Senator WITHERS. Is that all you want to say? Mr. WELLS. That is all I have to say. Senator HOLLAND. When did the railroads come to the Big Sandy Valley? Mr. WELLS. The railroads came-I am not sure of the date. Mr. May can tell you much better than I can, because he was there. Senator HOLLAND. Do you have two roads in there now? Mr. WELLS. We have one road on each fork. In other words, we have a single railroad operating on the Levisa fork, the west fork. which is the Chesapeake & Ohio. Then on the Tug Fork we have the Norfolk & Western operating. That is on the east fork. Senator WITHERS. With the river rate transportation it would give you a better freight rate? You are cut out from developing the field and operating it due to the low rates of transportation from Kanawha? Mr. WELLS. Our coal mining industry in the Big Sandy Valley under the existing rate circumstances, is strictly a marginal operation in normal times, but during the war when everybody was hungry for coal and crying for coal, our people went in and produced that coal to help win the war, and then when we came out, having expanded our industry, we find ourselves in the position of not being able to exist in normal times. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask permission to insert this statement in the record. Senator HOLLAND. It will be admitted. (The statement referred to is as follows:) STATEMENT OF JOHN B. WELLS, JR., PAINTSVILLE, KY. The economic history of the Big Sandy Valley is probably the most important and revealing of the reasons why the Big Sandy project should be authorized by the Congress. This history might well be the sequel to the works of the grea John Fox, Jr., who described so eloquently the primitive early life in that grea mountain country drained by the Big Sandy River and its tributaries. In order for us to understand more completely the reasons for the economic conditions that exist in the valley at the present time, it is necessary for us to begin a narrstion of the events leading up to the present, dating from the days before the invasion of the Iron Horse into this rich land-locked empire known as the Big Sandy Valley. Before the ribbons of rails pushed their way into the sanctity of this great undeveloped area, the inhabitants were tilling the thin topsoil of the mountains on small clearings. These people had learned to exist on the bare necessities of life. and their children and their children's children had for generations made additional clearings and established homes as simple as those of their forebears. In this simple life, living in ignorance of kitchen gadgets and other modern inovations that might have been in vogue at that time, these people lived in a world of their own, far removed from transportation and communication facilities. With the discovery of the great deposits of high-quality coal which abound in the Big Sandy Valley and the coming of the railroads which were attracted by the opportunities presenting themselves in the exploitation of the natural wealth of this region, we find in the economic history of this valley a period of radical change in the living standards, the habits and the thinking of the people of the area. We find that as the railways pushed farther up the river that coal-mining communities began to mushroom along the railroad and the number of mining enterprises soon found themselves competing for labor to mine the coal from the earth to be shipped and sold in the markets of the world. The recruiting of labor was carried out in a very assiduous manner. The native people who had been so completely satisfied with their simple living, and had been ignored for so many years by the outside world, found themselves in great demand and their services vied for by competing coal-company respresentatives. As a result, great numbers were resettled away from their little hillside clearings into small, hurriedly built, coal-camp houses, and for the first time found themselves together in, what to them, was a densely populated community. The end result of this resettlement program was the transformation of the native people of the Big Sandy Valley from simple farmers to day laborers in the coal mines, and with it came the tremendous increase in their standard of living. They were now enjoying a level of prosperity completely unheard of in comparison to their former situation. If this prosperity had seemed great to those people, it paled into insignificance in contrast to what was to follow. In Europe began the rumble of war, and soon our nation found itself in the middle of the effort to "make the world safe for democracy," and this effort required a battle machine which needed coal in astronomical quantities to feed its gluttonous appetite. The production of this coal required more and more workers in the mines and as a consequence, a new and more vigorous recruiting effort was begun and additional numbers of our small hillside farmers were drawn away from the more remote communities into the coal-mining camps, and during the following years of increased coal production a still greater and greater percentage of the people in our valley abandoned their self-sufficiency on their poor hillside farms and became day laborers and their living standard was increased as if by magic overnight. After the war was over and the gluttonous war machine had been disbanded, we experienced a "return to normalcy," which completely wrecked the magnificient coal industry in the Big Sandy Valley. These people who had left their farms for the coal mines found themselves in a very bewildering situation. They had accustomed themselves to a standard of living and an environment which was incompatible with any ideas of returning to the self-sufficiency of the isolated hillside farms and for a few years before the beginning of the inflationary period of the 1920's there was starvation and moral degeneration, the lack of which no group of white people had ever before experienced. Another period of stimulated activity in the Big Sandy Valley coal fields soon began as a result of the inflationary forces and the people were again employed and happy. The moral complexion improved in direct ratio to the extent of emplovinent along the river. When the bubble burst in 1929, the people of the Big Sandy Valley were absolutely destitute, faced with the problem of trying to obtain food, clothing, and shelter in a community depending entirely on the single industry, coal, which was now "as dead as Marley's ghost." Then began the pump-priming and the Federal Works Administration, direct relief, and other agencies created to save people from hunger and despair. As a result