Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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August 26, 1922 RECORD AND GUIDE 261 No Relief Yet in Coal Crisis As this issue of The Record and Guide goes to press, the prospect of an early settlement of the coal strikes is anything but bright. Progress undoubtedly is being made in the efforts to assure a better supply of bitum¬ inous coal, but it is most unfortunate that the outlook tor a supply of anthracite has become positively dis¬ turbing. New York City is seriously menaced by the con¬ tinued inactivity in the anthracite fields. The distress which New Yorkers suffered because of the coal shortage during the winter of 1917-1918 was of too re¬ cent occurrence to be forgotten, and yet it is agreed by those in closest touch with the situation that unless the mining and hauling of anthracite on a large scale gets under way immediately the people of the metrop¬ olis must prepare for more serious hardships than they underwent during the shortage five years ago. It seems little less than criminal that something drastic cannot be done by the government authorities to avert the grave danger which threatens the seven million inhabitants of the nation's metropolis. For five months now the miners have been idle and the squabble between workers and operators has proceeded without result. President Harding has been able to ac¬ complish practically nothing in his efforts to compose the situation, and it remains to be seen what Governor Miller can accomplish through the Special Session of the State Legislature which he has summoned to meet in Albany next Monday. Between the government forces at Washington and Albany it may be possible to do away with the discriminative and haphazard dis¬ tribution of such coal supplies as become available dur¬ ing the next few months, but at best these efforts can only be of temporary advantage. The public, because of many sad experiences, has lost faith in the efficacy of official investigations. All too often they have started with a blare of trumpets and ended in futility. For this reason, it is idle to expect that the public will take over-seriously the present efforts of Congress for a further investigation of the coal industry. At the same time the plan for the creation of the United States Coal Commission will be followed with interest. Senator Borah's idea in some¬ what different form has been presented in the lower branch of Congress by Representative Winslow, chair¬ man of the House Interstate Commerce Committee. The Winslow plan, which has the support of President Harding, differs from the Borah plan in that it pro¬ vides for a commission of nine members, whereas Senator Borah proposed a commission of three, one to represent the operators, one the miners, and one the public. President Harding is believed to prefer the Winslow plan because it contemplates a commission entirely independent of either operators or miners, one having as its main concern the interests of the public as a whole. This commission is to "investigate and ascer¬ tain facts in the coal industry as to ownership of coal mines, prices of coal, wages, wage contracts, conditions of employment, distribution, waste of coal, profits realized by owners or operators of coal mines or by other persons or corporations having to do with the production, distribution or sale of coal, and any other material facts in connection with the coal industry generally and the organizations and persons con¬ nected with it." The commission is required to report not later than January 1, 1923, its findings of fact and such recommendations as to methods and measures as in its judgment will promote continuity of production and efficiency in mining and distribution, and maintain the uninterrupted movement of coal in the interstate commerce and safeguard the interest of the workers, operators and the consuming and general public. This plan seems all right, so far as it goes. Such a commission should be able to lay the basis for the future protection of the public against the ills con¬ stantly recurring because of the quarrels between operators and miners. The plan is futile, however, so fa.r as concerns relief in the immediate future. The only action that will insure New York City and the rest of the country from serious disaster this winter is the prompt resumption of mining on a very large scale. Until provision for this action is made, all other efforts must be regarded merely as by-play. Too Extensive to Be Halted Now Builders who are showing some anxiety over the conditions resulting from the prolonged railroad and coal strikes need have little fear that the prosperity of the industry is in jeopardy. While the shortages of fuel and the difficulties of transportation have slowed down building to some extent, the unprecedented build¬ ing movement now in progress cannot be halted and is only temporarily slowed down until material pro¬ duction and supply conditions improve. The great national building boom, predicted since the close of the war, is now at its peak. Although its progress during the next few weeks or even months may be hampered and delayed by fuel scarcity and rail¬ road transportation disturbances, the boom cannot be halted, at least not by these factors alone. A graphic idea of the intensity of the current con¬ struction program may be gained by a study of the statistics compiled by The F. W. Dodge Company for July. According to the totals for the active building and engineering operations in the twenty-seven North¬ eastern States, July was the fourth consecutive month of unprecedented activity in the construction field. Contracts awarded in this territory during July in¬ volved a total investment of $350,081,000, an increase of 2 per cent, over the preceding month and a gain of 65 per cent, when compared with the same period of