The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-09-15

Hard Conditions.
"The relation of the individual oper-
ators to the anthracite transporting
railroads and the mining companies
owned by them, is somewhat singular
and has no prototype in any other
large industry" says the September
letter of the Anthracite Coal Opera
tors association. Few of the opera
tors own the coal lands upon which
they are mining. In many cases. they
lease from the coal companies owned
by the railroads. lands which these
companies hold under earlier and low
er priced leases. These contracts with
the operators, like those with the orig
inal land owner, have, as n basis,
a fixed minimum royalty which must
be paid each year. The railroads are
thus frequently the landlords, and can
compel their tenants to pay this sum
or else forfeit their leases and all the
improvements in which the operators
money has been invested.
Then, under the present contracts.
the railroad companies purchase from
the operator the product of his col
liery, paying him a percentage of the
retaining the balance to reimburse
themselves for the cost of handling
selling and the transportation charge.
Necessarily, the price at tide and else
where depends wholly upon these COM
panies, since they have practically the
exclusive handling of the product. Also
the quality which may be marketed de-
pends upon them, as, in conjunction
hpi iac hn tro
porters, the individual operator may
not receive more cars than the railroad
is willing to provide.
THE individual operators. then,
stand in a position where. if the rail-
roads should choose to sell the coal at
so small price at tide that the pro-
portion paid the operators is not sufti-
cient to cover the cost of production,
they can be forced to either keep their
collieries in operation at a loss; to
close them and pay their landlords,
or to the railroads, as landlords, the
amounts due under the leases, or to
forfeit the capital they have invested
in Improvements to the mines and
properties.
PETTY WARFARE WAGED.
"If the trade has been conducted in
capable and progressive manner,
such conditions could easily have eX-
listed with fairness on both sides. But,
on the contrary. through misunder-
standings among the transporters and
an absence of dependence upon the
announced intentions of each to the
other, there has been waged a petty
warfare, with the result of Concentrat-
ing the attentions of these interests
on small details. to the exclusion of
a broad outlook concerning the indus
try at large. 1t has resulted In a de-
cline in the consumption of, and low
er prices for the fuel, and "a general
feeling of distrust among the buyers.
1T is not surprising that the indi-
vidual operators feel relief in the pros
peCtive expiration of contracts which
| have bound them to such conditions
They appreciate the advantage which
| lies on the surface of these agree
| ments. but. without a more equitable
! division between the price they may
! receive, and the charges for freight
! without any assurance of tonnage
| sufficient to keep their cOllieries prof
| itably busy, and without certainty that
| the price paid them could not go be.
! low fixed figure. contract of this
| character throws upon them all of the
/ disasters which may result from low
/ prices. since the returns now are bare
| ly sufficient to reimburse the money
actually expended i'm raising and pre-.
| pairing the coal, without balance fOl
unavoidable accidents. while the rail.
roads, with wide margin between
| the cost of transporting and the money
| received for freight, lose. at the worst
! only a small part of large profit.
1T must be clear to everyone famil
| lar with the anthracite industry that
! unless it is conducted in some manner
| whereby the marketing of the fuel vii
| be done through a relatively small
number of people. grave difficulties vii
| arise. The individual operators who's,
| tonnage will be free early next yea,
| will have between eight and nine mil
| lions of tons to market on their owl
| account Heretofore, because of th
| contracts, they have not resisted whel
the railroad companies, owing to an in
| active demand, forced all Collieries I,
remain idle for one hundred and fit.
working days in the year.
THEI WANTED HARMONY.
This was largely because Of the op,
orators desire to act in harmony Will
these interests. even at a great loss
10 themselves, to avoid an overstockeC
market. But under the new condition
il is to be supposed that they woulC
make every effort to dispose of tn,
product of their collieries, and it is I
question to be determined whether i
may not be incumbent upon the rail
road companies, as common carriers, t
either furnish sufficient cars to trans
port the operators product to market
or to haul, or permit to be hauled
cars owned or leased for this purpos,
by the operators.
1T is not possible to define just wha
steps might be found necessary in sucl
case, nor to point to the complete de
moralization of the market and enor
nous losses which would occur to tn
less faVorably situated concerns, o
those with heavy interest charges I,
meet. 1t must be apparent that moth
ing should be permitted which has il
its very suggestion the elements of
struggle which would irreparably in
jure every interest and result. afte
many and heavy losses, in a condition
which can as we'll be brought abOu
now, without any of these losses. sim
ply through the exercise of common