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anthracite regions of the wage-scale system. The principal operators, as represented by the heads of the coal-carrying railroads, stuck steadily to their doctrine that it is not feasible to regularize labor conditions in the hard-coal region. An easy reply, of course, is that, in spite of the different conditions prevailing in different parts of the anthracite field, the capitalists themselves have succeeded in forming a combination by which they have completely eliminated competition, with the result of regulating the total output and controlling the market price. It is not necessary to assume that the wage scales demanded by the miners' union would mean uniformity where conditions do not permit. It would seem scarcely more difficult to provide different wage scales in the anthracite districts under the general sanction of the mine-workers' union, than to arrange the different scales that exist under the same auspices in the various bituminous districts.

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the railroads to the mining, shipping, and marketing of coal is at the basis of the whole anthracite trouble. In the wild scramble, some years ago, for the acquisition of coal lands, and the control of what were formerly independent coalmining companies, fictitious prices were paid and immense sums of money were invested upon false economic principles. The existing combination is for the purpose of making the public pay interest and dividends upon a huge volume of improper capitalization. But for this artificial situation, which-morally, if not technicallyconstitutes the most flagrant violation of the Sherman anti-trust law to be found in the whole country, the public could have cheap coal, the miners could have fair wages, and the railroads could charge a reasonable price for transportation. President Roosevelt, when called upon, early in June, to try to bring about a settlement of the coal strike, showed that the law under which the Pullman strike was investigated had subsequently been repealed. But Col. Carroll D. Wright, as head of the Department of Labor, made certain inquiries into the facts for the President's information. The public would like to read his report. Much inconvenience was caused, especially in New York, where hard coal has been almost exclusively used, by the shrinkage in the anthracite output. Attention was naturally drawn to the question of

Substitutes for Anthracite.

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THE INNOCENT MAY SUFFER THE SAME AS THE GUILTY.-From the Journal (Detroit).

substitutes for hard coal, and the use of petroleum as a fuel was determined upon in various quarters. A number of tank steamers were chartered for bringing crude petroleum from the new Texas oil fields for consumption in New York, and naval experts announced successful experi ments in the use of oil as a substitute for coal in the furnaces of warships. The chief substitute,

however, for hard coal was to be found in the abundant and widespread deposits of the bituminous article; and the strikers soon found that unless they could greatly curtail the output of the soft-coal mines, their strike was doomed to certain failure. Accordingly, a convention of the United Mine Workers of America was called by an order issued on June 17, to meet in the middle of July at Indianapolis, to consider the question of a sympathetic strike among all the organized coal-miners of the United States.

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From a new photo by Marceau.

JOHN MITCHELL.

(President of the United Mine Workers of America.)

abandon their work. Thus, it is not strictly fair to say that if the Western bituminous miners should suspend work in sympathy with the anthracite miners, they would thereby have violated existing contracts or agreements. It would certainly violate their agreements if the miners of Ohio, for instance, having accepted a wage scale for a year, should at the end of six months demand an immediate increase of wages, and strike to enforce the demand. But these wage scales do not obligate the employer to keep his mine running or to give full employment for a year to his men; and they cannot, therefore, on the other hand, require the men to keep on working in the mines if they choose to work elsewhere or to be idle. We are sure, however, that the bituminous miners would make a colossal blunder if they should strike, and that they would forfeit the approval of the country and destroy the confidence in their union that they had been gradually building up.

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its final quietus. The so-called "Morganization" of the Atlantic steamship lines showed that American capital can carry on an ocean business in the transport of passengers and freight without financial assistance from the Treasury of the United States Government. The explicit statements made by the leading men in the new combination of shipbuilding plants also showed,-what this magazine has again and again asserted, -that the new industrial conditions in the United States render it easily possible for our shipyards to turn out steel vessels in competition with foreign shipbuilders without government aid, whenever the right combination of men and interests choose to make the attempt. Mr. Lewis Nixon, the famous naval designer and shipbuilder, who is one of the chief factors in the new combination, has been very outspoken in his expressions of confidence in the ability of the United States Shipbuilding Company to build vessels in open competition with the European shipyards. The new company owns the great San Francisco plant which built the Oregon and the Olympia, as well as various other vessels, and it includes also such Eastern plants as the Bath Iron Works, the Crescent Shipyard, of Elizabethport, N. J., the Eastern Shipbuilding Company, of New London, Conn., and the Harlan & Hollingsworth Company, of Wilmington, Del.

