of cigarettes. During this period there has been no development of tested value or importance to the smoker. which we have not of Chesterfield cigarettes. . Liggett & Myers Tobacce Co. 325 MEASURES ARE PASSED AT SESSION Fifty-eight per cent of Legisla- tion Offered Is Enacted Into Law by Assembly Fifty-eight per cent of the 564 measures introduced in the 23nd North Dakota legislative assembly re- ceived the approval of both branches of the legislature. A total of 325 bills succeeded of fi- and 137 senate bills enacted. In ad- dition seven house concurrent resolu- tions, and three senate concurrent resolutions were adopted. House members outdistanced sena- tors in the number of bills introduced, with 313 being offered in the house and 251 in the senate. Under the constitution, the gover- nor has 15 days after the close of the legislature in which to sign bills. Un- less he acts by that time'they become law without his signature, When the session ended the gover- nor already had signed about 75 bills, leaving about 250 for his considera- tion when the gavel fell. So far there have been no vetoes and few, if any, are expected. Action Without Harm Whenever Constipated Here's a way to be rid of constipa- tion and it’s this—a way that works quickly, effectively, but gently. A candy Cascaret at next morning you're feeling fine. Breath is sweetened; tongue cleared; biliousness, headaches, dizziness, gas vanish. Repeat the treatment two or three nights to get the souring waste out of your system. See how appe- tite and energy return; how diges- tion improves. ‘The action of Cascarets is sure, complete, helpful to everyone. They are made from cascara, which doc- tors agree actually strengthens bowel muscles, All drug stores have the 10c boxes.—Advertisement. Chesterfield — that’s Why! Bituminous Coal Mining Industry Has Had Drastic Reorganization . "MOTHER NATURE'S CURIO SHOP [STE we nessa SE RSE erga] [omer | O00 MEASURES ARE