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

think you better give him u subpoena. I hard
ly think l would have come without ono
AGREEMENT HAS EXPIRED NOW.
Everybody In the room laughed. Next the
Chairman wanted to know II tho agreement en-
tered into by the Presidents. OF tho coal-carrying
roads was not to last until tho 3ist OF March,
think not" said Mr.. sloan; 81 think it ond-
1T was to have lasted from Feb. /. 1896, to
Feb. 1. 1897 said Mr.. Sloan, but l Am sorry to
sfy II w Tss the Pst tra ssspo@Sat;i The Business ISs, sns 5 bssi..
ness Of every kind. became unsettled.
ives the question, Of increasing the price
in a general way. or course IL was ono Of the
objects TO get a better price for our coal;
All" said Chairman Lexow, rubbing his
hand, aelishtedly' that was one of the objects
..o.-And another object was the restriction OF
the output OF coali A.-No, sir, not at, all; that
M Sf' R f55SSns,y OF Sp' tSs Ps sSi IS FsSG1l' sa iiiis : by SS
objected to any restriction.
9.-Do the sales agents themselves fix the
price. Of coal Ayes, sir. I think so. Our
''fo..You have. as President. delegated that su.
gated any authority to him. l think that he has
always enjoyed that privilege.
the various coai.esrrying roads themselves held
conferences after this allotment plan had been
agreed uponi Al c0yldn,t answer that ques-
9-Isi Y not q fact that Immediately after tho
allotment scheme went into effect the sales
ukthl ilOtS hltN - thC PRIV " INV Nolhilk
month"; Alphabetically. our sales agent did
not.
former answer Al don't mean to exclude
anything. / have answered all Of your questions
jus, as you have pqt them; .us ,,. m..,u .,
the hunt said. oh" and dropped that line Of
insinuation. :" Can you state" he asked. how
many tons OF coal were mined In the year 1896
encoi Il Cannot" SAID. MI. sloan. I'VE fxod
on u gross amount, which we believed tho mar
kct would take.
Odd your experience OF the year show that
haps tho demand exceeded the allotment, but
the output. nevertheless. exceeded the demand.
THE VILE oBJEcT WAS TO MAKE BUSINESS FAY.
Now" said tho Chairman. can you ex.
plain to this what the reason was for
The increase in the price of coal about Feb. l.
II think I have said," said Mr.. Sloan, that
coal had been very low and that the companies
had all boon losing money"
The members Of tho committees, tossed their
master glued his eye on the railroad President
and tapped tho desk with his foreingcr as he
"Ah, then the increase was made by the com.
panies themselves because they considered that
coal was. too low In the market
YES" said Mr.. Sloan.
80 they decided TO increase tho demand by
l~essening the supply; the increase being needed
- didn't say that" said Mr., Sloan. II said
that they increased the price because the coal
was too low and the railroads had all been losing
Yes" said the Master of the Hunt. and you
OF which you had a right to fx.".
"Lcertainly think we had . said Mr.; sloan.
That's all, said the Chairman. VIII Mr.. Z.
II. Thomas take the chair T.
PRECEDENT THOMAS OF ERIE CALLED.
Mr.. Thomas, the President OF the Erie Rail.
road. walked over and was sworn. He said that
that he Was himself present at the conference.
Under the arrangement I per cent. of the total
transportation of coal was allotted to the Erie.
! The Chairman road off thp naysnune slinnfpv
as follows:
PhiladelPhia and Reading Railroad. sis per cent;
centrai railroad. III per cent; pelas are and Hnd.
son ltailroad. S.o0 per cent; Penney lvanin Railroad.
cent; f ERIE cent : per ree eens.; ontar TSG and dd' @esisrn. : s pf5
per cent pelew are, susquehsnna and schrylkili.
SEQ per cent.
Mr.. Thomas said that he thought these
amounts We're correct rect Spt n that ha, the RelawafS,
clined to accept Its allotment; the others. he
thought. had practically acquiesccd. Although
Odd you i've up to the allotment A.-Not
Q.-Within reasonable limitsi A.-So far as
the demand on us for coal permitted us to.
,Q...Did the demand exceed the allotment.
1nsnI hut NTH The se ontpa ms eseeea q SI tSe dema ahS aii0''
showing the amount OF coal that was TO be pro
duced from month TO month"; A.-SO; the
amount produced was developed by the demand.
THAT wRETcHED LAW AGAIN.
Q.-Fixcd by whomi A.-By the law OF supply
The seven committeeman looked as II they
were about TO fall dead; Here again popped up
this awful law OF supply and demand. the com
test. From the first day OF the committees SEES
sions these two laws have, confronted them.
little wonder that the rest OF the examination OF
Mr.. Thomas lacked ginger. All questions asked
thereafter were asked in a subdued tone. The
unhappiness that set In In the committeeman
faces stayed there right TO the end.
in % III; mi1d that aa oeeasion snhs there the selling Ths no " eR9ts
OF companies had talked together about tho prices
they were going to charge for coal. ms other men
are going to charge for their product. He said
that he had no personal recolioctions OF any
Q.-Do you wish it to be understood that in
an official capacity your sales agent did attend
edge that he attended any such conference. I
simply state that believe Y Is very likely that
there were consultations ION with other agents as to
Q.-Consultations with you'll A..No
Q.-with other sales agentsi A.-No. not to
Mr.. Thomas said that the sales agents of the
Erie Railroad wero Williams and Peters, and
time, subGrnaes were issued for both OF them.
Mr.. Thomas told the sharp rubber -shod messen-
ger where their offices were.
wASTED TO SELL THEIR COAL NOT STORE IT.
"The rate at which coal is sold Is uniform, is II
not = asked Chairman Lexow.
- am sorry to say that II Is not" said Mr.,
lnDmns Win cNlutut hiilCcTty.
Q.-There Is u uniform rate fixed monthly, &C
cording to which the various roads sell, Is there
noti A.-well. II there is it is hardly ever
maintained.
Q.-Is that price subject to the same variations
as the allotment Of the conference was subject
TOT Al think that tho price Is subject to the
ability OF the sales agent to sell.
Q--Regulated by the amount OF coal produced
Al don't think 30. The railroads are at all
times prepared to supply any demand for coal
that may arise.
Q.-You mean any demand that may arise &C
companied by what you consider q proper prico
Abr course, the price 10 understood.
Q.-You do not dispute that the lower the
price tho larger the demand In tho market Isl
A.-Weil, we didn't find that In 1895 there was
a demand for any more coal than there was In
1896. In 1895 the coal was simply piled up, and
we couldn't sell 1t.
Q.-But the restriction Of tho output increases
tho demand Al don't think so.
OF the production was 10000. 600 tons In
that there would not DO moro demand and q
lower pricef A.-That might seem TO you tC
be a natural consequence.
Q.-That was the reason for tho conference
wasn't Tito fix the output and raise the price
: The nuaafinn NJ the amnunf NJ gnal IN In