The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-07-09
]. P. MORGAN, COAL OWNER.
Plans Almost Perfected to Control
the Soft Coal Interests.

Cleveland. O.-Plans are about per-
fected for placing all the great btu
minOus interests of the country in
one Organization. The prime mover in
the scheme is j. p. Morgan, and the
capitalization required will be almost
equal to the enormous sum represented
by the big steel trust As an auxiliary
TO this movement being carried on by
the promoters Of one of the constituent
companies of the greater organization
complete POOL of all the retail soft
coal interests in Cleveland will be eff
tected within the next ten days, for
which preliminary steps have about
been taken.
]. p. Morgan first started in with his
coal combinations three years ago,
making the first movements along the
line Of controlling the products of the
Ohio and West Virginia fields. At that
time he obtained complete control of
the mining property in the Hooking
and shawnee valley. In order to give
an outlet for this coal he purchased
certain railroad properties, and this
started the com binatiOn mania along
the line of railroad ownership, which
has gone to extraordinary lengths.
The proceedings in the present COM
binatiOn are similar to those displayed
IN the formation Of the steel trust One
year ago all the coal properties in the
PittSbUrg district which ship coal to
ganization, known as the Pittsburg
Coal company. About that same time
the same interests which ship coal from
that territory down the river formed
what has since been known as the Mo-
nOngahela Coal company, each being a
combination Of smaller companies.
making an organization of consider
able Importance The desire to control
other coal territory in the same fashion
that the larger companies might be
= III n
to the selection in certain sections of
confidential agents
As an outgrowth of this policy an or
ganizatiOn was completed in Chicago
ten days ago, known as the Illinois
Coal company which owns two thirds
of all the coal land in Illinois and west
ern Indiana. About the same time it
became generally known that NJ. A.
Hanna and others in this territory had
about completed the absorption Of most
OF the coal properties in the MassillOn
district. This is expected to be COM
pleted In the next ten days. The West
Virginia coal production is virtually
owned by one concern, the Fairmount
Coal company, which, in turn, is the
property of the Baltimore & Ohio rail-
road. The other interests in the terri
tory are all owned by the Norfolk &
Western railroad, the Chesapeake &,
Ohio or the Pennsylvania railroad. all
of Which, with the Baltimore & Ohio.
now form practically one big railroad
organization being owned by one COM
pany.
Now the illinois Coal company. the
Pittsburg Coal company, the Monon-
gahela Coal company, the Paramount
Coal company, the Hooking Coal COM
pany and the MassillOn Coal company
are al TO be collected into one big on.
ganiZ4tion, the name of which has not
been selected. All of these will be
operated from one general Office, with,
however, auxiliary Offices in the imme-
diate vicinity of the property, and with
one general lake shipping Office in
Cleveland. IN this combination il is
expected that the Pittsburg Coal COM
pany shall be the central figure around
which the others are grouped.
Along with this organization viii go
also the coal docks and fast loading
plants that are now owned by the
various coal companies, which shall
hereafter make a part of the big organ
ization. This will include those which
are located along Lake Erie and also
on the upper lake ports.
The aim Of all this is to effect a
complete monopoly of the bituminous
coal production in the territory east of
the Mississippi and north Of the Ohio
and Potomac 70 the accomplishment
of this end Mr.. Morgan is said to have
given himself without reserve, and viii
take it up as soon as he returns from
EurODe