The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-10-08
WAR ON THE COAL KINGS.

Governor Pattison Makes an AttacK on
the Great CONFERENCE.-The Oppression
of the Pool Set Forth in Strong Terms
"A Suit Likely to Be Brought.
HARRISBURG, Pa, Oct. 4. = Governor
Pattison has written letter to the Attor-
ney-General OF the State requesting him to
begin proceedings in the courts against
the anthracite coal pool, and it is under
stood that the Attorney General viii take
immediate action. The Governor in his
letter recalls the facts that the
pool was formed in New York
December 81. 1884, by the Laeka-
wanna, Lehigh Valley, Reading Lake Erie
and Pennsylvania coal companies, the
Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, and
the Lehgh Coal and Navigation Company,
corporations chartered by the State OF
Pennsylvania; that at that time an agree
ment was entered into by which six OF
these corporations were in effect pledged
in writing to restrict and regulate
the production Of coal and to maintain
and advance its price; that an apportion-
ment of the total production was Their
allotted to EACH company for the year
1856, and on January 1, 1886, new al
lotment went into operation based on an
annual production Of 33, 500, 600 tons.
The Governor, after referring to the adj
vance in the price OF coal since July 2,
says:
"Recently through the Offices of a syndicate
OF capitalists there has been strengthening
of the anthrac tie coal combination, and the
cla!in is now made by some OF Its members
that they can mark up coal prices to any fig
ure they please, thereby subjecting the
public to tier mercy, injudiciousy and
fundamentally taxing every fires de,
and imposing upon coal consumers the finan-
cial burden which the specuiatlons Of some
OF those companies have engendered al
though the State constitution declares that
no cOrpOratea company do NC the business
of a common carrier shall directly or indi-
rectly prosecute or engagein mining or man.
ufacturng articles for transportation over its
finest yet ALL or nearly all, of the common
carriers represented in the anthracite coal
combination are engaged directly or indirect
ly in mining.
"The anthracite coal regions of the State
are practically under the control of this com
bination. For long per DDS it has kept the
miners running on three-quarters time, thus
putting nearly 100000 workers Oh what
amounted to three quarter pay, ard, by
hinderinr competition, it has restricted the
developing of our mineral wealth 1t has adj
vanced or depressed the price of coal as
best suited its purpose 1t has ma ntalned
the prices of coal supplied to town and to city
trade at prices ranging more than one dollar
per ton over ana above the price ut which it
sold the same article to consumers located
farther from the mines but in territory that
did not come within the terms of the agree
ment
ut has advanced the charges for trans
portation in face of the fact that the net
earnings OF the carrying companies belong.
ing to the combination amounted to about
nineteen per cent. per annum of the cost of
the roads and their equipment and OF the
further fact that charges are higher
than they were twenty-six years ago,
ton of freight does not to-day
amount to more than one-third of its cost at
that time. BY restricting production and adj
yancing prices it has crippled the vast iron in
terests, decreasing the demand for anthrac to
coal in the reduction of iron ores, forcing
iron furnaces out of blast and placing nearly
all the industries of Eastern Pennsylvania at
the mercy of the managers of these compan-
ieS'
The Governor then refers to the trunk
line pool and says:
ait DESTROYS competition by bringing every
manifest under the supervision of a trunk
line commissioner and practically I'm ties all
the lines under one control 10 give an arti-
fetal stimulus to traffic il arbitrarily raises
or lowers its charges for transportation,
adjusting its freight rates upon a basis
watch will purchase peace among
its members. 1t EFFORTS from the profits
of shipment all that the traffic will bear, and
sometimes more than it will bear, doing this
without reasonable regard to the cost of serY-
ice or the rights of shippers. 1t causes vio-
lent fluctuations in prices, making all trade
dependent upon its movements and holding
perpetual menace over the material inter-
eStS OF the country.
Against such combinations the individual
is helpless. The commonwealth OF PennSyl-
creating CORPORATIONS that
berS of the anthracite coal combination and
of the trunk-lne pool vested them with the
right of eminentd omain and other franchises
OF public nature. They owe certain duties
to their creator, and one of these is to avoid
any infringement upon the rights of indi-
vlduals or the general wellbeing of the
State. Their interference with the natural
current and conditions of trade has been in
violation of what is believed to be sound pub
lie policy and against the best interests of the
State. 1t prejudces the public and Expresses
individuals 1t is perverSion of the pur-
pose for which they were created. These
facts which have been reported to me and.
measurably authenticated. l deem of suffi-
sideration and such action as the circum-
stances may warrant"
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 1.-The action OF
Governor Pattison in instructing the At.
torney-General of the State to institute
legal proceedings against the six greatest
coa[carrying railroads of the United States
to prevent the contemplated advance of
fifteen cents a ton in the price OF coal after
October 1 will be Of far-reaching i'm
portance, not only to the rival rail-
roads which have entered into the treaty
but to the coal consumers of the entire
country. 1t was part of the agreement
between the Delaware, Lackawanna &
Western, Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia &
Reading, New York, Lake Erie & Western,
Delaware & Hudson and the Pennsylva nia
that the output OF coal should in
future be restricted and rates rigidly
sustained at the higher prices. Governor
Pattison's proceedings will be based on
the law OF Pennsylvania forbidding the
consolidation or combination OF corpora
tons which compete for business in the
State. The application of the law to the
present contract is likely to lead to a
legal conflict, which will employ the
talents OF the best corporation lawyers of
the country.