Federal Coal Commission

The Federal Coal Commission was an agency of the Federal government of the United States of America, enacted by the U.S. Congress in September 1922 and headed by former U.S. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall.[1]

Federal Coal Commission
Agency overview
FormedSeptember 1922
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
HeadquartersWashington, DC
Agency executive

History

Background

On April 1, 1922, the United Mine Workers (UMW) began a nationwide coal strike. By mid-May 1922, the United States faced a "serious coal shortage." Only mines without unions remained open; prices rose, as did hoarding. On June 8, 1922, Warren G. Harding announced that voluntary pricing was relieving the situation. UMW president John L. Lewis complained for miners about cheating by non-union operators; operators and industry (e.g., the National Coal Association, National Retail Coal Merchants Association) complained about prices. On June 21–22, 1922, the Herrin massacre occurred in Herrin, Illinois: three union miners were shot and killed on June 21 and twenty strikebreakers and mine guards were killed next day. On July 1, 1922, Harding called for labor negotiations to start, led by U.S. Secretary of Labor James J. Davis and U.S. Secretary of Commerce (and future U.S. president) Herbert Hoover. On July 18, 1922, the U.S. Geological Survey issued a report stating that non-union mining operations could not maintain sufficient supply of coal nationally. Hoover then formulated a plan to create regional committees, supported by railroad and ICC executives to keep coal supplied to critical users: his plan became the Coal Distribution Committee, with representatives from the departments of Commerce, Interior, and Justice, plus the ICC, and headed by Henry C. Spencer. By August, with no resolution, miners and operators were ready to talk.[2]

In August 1922, nearly a fifth of soft coal miners and operators met in Cleveland, Ohio. They agreed to extend their pre-strike contract on soft coal to April 1, 1923. They pressured the anthracite coal industry to extend their contract to August 31, 1923. They also endorsed a presidential commission. On August 22, 1923, President Harding announced his intention to form a Federal coal commission, as well as his opposition to allow miners and mine operators become commission members.[2][3]

Formation
  • On August 19, Harding asked Congress for a bill to create a coal commission.[4]
  • In September 1922, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that created the Federal Coal Commission, as well as a Federal Coal Distributor. A House bill did not provide for members from among miners (labor), as congressional representatives such as Meyer London noted. A Senate bill excluded all people with coal interests, which cleared both houses.[4]
  • In October 1922, President Harding appointed the commission's members, as well as F. R. Wadleigh as Distributor. At the same time, he disbanded a similar, private committee he had formed previously, funded by the Cabot Foundation.[2]

Activities

The commission commenced an industry report in late 1922.[5][6]

The commission engaged Dr. Jerome Davis, then a Dartmouth College professor, to investigate labor situation in West Virginia coal mines; man of their findings appeared in their report.[7]

On February 2, 1923, Chicago-based Federal Judge Samuel Alschuler quit the commission.[8]

On July 5, 1923, the Commission completed its report on anthracite coal.[9][10][11] The "verbose and inconclusive" report did not avert an anthracite coal strike by September 8, 1923. On September 17, 1923, Gifford Pinchot, governor of Pennsylvania, brokered a settlement, which embarrassed Secretary Hoover (as they were political rivals).[2][4][12]

(Harding died in office on August 2, 1923; Calvin Coolidge succeeded.[13])

Despite the intervention of the Federal Coal Commission, "in the ensuring years, the position of the coal miner continued to deteriorate, as did the industry."[4]

Works
  • "What Lies Before the New Federal Coal Commission" (1922).[14]

People

Commission heads

Members
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See also

References
  1. "Thomas R. Marshall". NNDB. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. Clements, K. (2010). The Life of Herbert Hoover: Imperfect Visionary, 1918–1928. Springer. pp. 213–216 (strike), 250–251, 344. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  3. "Protect Public: Harding's Policy for Coal Board Favors Nonpartisan". Chicago Tribune. 22 August 1923. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. Goldberg, Gordon J. (2013). Meyer London: A Biography of the Socialist New York Congressman, 1871–1926. McFarland. pp. 250, 251, 252 (passage), 253 (report, deterioration). Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  5. "Federal Coal Commission Assembles Data Already at Hand: New Wage Statistics Wanted Later". Coal Review. 1 November 1922: 2. Retrieved 18 July 2017. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "How the Coal Trade Is Organized in Germany". Coal Age. 21 December 1922: 988. Retrieved 18 July 2017. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Davis, Jerome". FDR Library at Marist University. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  8. "Huge. Distillery with Tuinel Feature Discovered on Police Raid--Explorer Cook Arrested". Chicago Tribune. 2 February 1923. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  9. "Labor Sunday message, 1923, of the Commission on the Church and Social Service and a review of the year, 1922-1923". Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. 1923. p. 23. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  10. "Plan Action in Event of Coal Strike: Coal Commission Has Completed Report of Industry". Madera Tribune. August 1923. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  11. "Federal Coal Commission's Report on Anthracite" (PDF). Mining and Metallurgy. August 1923. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  12. Kanarek, Harold K. (April 1975). "The Pennsylvania Anthracite Strike of 1922". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography: 207–225. JSTOR 20090945. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. Dublin, Thomas (2016). The Face of Decline: The Pennsylvania Anthracite Region in the Twentieth Century. Cornell University Press. p. 55. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  14. "John Brophy: An inventory of the Papers of John Brophy at The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives". Catholic University of America. 2005. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  15. Onofrio, Jan (2000). Iowa Biographical Dictionary. Somerset Publishers. pp. 222-XXX. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  16. Grossman, Jonathan. "The Coal Strike of 1902 – Turning Point in U.S. Policy". US Department of Labor. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  17. "The Anthracite Strike of 1922". Philadelphia: The Anthracite Bureau of Information. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  18. "Report, findings, and award of the United States Anthracite coal commission". US GPO. 1920. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  19. "Report, Findings, and Award of the United States Anthracite Coal Commission". US GPO. 1920. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  20. "United States. Anthracite Coal Commission". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 18 July 2017.

External sources
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