It has also acquired the Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) Steel Company's plant, which is especially adapted to the making of armor plate and guns. Mr. Nixon tells the public, furthermore, that the Shipbuilding Company has made arrangements with the United States Steel Corporation for the prompt and ample supply of hull steel on a basis of prices. that will enable the company to compete against British and German shipyards for non-American orders. Thus, with its own steel plant at Bethlehem, the new shipbuilding concern can turn out a complete warship, armored and supplied with guns, out of its own resources and facilities.

Europe and

Trust.

Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan's movements the Ship in Europe this summer have been more keenly watched and more constantly discussed by the newspapers of England, France, Germany, and the rest of the Continent than the comings, goings, and doings of emperors and prime ministers. Of all Mr. Morgan's achievements, nothing has impressed the European mind. so much as the formation of the steamship com. bination. The great concern of the English last month seemed to be to prevent, if possible, the absorption of the Cunard line by Mr. Morgan's company. It was thought in England that the Cunard had given an option of purchase to Mr. Morgan and his associates, conditioned upon its failure to bluff

the British Government into bribing it with large subsidies to remain true to its old allegiance. Lord Brassey himself, the great authority on shipping, and formerly secretary to the admiralty, went before a House of Commons committee last month, to beg it to subsidize the Cunard line as the only remaining British champion in the Atlantic traffic. He declared that it would be a national disaster if the line were transferred to a foreign flag. No negotiations, however, seem to have been pending for the transfer of the Cunard line.

Subsidies Wanted

It is not primarily a matter of flags and allegiances, but simply one of a Everywhere. closer and more economical manage. ment of the business affairs of the great Atlantic ferry. The steamship subsidy question in Eng. land will have entered upon a new stage of discussion, as the colonial premiers, -the coronation being over, are now settling down to their talk at London about various matters affecting the inter-relations of the United Kingdom and the great colonies. The Canadians have gone to London eager to secure support for their scheme of a great Anglo-Canadian steamship line, to be heavily subsidized by the Dominion and the British governments, and to operate in close relations with the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The chief promoters of the Canadian company,— which hopes to get a million dollars a year from the government at Ottawa, and at least twice as

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much from the government at Westminster,-are said to be Lord Strathcona and Sir Christopher Furness. At its recent annual meeting, the great French shipping corporation,-the Compagnie Generale Translantique,-explained that the absence of dividends was due to British and German competition. The French are worried about the steamship combine without seeing anything that they can do about it. It will, of course, be made an excuse for the promotion of various subsidy schemes in France, as in England. The HamburgAmerican line issued to its shareholders, and thus to the public, a month ago, a very full statement of the terms of the arrangement by which the two German shipping lines had entered into a working arrangement with the Morgan syndicate.

Business conditions in the United

A Season of States continue to be favorable; and Prosperity. but for the disturbance caused by the anthracite coal strike, it might probably be said with truth that never at any time in the country's history has there been so much well-paid employment for everybody able and willing to work, never so little grinding poverty, and never so bright an outlook in the economic sphere for all classes of young men. There has been no slackening in the demand for iron and steel products. We have not been exporting as much as last year, but one reason for that is the unsatisfied demand of the home market. The railroads were never handling such large quantities of goods, and they are finding it profitable to spend large sums of money in improving their grades. and making extensive renewals and betterments. The production of copper in May in the United States reached nearly 26,000 tons, breaking all previous records.

For the fiscal year ending with June, the exports of the United States will be from $90,000,000 to $100,000,000 less in value than those of the year ending June, 1901; but they will still exceed those of every other year, and amount to about $1,400,000,000. The imports, on the other hand, will amount to considerably more than those of any previous year, and the so-called balance of trade,-that is to say, the excess of exports over imports,-will be not far from $500,000,000. The falling off in exports is in part due to the shortage of the corn crop; but also largely to the steady demand and high prices for commodities prevailing in this country, which has had the effect of keeping our products for the home market.