of the aid given by these agencies, a marked improvement soon began to be apparent in practically every section of the United States, but not so in the Big Sandy Valley. During the 4 years 1936-40, which business statisticians agree were normal years, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration expended over $65,000,000 in relief payments directly to the citizens of the Big Sandy Valley. This area was designated as problem No. 1 in the United States as far as relief agencies were concerned The Unemployment Compensation Commission reports, as a matter of public record, that the percentage of unemployment in the Big Sandy Valley was greater than in any other area in the United States. It was found that out of The total of 213,000 people on the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy, 66,000 persons Tersons were receiving contributions for their existence from the United States Government. At the beginning of World War II we find another period of stimulation in the Big Sandy coal industry, another period of high employment, high wages, and xaggerated production of coal. We found also additional recruiting of the mountain family people drawn into the coal communities to taste the lush apple of marginal prosperity. The period of the Second World War as it affected the Bur Sandy Valley and its people reads the same as that in World War I, except that the activity was on a much larger scale. Now that the war is over and another return to normalcy is under way, we find that in Pike County, Ky., alone, there are over 268 coal mines that have en completely abandoned and no longer make a pretence of operating. We Sad that during the first and second quarters of 1949, those people fortunate enough to have a job in the mines are working from 1 to 2, or at most 3 days a week. While great numbers are leaving their families, going out of the Big Sandy to the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia where they are able to obtain employr.1 in the coal mines on a basis of 5 to 6 days work per week. We find that the Unemployment Compensation Commission reports that on June 1, 1948, in the Kentucky counties in the watershed of the Big Sandy River there were 3,814 pie on the unemployment roll, but one year later, June 1, 1949, that there were 11,326, which is an approximate increase of 300 percent in 12 months. In comparing the business cycles in the Big Sandy Valley, we find that the great coal industry, which depended on periods of stimulation and scarcity for prosperity, during normal times inactivity is the rule. In other similar coal fields enjoying the advantage of available water transportation, operation graphs show a much higher level of consistent production than that of the Big Sandy Valley. We who have studied the economic problems of the Big Sandy Valley area are convinced that after the Big Sandy canalization project is authorized and constructed, that the Federal Government will be saved the necessity of spending again the tremendous amounts on relief which they did during the 1930 depression years. Senator HOLLAND. Are there any questions? Senator Withers. No questions. Senator HOLLAND. Who is the next witness? STATEMENT OF ELSA JOHNSON, WILLIAMSON, W. VA. Mr. JOHNSON. My name is Elsa Johnson, and I am president of local union No. 6954. I am here in the interest of this canalization, and that might surprise you from what you have been hearing from some of the opposition. The place where I work is one of the largest producers of coal in that county, as I understand it. There are about 1,200 men working at the place where I work.. I appeared before this committee or the other committee about 2 months ago and stated my position at that time, and I have received nothing to justify a change in the position. Moreover, I see better reason to maintain a stronger position since the production of coal has gotten worse in our particular locality there. I talked to scores of local union officers, men that work in the mine. Two years or a little better ago I took a petition to try to find out the actual spirit of the people that worked in the mines with respect to the canalization proposition. I found not even one that opposed the canalization. I remember in the other hearing I heard Mr. Tom Raney, president of district No. 30 in Kentucky, say, I believe, that around 15 local unions said they did not want it; he knew they did not because he personally contacted them and they said they did not want it. I can very well understand that if the president of the district came to see the boys, I see how they said that. I do not think they would have said that without pressure. I see a letter from him to all local unions in his district, and I would call it, knowing the coal miners as I do, pressure; and I think what they would say against canalization would be for the reason that pressure was brought by the leaders. I say they do not represent the coal miners in that locality in Mingo County and the places where it would be directly affected by canalization. Our time is running short, and I am not very long-winded. I do not feel like it is justified in my taking up a lot of time and I do have a statement I would like to present to the committee. Senator HOLLAND. Without objection, it will be admitted. (The statement referred to is as follows:) STATEMENT OF ELSA JOHNSON Mr. CHAIRMAN: My name is Elsa Johnson. I am a native-born West Virginian and have lived my entire life on the Tug fork of Big Sandy River in Wayne and Mingo Counties. I was born in Wayne County and lived there until about 12 years ago. For approximately 10 years I lived at Red Jacket, in Mingo County West Virginia, but about 2 years ago the cost of living got so great and my family so large that I found it almost impossible properly to provide for them in a coal camp, so with the little money I had saved I bought a small farm in Wayne County, where my family has been living and where we can have cows, pigs, chickens, and raise vegetables, and thereby contribute to our living expenses. I am married and have eight children, including two sets of twins. years old. I am 34 For the past 12 years I have been employed in the mines of the Red Jacket Coal Corporation in Mingo County, about 15 miles from Williamson, the county seat of that county. I have done almost all sorts of manual labor about a coal mine, and for the past 5 years have been largely engaged in operating a Joy loader machine, which is a device which loads the coal into the mine cars to be carried to and loaded into railroad cars. All my adult life I have earned my living for myself and my family by the sweat of my brow, and