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the government would be fair and not expropriate us. We don't expect ever to get out of the mining industries what has been put into them in the way of capital. We just want to get out so that we individually are not totally broke, so that stock owners have some partial payment for the investment they have made, but always on the basis of a fair price which will be fixed by the government. We will leave it to the government to say what it is and take the coal mining industry totally out of private hands. It can never be operated in any other way. The coal mining business is over as a business and it can never be done any other way, except by a public authority.”

Ickes and I were just overwhelmed by this idea. We were exchanging comments under our breath - “This is the darndest thing. Do you believe what you're hearing? This is the craziest thing. They must be desperate.”

I was saying to them, “Gentlemen, have you really considered this,” thinking that they had lost their minds. “This is a very serious matter. Have you considered what proportion of the coal industry you represent?”

They represented everything except one West Virginia field and the captive mines. The captive mines were included in the steel business. These people, however, represented seventy-five per cent of all the coal that could be gotten