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larger than ever before, and thus far the weather has been encouraging, although it will be many weeks before corn is safe from all possible vicissitudes. The winter wheat crop, much of which has now been harvested, will be a little smaller than usual. While the spring wheat outlook is favorable, the acreage is reduced, and the total wheat crop of 1902 will probably be 100,000,000 bushels less than that of last year. will, however, still be the third largest wheat crop in the history of the country. The pros pects for other small grains are good, and the reports about the various fruit crops are, as usual, contradictory. The marked feeling in the corn and cotton belts, however, is one of great cheerfulness. If the crops turn out as well as we have reason to expect, the railroads will continue to make the fine earnings they have been

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Current American Politics.

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With the approach of midsummer we find active preparation for the Congressional campaigns. In several States, also, governors are to be elected, and nominations have already been made. Oregon, which votes at an unusual date, had a close election on June 2, which resulted in the choice of Republican Congressmen and of Republicans for all the State offices, except that of governor. tional differences in the dominant party allowed the Democrats to elect their candidate, Hon. George L. Chamberlain, by a small majority. On June 16, the people of Connecticut voted upon the draft of a new constitution, submitted to them by the recent convention, which had occupied more than four months in its work. A very light vote was cast, and the project was defeated by about two to one. The principal question at issue was that of representation in

Legislature. Connecticut still keeps its system of equal representation by towns, with the result that petty rural neighborhoods count for almost as much as large towns and cities. The rural districts dominated the constitutional convention,

JUDGE SAMUEL W. PENNYPACKER.

(Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania.)

and refused to put representation upon a modern and equitable basis. Naturally the people of the towns voted against the constitution project and defeated it. A number of Republican State conventions have been held, and their endorsement of the administration of President Roosevelt has been as emphatic as language could make it. It was not a little gratifying to the President that his Cuban policy was so strongly endorsed, and particularly that the Republicans of Western States like South Dakota and Nebraska emphatically repudiated the position of their Senators on Cuban reciprocity, and stood squarely by the President. It is also to be remarked that the Republican conventions have sustained the army administration and the War Department in their work in the Philippines and elsewhere. The Maine Republicans have renominated Hon. John F. Hill. On June 19, the Vermont Republicans nominated Gen. John G. McCullough, after a long and interesting canvass on the part of several prominent candidates. In Pennsylvania, after a tremendous preliminary contest, Senator Quay was successful in securing the nomination for governor of Judge Samuel W. Pennypacker, of Philadelphia. The Kansas Republican nomi

nee for governor is ex-Congressman W. J. Bailey. In South Dakota the Hon. John Perried, a Republican leader of talent, character, and promise, has been renominated. After a lively contest in Nebraska, the Republican convention, on June 18, selected the Hon. John Mickey as its candidate for governor.

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Democrats in

The Democrats, all along the line, are Line of Battle. putting into their platforms strong resolutions condemning the Republican Philippine policy, and are talking of tariff reform; but they have, as a rule, dropped the money question, and have cut loose from Mr. Bryan and the Kansas City platform of 1900. This is conspicuously true of the Indiana convention, held on June 4, and the Illinois convention, held on June 17. The Democrats of Tennessee have renominated Hon. James B. Fraser, of Chattanooga, for governor; and in Arkansas, Hon. Jefferson Davis has been renominated, and ex-Gov. James P. Clarke is selected to succeed Hon. James K. Jones in the United States Senate. It is too early to discover any important indications as to the Congressional elections, although the Democrats declare that they expect to make considerable gains. A great Democratic harmony meeting occurred on the occasion of the opening of the Tilden Club's new house in New York, on the evening of June 19. Ex-President Cleveland was the most conspicuous guest and speaker, and Ex-Senator David B. Hill came second. Mr. Bryan's presence had been hoped for, and he would have been highly welcomed; but he did not come. The third speech was made by that brilliant and fast-rising Democratic leader, Gov. A. J. Montague, of Virginia. Colonel Gaston, of Massachusetts, and National Committeeman Thomas Taggert, of Indiana, were the other orators of an occasion which brought together a large number of well-known members of the Democratic party. Mr. Cleveland's speech was a plea for the return to fundamental party principles as represented in the old days by Samuel J. Tilden. His words that attracted the most attention, however, were those that related to himself and his permanent retirement from political activity. Many of the Democrats in the gathering made it plain enough that they were thinking of Mr. Cleveland as a candidate for 1904.

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