I know what that means to any man who so supports a family. The Red Jacket Coal Corporation is the largest producer of coal in Mingo County, and in that county in the year 1948 produced approximately 11⁄2 million tons. For about 6 years I have been president of local union No. 6954 of United Mine Workers of America. This is one of the two local unions at Red Jacket. My local has approximately 600 members. The president of the other local union at Red Jacket is Arthur Hardy, and his local also has about 600 members. Because of my connection with these locals and my work in the industry and my interest in the proposed canalization of this stream, I have made it my business for several years now to learn what the coal miners in our field think and want about this canalization. I have talked to hundreds of miners and to scores of local union officials, and it is my honest opinion that practically all of them favor the canalization of the Big Sandy and its two forks. We miners feel that we need this canalization in order that the coal we produce can reach market at a lower freight rate, and particularly compete in the markets of the lower Ohio and the lower and upper Mississippi with other coal-producing fields which now enjoy the low rate of water transportation. We know that in order that we may have constant employment at good wages the coal we produce must be sold and we know that those who buy coal buy at the lowest price they can get it, considering the quality of coal. According to the Army engineers, in our valley there are billions of tons of very fine coal, and many thousands of miners live on the wages they get from mining this coal, and if our coal cannot be sold to the consumer then we do not have steady employment and many of us have to work part time only, and many more of us at times are without employment. I have here before me the weekly production report of the five high volatile fields of southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky for the week ending July 2, 1949, and the corresponding week of 1948. This report is prepared and distributed by the Coal Operators Association of the Williamson field, in which I work, and in my opinion it is dependable and accurate. To illustrate what it means to the miners, and for that matter to the mine owners who do and do not have water transportation of the coal, let me point out to you from this report the following significant facts: (a) For the first 6 months of the year 1949 the Williamson field, which has no water transportation and no water-compelled freight railway rates, produced 1% million tons less coal than was produced for the same period in 1948. (b) The Big Sandy field (largely covering Pike, Floyd and Johnson Counties, Ky.), having no water facilities for the first 6 months of 1949 produced 14 million tons of coal less than was produced for the same period in 1948; Whereas, (c) The Logan field (largely Logan County, W. Va.), which has water compelled railway rates, produced in the first 6 months of 1949 about 100,000 tons more coal than was produced for the same period in 1948. (d) The Kanawha (W. Va.) field, having water transportation, produced 200,000 tons more coal in the first 6 months of 1949 than in the same period in 1948. (e) This means that if the labor cost of producing a ton of coal is $3 (which is a Conservative figure), the wage earners in the mines in the Big Sandy and Williamson fields, which have water transportation or water compelled railway rates, received in wages the first half of 1949 about 10 million dollars less than for the atne period in 1948; whereas, the wage earners in the Kanawha and Logan fields, having water transportation or water compelled railway rates, received about 1 million dollars more in wages in the first half of 1949 than in 1948, and if the second half of the year shall be the same average it means that the lack of water transportation will in the year 1949, as measured by the earnings of 1948, cost the miners of the Williamson and Big Sandy fields 20 million dollars in wages, and at the same time give the miners in the Kanawha and Logan Fields 2 million dollars more in wages in 1949 than they had in 1948. If the average coal miner earns $4,000 the year, this loss of wages in 1949 means the wages of 5,000 miners, and may mean the unemployment of that many miners or the reduction of earnings of the miners that do work. I know that some of our higher officials-like Mr. Blizzard and Mr. Rameyand including Mr. John L. Lewis, our national president-are opposed to the canalization of the Big Sandy. We miners do not follow them in this attitude. Our higher officials are chosen to care for our interests in contracts as to wages, hours of work, and the like, but when it comes to economic matters, questions of policy, and the like, we who actually do the work of producing the coal do our own thinking, and we are convinced that our leaders in this respect are using bad judgment and we prefer to follow our own judgment. After all, Mr. Lewis appoints the district presidents, like Mr. Blizzard and Mr. Ramey, whereas the officers of the local unions, including the speaker, are elected by popular vote by members of the local. We ask this committee to give us the much desired canalization of our stream, that we can be assured of steady employment about producing the coal and getting it to market at a rate of transportation which will enable it to complete with other fields which ship their coal by water. It will give us more wages, the mine operators more profit, and convey the coal to the consumer at a lesser cost to him. I have omitted to say that not only have I talked to hundreds of the miners in our field through the recent years, but I have again talked to many of them, including local union officials, since I testified here before the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the House about 2 months ago, and without exception all the men with whom I have talked share my belief as to what should be done toward canalizing the stream. I am filing this statement with the committee, and attaching to it the production report referred to above made by the Operators Association of Williamson field. Weekly production report, five high volatile fields of southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky Equivalent to 50-ton ear loadings furnished by various associations. Estimated by National Coal Association. 3 Combined estimate of National Coal Association and U. S. Bureau of Mines. United States Bureau of Mines. *Subject to revision. Source: Compiled by Operators' Association of the Williamson Field, Williamson, W. Va., July it, 1949. |