Buffets, Not Blows

Three weeks ago the miners and operators broke off negotiations for a new wage contract because the operators refused to accept the miners' demand for the "check-off." The Coal Investigation Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature has threatened to advise all New Englanders to boycott hard coal and use soft instead. The latest development was a call from the United States Coal Commission asking miners and operators to meet with it in New York in an attempt to reach a settlement.

None of these actions is at all decisive. Those who pretend to be "on the inside" assert that the miners and operators have no intention of suspending work. The threat of an anthracite boycott is significant only because it indicates desperation in New England (which constitutes a large part of the anthracite-using public). If New Englanders can give up their predilection for hard coal, their furnaces cannot. The expense and trouble of changing a large number of private furnaces to burn soft coal efficiently would materially injure the effectiveness of a boycott. As for the call of the Coal Commission to a new conference, it is popularly attributed to President Coolidge's desire for a settlement. Members of the Commission consulted with the President before acting, and he doubtless gave his assent, but the action was expected for some time. In the expected conference interest will center on what attitude the Coal Commission takes toward the checkoff.