, 1865-11-02
THE FUEL QUESTION.

The people Of Chicago arc suffering from
combination Of causes, which threaten to pro-
duee the greatest distress, especially among
The poor, during the coming winter. Hard
coal now figures at 81 to $a4 ton, and cord
wood nj from SIS to SIT cord. Yet immeai-
ately ACROSS Lake Michigan cord wood can
be obtained ut Il cord on the line Of near
II erery sailroad ccntering in this city, and
within easy distances, It can be bought BY the
railroad companies for their Own nse, at s.
cord. While the locomotives Of bloated mo-
nopolics. swollen into arrogance By their
enormous dividends, are fed with fuel that
costs $3 cord, the ZANE fuel is pald for by
the sh,vezins soldiers widow, or the tolltng
ncedle-woman, at the rate of $15 to t17 a
cord, or more than five times the rich mo-
nopolists' pricel Yet the reason why the
poor must pay price 50 t1cndish, IL because
the railroad mouopolist will not bring cord
wood into the city; as freight, as
1t Is the settled policy OF the rail-
roads 10 keep the wood where nobody but
themselves can buy 1t. The farmer fifty to
one hundred miles out Of Chicago can get but
s. 10 s. for his wood, nIggerdly price at
which he can hardly atord TO cut 1t, still less
the policy Of the sniltuad companies, like all
mean and detestAble cxtortions, Ia mot only
an outrage on the farmer and the consumer of
wood, but It is. In the long run, q blundcr
against the interests Of the railroad compa-
MES themselves. For The farmer who cannot
get half price for his wood will not raise 1t,
or take the slight pains necessary to keep II
growing; and hence every yea. will make It
more scarce Throughout the country trnycrsed
By the road, md ultimately theY themselves
must pay prices proportionate to the general
scarcity, whereas, had they given the farmer
the use Of their road to ship his wood to mar
kct, and so given linn the meaus of obtaining
tair price, wood would be constantly kept
growing, and hence would always rule at
reasonable prices.
Under the refusal Of the rnilroad companies
to transport wood, the city Of Chicago Is
now dependant On transportation over the
LAKE, Frcights for this Insignificant distance
rule, as We are informed, at s65 to 800 per
corn from Grand Haven into Chicago-so>
that wood worth at Grind Haven a 1 cord,
is worth on cur docks I'll, and Is setailed at
the yards for SIS.
For Pennsylvania coal we arc also depend
ent On water transportation, and are now pay
ing s2s TO "a nj retail. How much need
there Is OF this may be seen from recent
number Of the Scranton Tenn.) Regiaa-, pub
Ished at the nlnca, which gives the following
figures az the cost Of coal ut the mines.
Per Ion.
Mining tho ekme- --n-....--..-...... so
Preparing for mazkst - .--.........-........., 80
AfAt3nv fhr r,,<t NJ r.sf hnra ....-- =, cx
Estimating the cost Of transportation by
1ail trnm Scranton 10 Erie at eye per mile,
which, we believe, Is about the actual rites,
and we have the following figures:
Cost ii scranton. fe1 e.
Transportation 70 Eue....--......-..-.-..--.- SOS
Total cost 1t Hie............. -..-...-.... $3.50
Il will be remembered that the coal Is
brought from Eric to Chicago, "as ballast"
by g1ain vessels on their return trip, and the
yesse.s for bringing It get from one to two
dollars per ton, making its cost IN Chicago
nor quite twelve dollars per ton. Moreover
Thile in the above estimates, the ton referred
10 Is the gross ton oT two thousand Two hun
dfcd and forty pounds, the ton for which the
dealer gets his tweuty-1our dollars Is but two
Thousand pomds-Eiving the dealer an addI-
1aonal gain OF 240 pounds 10 the ton
Ane Sncago deslcrs, We are informed. mo-
noponke TIC market In the Goals Of Western
fcSnsSlsania by contracting with the ovnens
there 10 sell to no others in Ch5cat,o tb,s
themselves Hert, therefore, Is a rene,it,o,
Of the grinding power OF two seis Of monnn,
olizing capitalists over the poor laborinr man.
The railroad men and the coal dealers COM
htnc tn perfect q system OF cxtortion wh,ch