Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1846-08-15


and half of hickory wood, can be purchased In
either Of these cities for what was, twenty wears
ego, the lowest price Of q cord of wood. The
introduction Of this now article Of fuel, which
has been fostercd and encouraged into use BY
our revenue laws, has brought down the price
OF this necessary oflife, and has been the cause
gilmore comfort 10 the poor mans home than any
invention Of the sge. Thirty years ago this
article Il mean the anthracite coal OF Pennsyl.
vania) was entirely unknown now it gives
employment to labor, annually, equal TO five
millions ofdsys' work. gives employment to
about 700 ships of l6O tons each, and il affords
a nursery for the education of about 5000 sea.
men, the importance of which can only be felt
in case ofa war with maritime power. Dcs.
troy this business, and you transfer this nursery
to the coal mines of Great Britain. II has in,
vested in it more than fifty millions Of dollars,
anc 1t sustains q population in its immediate
neighberhood Of some 10000 or 10000 people
It consumes annually more than two millions Of
dollars worth ofsgricuItural products, and more
than three and a half millions Of dollars worth
of merchandise. Pc
The oil alone consumed in the anthracite coal
region Of Pennsylvania, in one year, is worth o.
yer three hundred thousand dolara
The rent paid by the miners to the owners Of
land amounts to an annual sum of 5000, 600, and
this sum is produced bya very small charge on
| each ton mined-not more than 80 or 40 cents
all the remainder being expended for labor in
one form or another and the land for which
this rent is paid was until recently, barren
| waste
The effect Of the tariff upon this branch Of
our industry is illustrated by the following fact
In 1887 the amount Of coal sent
to market was $4,000 tons
In 1912, with low duties, it had
increased to only l,lOeOM
Showing an increase of 227,OOO tons in five
years. In ls48i it will be over 2,5OO,OOO tons,
showing an increase, under the effects Of the
tariff Of 1912, in period Of only four yesrs, Of
1892 600 tons.
Among the striking effects Of the iutroduc.
tion of this article fosiered as it has been BY our
tariff laws, is one tor the correctness Of Which
appeal to the Senator'S Of Massachusetts,. tho
completion OF the Reading railroad, one Of the
avenues by which the coal reaches market, has
made such reduction in the price of fuel In
that State, that the amount saved annually 10
it's citizens equals the interest on her whole
State debt; thus virtually abolIshing the debt
itself take this State as Q matter of convent.
ence. as il is tho great market of the east Its
effect on other States, particularly New York
must be equally striking. Aud yet, II Imay be
permitted 10 digrees, we see public men, pro.
Tossing to represent the interest of their consii.
tuents, giving their aid to the destruction Of
this business, so important TO those interests.
The snthracite coal 10 confined to the eastern
base Of the Allegany mountains. On the
western slope only is found bi,umnous coal,
and almost every western county of Pennsyl.
vanis, and nearly every one Of the western
States, abounds in il. have not had time to
investigate the amount of business connected
with it 4; the operations Of it have been conf.
ned 10 local sections: but it has greatly increa-
sed since the tariffo OF 1sa2 has kept the British
coal from competing with it in the New Orlean.
market. I will. however, give one fact, show
ing the effect Of the trade and usc Of this article
upon the prosperity Of the country. The city
Of Pittsburg. it is known to all, lies in basin
surrounded with coal veins. Il is one vast work
shop, and its whole growth and prosperity is de
rived from the coal extracted from the fiowning
mountains which surround it. Every one of il,
citizens lives, directly or indirectly. from the
produce of,he coal mines SAN
The town Of Pittsburg in 1913 had bot &. .74s
Inhabitants. In ls40 the population Of the cit,
proper was 2l,l60. Il is now 45.00O-mur,
, than doubled in six years. have not the data
} but presume nearly oil this increase has take,
} place since 1912, IS know, for some years pre-
D ceding the passage of the tariff bill, busiues
D was almost entirely suspended. The popula
; ,ion Of the city, and surrounding villages
which are actually part Of the city, amount,
q to the round number Of 100000, and its who'll
J. prosperity has tsorigin in its coal and ito iron
l. and the manufactures which they have broueh b
o into existence. The coal now used by ou
steamships on the gulf is furnished from lh
J, Mouongahela coal mines and the movement
d of our feet beiors Vera Cruz, to which the eye
q ofthe nation are now turned. will greatly de
pend on On sbundsncs Of this important mean
. Of national defence within our own border,
J. Destroy the trade produced by these mines, an