New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-03
THE COIL Investigations.
HEARING BY The SENATE COMMITTEE.
WITNESSES DISAGREE AS TO THE PRoBAbLE
o-D, on, r,,r coNpIX,TIOS

WITNESSES DISAGREE As TO THE PROBABLE
EFFECTS or TIL COMBINATIONS.
only two OF the State senate Committee when Is
investigating the coal combination were prcSo''' ~
,bc session I'm this city Yesterday. These were inc
cnoir,,an General NJ r. Mcmahon, and senator sax
ton only two witnesses appeared, the hrst VeIl's
+ B. Ely general agent here OF Coke BrotherN' ~,
examination was conducted by Daniel IT, "rI'ii III"
Mr. Jackson, counsel for the committee
Mr. Ely testified that the firm he represented o"n.'
the Delaware susauehanna and schuylihH halHoa''
which connected all their mines In the aht'ii"','o
region of Pennsylvania, and also connected WIN '",
PENNSYLVANIA the Reading. the Lehigh NaIieS "nu
the New-Jersey Central. but they o"heu ho "''V
pendent line 10 tidewater. They mined about D per
cent OF the entire output of the anthraete o", M"
soI. 90 ,bo,esole acolcrs small and large. Wien
asked regarding the cost Of mining the coal tie WIZ
ness said it varied, sometimes being as much as 81
n ton depending in large part upon whether INC
collery was new or old one, the former Dnhs
more expensive than the latter OWING u 'ne i'o''
required in exploring uncOvcring the VEINS
Mr. Elv gave II rs his judgment that the IL" 81
supply and demand would regulate the price VI ''''''
no matter what n combination Of carriers might NJ
,emnt in the WAY OF increased tolls. lie believed
ais, TINT n excessive rates were charged ncces
stating a material increase In the prce oi '"c
coal TO the consumer, there wou!u Dc w
crease In production and substitutes Tor ah'hr"cl'c
coal would le adopted. Too much plhcIhh9 p' W,
urovs IN TRANSPORTATION charges for anthracite wonh
r,.1t In larger productions Of btuminous coal iH'
would result in decreased Tonnage for the hard coai car
,iers and lower lcvcnues. II his OPINION 'at ho
cxtrlvagant price WAS ever likely 10 be dehhhned lo
the anthracite product. II the roads at any uil" III
creased tie tolls TO such rate limt Oleiaors ''u''
M, ~. ,helr money back they would simply compel
the etoppage Of the mines. As 10 what NE 'n""N'
WIS fair margin Of profit FOR wholesale denier-' tue
witness rpNed that from TO - cons was reasonable
Frederick +. Sawad. elltOr Of "Tbe Coal I1ad'
Journal was the other witness. He SAID he baa b'n
familiar with the coal trade In all IL phase Tor thry
vcors He agreed with Mr.. Ely 10 the dih@cEcc III
the cost Of mining coal. The uniformity however "
cost conld be traced from the time The coal Ieaoheu
,ho errf,c, and was put through the breaker 10
y. broken into different sizcs for thc market lie
gave a schedule Of rates for transportation from the
toligh redo, 10 the udcwatcr as varying fNW
q aO a Ton in 195l 10 81 40 in 1850, ~ 30 III
1a-4 and 81 20 during the years 1880 ana 1871.
Thee were the tolls prepared sizes When asked
~ ne believed that Il combination between all uc
carriers from the anthracite regions 10 uhe"aer ~
increase raics could maintained. and whether su'
combination would result In an Increase of the pr'oc
Of the coal 10 the consumers he oApresscu h'"''
~ decidedly OF the opinion that II would Inc pl'
~ chestnut coal had already been advanced 20 cen'S
Int this was the claim that the previous r''c n'
,n been in fair proportion 10 that OF Goals o o'h'r
iq.s hit had been relatively much lower. lie Prc
,ed some interesting statistics to prove that III
thc case Of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company "hnc
,,nc rates on general merchandise had been "ree'S
rcd,ccd rates on coal had been only slightly 10"
od and were far out Of proportion 10 no
ductious on other commodities. The business u
tbc company had increased and their revenue VIZ
| many times multiplied at the reduce" r'''o WV
,. ,,.v were when carving les and charging more
| .r hut there had not been consistent apica
| 49,, - the same rule to The transportation oI Coz"
| 49, 90 that Of general merchandise. In othcr ""'uN
,,ouph the coal traffic had increased "lmot eI"''ns
,.u, that Of merchandise there had not pc"h W "'S
judgment a proportlOIate lowering oil trans I"r'"'o'
M cnmm,itDe win hold another session III this CITY
| 49, id az next ut the Hotel MerCpDlc.