Can the United States Government Own and Operate the Coal Mines under the Present Federal Constitution?

The coal production situation in the United States appears to grow more acute each year. While there is an abundance of coal in the ground, and, due to the increased use of machinery, it can be mined at less expense than formerly, and notwithstanding the fact that more miners are employed, coal prices, from year to year, go higher and higher until many families in the states having a cold winter climate (there is scarcely a family in any section of the United States but who requires coal at some period of the year ) suffer as a direct consequence of these exorbitant prices, while indirectly through higher transportation and manufacturing costs every person in the United States is affected.