The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1868-07-09

the oppressed and, il ii is deemed necessary,
We shall not hesitate to pitch into him, until
after the completion Of the great enterprise
in which we have all embarked, for no mere
personal considerations shall keep Us from
defending the 10000 people to whom alone
we look for support, We eau do this with u
pretty good grace, on account OF the drdI'
tdIy manner in which he has regulated the
price Of coal. We reeollect nearly ten years
ago, when he frst went into the coal trade,
that he told us that ten cents per bushel, IN
gold, was fair price for coal in his YARD,
and that he had determined never to take
any more, or any less either, if be could
help it, adding, in the most positive II not
impudent manner that coal at his yard in
Rock Island, at that price, should become as
good legal tender as gold itself Up to |
this day he has never charged or accepted |
over ten cents a bushel for coal at his yard
in Rock Island, in gold or its equivalent in
greenbacks, aud never realized more than
that for it, when sent away and We were
never able to get him much below that fg.
ure, except once when labor was so TO -
cts. per day, wheat 81 to iOcts per bushel,
and corn 90 low that il was cheaper fuel
than coal, at his regular price to many Of
his customers, at which time we got him
down to and cts, per bushel. Besides,
be has always sold q single bushel Of coal,
to poor man who could rot buy any more,
Just as cheaply as he would sell to a specu.
ator, who wanted 100000 bushels, thus cut.
ting off all inducements to capitalists to
come here and invest their means in the
coal business. lie has thus nearly carried
out his threat about the price Of coal and
made the 0,onotony in the price Of it irksome
IN the eztreme, in our market reports. He
invariably adds what he pays for delivering
from his yard to bis customers around town
or in Davenport to his ten cents in gold, and
if anybody complains at the cost he coOlly
tells them they are welcome to buy the coal
ut his yard at his regular price and to haul
it themselves or hire others TO do it. He
has, too, ever since he became the sole pro-
prietor Of the Coal Valley mines, paid bis
miners such enormous prices, for mining
that he has not had single strike Of his |
men, which prices he Immediately saddles |
on the coal and makes the consumers pay
them. BY thus pandering to the wishes Of
Me miners, he has been able to keep con-
5tant supply Of coal in the market, thus dis.
'ouraging others from embarking in the
business, and perpetuating his monopoly,
md at the same time, by the extortionNte
prices he pays, he demoralizes labor 80 that
.Ae miners in the noghboring banks refuse
10 work at less figures than he establishes.
For these reasons We are prepared to
Join the "pungent letter. writer and our "di. |
rector on the other side of the river in get |
ting after him personally or as the oraer of
the Coal Valley road, if it is absolutely nee
essary to DO it, yet we would rather do a
much larger amount Of work in some other
direction. We would, for instance cheer.
fully 90 in for abating the Coal Valley road, |
as nuisance, and head petition to our
board Of trade, praying it to take the neces
sary action GU that subject, on the ground
that it produces coal so cheapy that nobody
else can make living at the business, while
if twas not for that road. not less than a
hundred families might make good living
by producing and hauling coal to this market
which would of course increase our popu
lstion very considerably.
The "pungcnt letter. writer boldly takes
the ground that $4,000 is all that is want
ed in Davenport, and "laments in sackcloth |
and ashes" their inability, by some $4,000 |
Dr $20, 600, to take even that sum, and winds |
up his "book of lamentations with the sage
conclusion that davenport cannot expect |
10 be consulted to any extent in the loca.
lion Of the line, or in the regulation Of rates.
- 'hkhAt llAtittS ShlCuN VI L'iO bh9ih'oo'
The letter being written by the gentleman
Who was about to take $40, 900 of the stock |
.s an Investment and who has done the |
main part Of all the biowiny in the public |
meetings, on the streets and in the press of
Davenport in favor Of the scheme, and he |
being regarded as the mouth piece Of "the |
director on that side of the river" we are
constrained to the conclusion that there was
some mistake in the rumOr which reached |
Us that they had determined to take $lO,.
poo each Of the stock, or they have since
changed their minds on the subject.
This apathy, in Davenport is incompre.
'ible to us, and appalling in the extreme
It cannot be for want of confidence in the
Investment, for we have demonstrated that
t would saoe large dividends to the public if
t did not make any for the stock holders,
It cannot be because our road will be q com.
1cting line to the Chicago, Rock Island *
Pacific, fully &c miles shorter and with only
10 foot heavier grades, for our very object is
competition, and why should we care wheth.
er We produce "cheap coal and cheap trans
or make somebody else do it2
1t is not worth while for us to try to wake
lp the people of Davenport if "the director"
md "the pungent letter" writer cannot do it,
out if they will frankly admit that their wind
las given out, and that they have been Jloac.
"g merely for the fun of hearing themselves
'lo'o, and will get the "pungent letter" writ.
r appointed chief engineer of the company,
o as to secure US cheap ROAD, we will come
0 the rescue and raise the $4,000 or $40.
100 ourselves, for we are all anxious for "a I