The Guffey-Snyder Coal Act was a law, officially known as the
Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935, passed in the United States in 1935 under
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
as part of his
New Deal. It created the Bituminous Coal Commission to
set the price
Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of good ...
of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
and
end other unfair practices of competition.
[https://www.nber.org/chapters/c2882.pdf ] The law also created the Bituminous Coal Labor Board to regulate maximum work hours and minimum wage
but was later ruled to be
unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
in ''
Carter v. Carter Coal Co.'' because the Supreme Court did not find the law's labor provisions to qualify as interstate commerce and therefore considered its actions beyond the jurisdiction of the federal government.
It was replaced in 1937 with the Guffey-Vinson Coal Act, officially known as the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1937, which was not ruled unconstitutional. The act resurrected the Bituminous Coal Commission and reinstated the provisions regarding price fixing and the regulation of unfair practices
but removed the labor provisions of the previous act. In 1939, the Bituminous Coal Commission was abolished, and its duties were transferred to the US Department of the Interior.
[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15760&st=&st1=#axzz1o0Kd9BZW]
The Act increased profits, wages, union membership, and reduced strikes. However, it faced opposition from businesses, republicans and conservatives for too much government interference in business, many felt it was a socialist policy. Conservatives feared it would set a precedent for regulation to affect other industries and thus questioned if it was constitutional. Large consumers of coal also argued it would unreasonably increase prices, and operators from the south and west said it discriminated against low-wage and non-union mines.
See also
*
Joseph F. Guffey
References
5. https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/guffey-snyder-act-1935
Further reading
* James P. Johnson. ''A "New Deal" for soft coal: the attempted revitalization of the bituminous coal industry under the New Deal'' (1979)
New Deal legislation
1935 in law
Coal mining in the United States
Coal mining law
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