The increased safety in the coal mines that has come through the combined efforts of the coal companies, the state inspectors, and the Federal Bureau of Mines necessarily involves some increase in cost of operation, but the few cents per ton thus added to the cost is a small price to pay for the satisfaction of having the stain of blood removed from the coal we buy. That form of social insurance which is now enforced through the workmen's compensation laws alone adds from 2 to 5 cents a ton to the cost of coal.
On the other hand, there can be no doubt that large advances have been made in welfare movements which were introduced for the purpose of insuring a steadier, better, and larger supply of labor, and that the general gain in efficiency of operation thereby obtained has absorbed a large part of the increased cost.
In general, conservation measures of this class have been developed coöperatively by private and public efforts, without important sacrifice of private interest. There is obviously room for much wider application of such measures, especially in some of the bituminous fields where conditions are still far from satisfactory.
(C) Introduction or modification of laws to regulate or to remove certain restrictions on the coal industry. It has been proposed:
- To modify the laws so as to take care of situations where vertically superposed beds are owned by different parties, preventing the proper mining of the coal by either party.
- To modify the laws so as to eliminate conflict in mining practice in cases where the coal is associated with oil and gas pools.
- To allow larger ownership by companies utilizing the coal (now only 3 per cent owned by such companies).
- To place restrictions on over-capitalization, which leads to wasteful mining in order to secure quick and large returns on large capital.
- To remove restrictions on concentration of control. This means, as a corollary proposition, virtual restriction of competition. Concentration of control into comparatively few hands has undoubtedly favored conservation. It is easy to see that the stronger financial condition of the large companies makes it possible for them to take fuller advantage of modern methods of extraction, distribution, and marketing.
This proposal was especially urged for the bituminous coal industry before the war in order to avoid over-production and over-development. The very wide distribution of the bituminous coals, their enormous quantity, and their exceedingly diversified ownership had led to over-development of coal properties. Quoting from Smith and Lesher:13
In estimating the aggregate losses incurred by society by reason of the large number of mines not working at full capacity, the facts to be considered are that the capital invested in mine equipment asks a wage based on a year of 365 days of 24 hours, while labor's year averaged last year only 230 days in the anthracite mines and only 203 days in the bituminous mines, with only five to eight hours to the day.