Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1892-10-01
THE COAL COMBINE.

Steps to BrsGk the PennsylvAnin Coal
Trust.
CHICAGO, Sept. 26.-State's Attorney
Longenecker took the first legal steps
yesterday toward the breaking up of
the coal trust. An information was
filed in the circuit court to restrain the
Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron
company and J. w. Skeele, its agent Ia
Chicago, from selling anthracite coal in
the county of Cook, ILL.,, ON the ground
of unlawful combination.
The petition, which is fled in the
name of the people of the state of
Illinois. sets forth that in February,
1892, in the state of New Jersey, the
Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron
Co was Incorporated and ever since has
been doing business in New Jersey
and elsewhere. At that time the cor
poration is said to have entered into
trust and combination with the Phila-
delphia & Reading Railroad Co... the
Port Reading Railroad Co., the Central
Railroad Co. of New Jersey and the
Lehigh Valley Railroad Co, all incor-
porated to regulate and fix the price of
Il commodity called anthracite coal,
and to fix the quantity to be mined and
sold.
The Reading company and the other
corporations, it is said, are about to I'M
lawfully fix, regulate and advance the
price of coal regardless of the demand
or amount to be purchased or consumed
in violation of the state laws and to the
damage of the people of the county Of
Cook of over sl,OOO,OOO. Under these
circumstances the court is asked to
compel the Reading company to answer
whether it has entered into the combi-
nation and If not to set forth the agree
ment or arrangement it has made with
the other corporations
The court is asked to grant an i'm
junction prohibiting the company from
doing business in the county of Cook.
state of Illinois. No further steps than
fling the petition were taken and
an injunction has not been granted.
ACTION IN NEW YORK.
New YORK, Sept. 3S.-The state sem
ate committee instructed to investigate
what is known as the Reading coal
combine met yesterday. The members
present were Senators Saxton and Err
win. The latter acted rs chairman.
The session was spent in listening to
the recommendations of the counsel to
the committee, d. S. Griffin and Thomas
Jackson. which were read by Mr.. Grit
fin.
The testimony, he said, show ed that
the Philadelphia & Reading company
and four other companies controlled
the whole of the output of an thracite
coal and had raised its price without re-
gard to the cost of production. In New
York state this was done through rail-
roads operated here under charters
granted by the state. Several Of
these railroads were united I'M
der corporation known as the
Lehigh Valley Railway Co., leased
to the Lehigh Valley Rail-
road Co. and released to the Pennsyl-
vania & Reading Co., Pennsylvania
Other railroads in this
state known as the New York division
of the Delaware, Lackawannn & West
crn railroad were under control of q
foreign corporation. 1t was against
the laws of the state for any stock cor
poration to combine with another stock
to prevent competition in
the production and sale of the neces-
saries of life.
1t was against the laws of that state
for the railroads to combine to control |
price Of coal They had no right to do |
this under which they were built, and |
the corporation that leased them could
not acquire such right There were
two remedies of which the people might
avail themselves. One was to dissolve
the companies that had so leased their
-oads, the other was to annul the
eases
The committee resolved to adopt the
of it's counsel as its
opinion, and to refer it to the attorney
general, together with a copy of the
taken and to ask him to take
zach legal steps as he may deem advisa-
Die. The committee then adjourned.