# Postscript explained — King Coal

> Chapter companion for King Coal by Upton Sinclair.

## What happens

The author provides a factual postscript to the novel, asserting its basis in real events and conditions observed during the Colorado coal strike of 1913-14. He cites extensive government and independent investigations and reproduces a Colorado Supreme Court decision that unseated Sheriff J.B. Farr, the 'King of Huerfano County,' for unprecedented election fraud. The author argues that this political victory is only a small step, as the industrial power of corporations remains untouched and continues to breed corruption, calling for a fundamental change to a system of production for the people.

## Themes in this chapter

### Corporate Tyranny and Lawlessness

The postscript details how coal corporations controlled election precincts, polling places, and registration lists, turning public elections into private instruments of corporate power, a 'crime without a name'.

### Illusion of the American Dream

The author directly challenges the notion of America as a 'land of the free,' showing that hundreds of thousands of workers live under conditions of industrial feudalism, with political freedom nullified by corporate control.

### Class Conflict and Exploitation

The decision describes how the entire election machinery was handed over to coal corporations, who used it to maintain their wealth and power over helpless workers, illustrating the deep class divide.

## Character check-ins

### J. B. Farr

Sheriff of Huerfano County, known as 'the King of Huerfano County,' whose election was contested and who was unseated by the Colorado Supreme Court for fraud.

## Key lines

> The offence was one so unprecedented that the justices of the court, men chosen for their learning in the history of offences, were moved to say: 'We find no such example of fraud within the books, and must seek the letter and spirit of the law in a free government, as a scale in which to weigh such conduct.'

The Colorado Supreme Court declared that the fraud committed by the coal companies was so novel that no legal precedent existed, forcing them to rely on the fundamental principles of free government to judge it.

_Highlights the extraordinary nature of the corporate manipulation of elections._

> The industrial power of the great corporations remains untouched by this decision; and this power is greater than any political power ever wielded by the government of Huerfano County, or even of the state of Colorado.

Despite unseating a corrupt sheriff, the underlying industrial power of the corporations—which is far greater than any local or state government—remains intact and continues to generate corruption.

_The author's key argument that political reform alone is insufficient without addressing corporate power._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/king_coal_se/chapters/postscript
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/king_coal_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/king_coal_se/chapters