King Coal [Paperback]

Hal Warner is a college man who visits the coal camps of Colorado to learn what they are really like. He finds out how a traveler can be arrested and robbed of his money and watch. When he makes a friend he learns about the fear that oppresses workers in a company town. A complainer can be fired and blacklisted in the whole state. Death and crippling injuries are too common, the mine bosses ignore the state laws. Education in public schools offers a view of a wider world. Otherwise the people in these camps are like medieval serfs without their many holidays and benefits. Sinclair shows his bias against drinking, as if that was the cause of the worker's poverty instead of the result. The company preacher in the company church spoke against demon rum, but not the poverty and oppression they endured. Over-work caused "industrial drinking".

Miners were cheated on the amount of coal they produced. There was a caste system based on nationality. [Divide et impera?] The company supervisors tried to prostitute young women. Any accident is blamed on the victim. Hal gets a better job by paying off the boss. Hard physical labor dulled the mind and wearied the body. Workers were encouraged to spy on each other. An organizer for the United Mine-Workers shows up and explains why the workers need a union: to enforce the state laws that are ignored by the company bosses. In Book II Sinclair tells of the care needed to organize so the miners can get an honest weight for their coal. There had been a big strike once. The local government and state militia acted for the mine owners. Strike leaders were put in jail without being charged. Others were railroaded and left in a desert without food or water. Judges were forbidden to act! The strike was broken.

Hal learns how the votes are counted by the coal company: their man always wins! The miners decide on what to do, and how to handle the expected violence (rely on moral force). The company concocts a reason to put Hal in jail. The marshal tells Hal how the courts and jury are rigged to railroad him to prison, perfectly legal. But Hal has a surprise for the marshal. A mine explosion occurs. Sinclair describes the effects it has below and above ground. These accidents result when the company disregards the safety laws. The mine company is slow to rescue the men; there is a profit motive there (as in Cherry Illinois)! Hal is then railroaded out of town.

This fast-paced story tells about the political system that is corrupted by big corporations. Hal acts as a knight who passes many tests and difficulties to save the imperiled miners. Can people depend on the "old-school tie" to make everything right? Sinclair's writing skills have improved since "The Jungle" of 1906. This book describes life in a company town a century ago. Have things changed since? Will this past return? Sinclair is no longer totally in favor of alcohol prohibition. The examples in states showed this did not prevent the oppression that resulted in poverty.

The 'Postscript' explains this story is based on the facts observed in unorganized mining camps around the time of the great coal strike of 1913-1914. The characters are based on real persons, every incident is typical. The Colorado strike was well documented. A report by the Colorado Supreme Court told about the political repression used to control voting. [Sinclair was a jounalist who documented his findings in novels. This prevented them from being long forgotten like most of the 'muckrakers' in the early 1900s.]

i think this book deserves the full star rating, because of its dealing withe the social and labor problems much like todays.

I found this book to be a truly captivating representation of the hypocrisy and oppression that the early 20th century coal miners encountered. While the plot is not as notable as his earlier work, The Jungle; King Coal is laced with it's own gruesome depiction of the corruption caused by greed and apathetic treatment toward the mine workers.

Upton Sinclair devoted his life to exposing the flaws of big industry and I think everyone could benefit from reflecting on his work.

I would also recommend Germinal by naturalist, Emile Zola or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The latter book illustrates the life of a family of sharecroppers during the Dust Bowl while the former concerns the lives of workers in the French mines.