The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-26

tons f,,,,n ..,, ~. r,on.. u.,,,,,r .,,,,
in is sesnt The ' eomp Mni sn enSss1 sassdPt To conduct dnss
tseir 9 3Ssn ,Ss m STS in in ,s sas ,lino OF commercial
You mean the companies operated"
,,,".I mean. said Mr.; Thomas, that n 1925
s sna o hsG sS%s nos e siss 81 away = Spa tSsif prod sSa.s
omDo you mean TO- be understood that ne
S Soni only f gerS what sstq tssy cS SS Z Sssaif 70 e S % q fsff
price I Al can speak for only one company. 1
know that We endeavored to produce only what
'o.DNow, MIR. Thomas, does not the ability to
market largely depend upon the prices ixedt
,IQ.-Do you not find that the putting Of an ad-
ditional price on coal at once, contracts the mar
high price on anthracite coal. There Is compc-
tition in, the market-gas, and oil and bitumi'
Q.-wore you never Informed, by your sales
agent Of any uniform price scheduled for coal
ability to maintain anthracite coal az any price.
Q;-Not the ability to do Y, but the agreement
.SEDo, tho sales agents post notices monthly
e t on'tP know 81 the SS" de aGl sn 81 1 tho snios % agents bust bust
Q.--whati You. don't know tho details Of tho
method OF the conduct Of the sales aeonti A.
And. Mr., Chairman said Mr.. Thomas, eft
posed agreement expired in February, 1897.
There has never been any meeting since; there
Q.-What is the price Of coal nowi Al don't
Q.-Aro you not aware that the price OF coal
was raiscd 81 In the year 1891 Al am not:
than wo did in 1895, but / cannot tell you any
thing about the advance. / do not believe II was
anything like 81 per ton.
AcrUALL PUT A PRICE on WHAT THEY had TO
SELL.
Richard II. Williams, ono OF the men who was
subp9nacd. came in while Mr.. Thomas was CIV.
ing his testimony, and wac Immediately put on
the stand. HS said that he was general sales
Q.-Do you remember q conference OF sales
sSSe Of 'h Tail road P'Sss snGs'i IN f Fe6ru .nS sG iss5i
A.-No, i do not. IL may DO proper for me TO
state that l was abroad from February until
The committee asked him some hundred or
more more Questions about Mr eS %If,Ien,s , az whiih , inc
there had been. no formal conferences. He said
that there had been informal talks from time to
time. which were participated In sometimes by
as many us three or four sales agents OF different
companies.
to time, In these Informal conferences, to esti-
mate the amount OF coal TO be used and the price
over the condition OF tho market and we talked
over the price Of coal. yes.
tailers as the official representatives Of tho Eric
Railroad Company, He was asked why 1t was
after the Presidcnts' conference. He replied. ap.
parently much to the amusement OF the com
Why. because tho price was so low before
this that there was no money In the business"
Q;-You considered that you were getting too
Q.-You considered that you were losing
money! Ave knew that we were losing
q. jSarcastically sskcdl-And you consider
that you had the right to fix the price at what
'o.1xnd you believed that you had a right to
confer together and to reach an allotment and
s Sst f & tSi out eom mns, yIohi ' h'1gss, w sir. " fA'r prod
Now said Chairman Lexow, tho result OF
all this Was, was u not, that there was a restric'
am very sorry to say that it wasn't" said
Mr.. Williams dolefully.
COULDN'T GET THEIR PRICE; TOOK WHAT THEY
COULD GET.
In answer to the next series Of questions Mr..
Williams told the committee something about
, the Sgmpe Of that wi proSuet served 10 Keep the
price Of anthracite low, even II the companies
Sa1n Ssn. e, S,5 MAXI iiv It hi his 10 ,b HE s sHid snnt . sno
TEN. He said that II had always been the case
that more coal was brought TO the market than
could be marketed at "A reasonable figure: that
the advance OF 20 cents a ton In the price
OF coal last year. was the result Of a con.
J July .G and another Il r. in sept eptember. ali OF them be-
The committee was delighted. Here they had
a man they thought was lust serving their pur.
Mr.. Williams knocked their feet from, under
them by telling them that while these advances
and that the actual total advance was between
IS and IS cents. He put the in good
bare faced fashion that tie actual object Of the
increases ordered was We were trying TO get
The boss hunter said that that was all he cared
20 get out of him, and Mr.. Mazet started In. -Ho
wanted to know what II cost TO mine coal. Mr..
Williams told him that tho cost varied so much
that he couldn't tell him, but that possibly the
average might be struck between Sl.6O and
Sl.sU a ton. That was all he knew about the
business.
GOT no SATISFACTION OUT OF MR.. HOLDEN.
Mt Th s0 TSsSe wsiis Mr. snS W9iIism ssr wss head ,ss,,f fSSaa
Quick as a wink. lie said that he was Vice.
President Of. the Dcla ware, .Lackawanns and
his title. He hit tho committee under the NTH
rib right at the start with 1.-The law OF supply
tended it, with Mr.. sloan. He admitted that
snthraslte coal. an Omission which The
=s sS%%i,':s w spsn, 0v salP an to ho as''' trying 4ns
to induce him 20 say that there were confer.
S9Sss U shs s1 p4ise . q eos, W %ss hEse $arlS Mr. l seias at
committee a fairly good idea Of the ruinous con.
that led up to the Presidents meeting. Ho said
that the allotment had never been formally
the reason 1t had not been observed by them.
He admitisd in the same unblushing fashion
on the coal transported. And. I am sorry 70
say, he said, that that object was not realized"
Tho Master OF the Hunt demanded sayagely,
"Can you explain TO this committee why the ad-
vances were not realized q
They were not realized" said Mr.. Holden,
principally because OF unregulated competi'
ton"
An said the Master Of the Hunt. Now,
what do you mean by unregulated competition r.
~ mean" said Mr.. Holden, calmly. that
competition which is not regulated by the rule
OF prudence and sense"
The committee kept at Mr.. Holden until ]
o'clock. They failed to get anything more out
Of him that was in accord with their views. or
course, they got q great doal that was not In ac-
cord with their views, and then they took a re-
cess until . o'clock.
HERE'S A VICTIM oY THE SUGAR MONSTER.
After recess the Chairman at once started out
o star Witness a dissatisfied grocer from St.
Louis, who was destined TO raise him to tho
highest pinnacle OF happiness and then pull tho
pinnacle out from under him. The grocer was
i. II. Kromming of the firm Of y II; Kremming
X Son. All tho early part OF MT.