Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-01-06
The Coal Problem.

The President, in his message 30
Cong ess. recommended that the duty
on anthracite coal be abolished One
sor more bills TO amend the DingIey
tariff bill have been introduced in Con-
.gress 10 that end. but the committee
to which they have been referred has
taken no action. 1t is stated. semi
officially. that the Republicans in Con-
gress have determined not to report
any bill that will s.meddIe with the
tariffs,' as even such an innocent bill
3 one TO remove the duty on anthra-
cite coal would if reported, be open
TO amendment. and thus start up the
whole question of reforming the pro
tectiye tariff
a vote upon an amendment to such
bill would put all the members of
Congress ON record, and most of the
Republicans do not care To be record
ed as being opposed to taking off the
duty on trust products that are being
sold to foreigners cheaper than to the
American people. A great many Re
publican Congressman would be be-
tween the devil and the deep sea if
they were compelled to record them
selves on this issue. Some of them.
perhaps enough to carry an amend
ment. might vote with the Demo
Gratis To have number of Repub
lic4Gs vote to place trust products ON
the free list would be disastrous to
that paoty. as it would show a split
on an important issue and would per
haps lead to further decentralization
Thus to save the Republican party
from exposing its lack of unanimity,
even the recommendation of Presi-
dent Roosevelt for the removal of the
duty OK anthracite coal remains I'M
noticed iy the party leaders, and this
slight relief to the people is denied.
Ii the President had also included
bituminous coal in his recommended
ton. his case would have been much
stronger. for free soft coal would give
greater relief to the coal consumers
than free hard coal There have been
some importations of what is called
Scotch aud WEIGH anthracite coal I'M
der the stress of the present coal fam
than the good qualities of bituminous
coal, it is not very salable ut the price
that is demanded for it. nor would it
be If the duty of 81 cents per ton was
not added to it's cost. On the other
BAnd. free bituminous coal would
greatly relieve the distress now pre-
vailing at the seaboard cities, for the
%
New York and Boston, and every ton
imported would reduce the demand
for anthracite by one-half or two
thirds, the relative value of the Goals
varying somewhat for heating pur-
poses The importation of Nova SEQ
tia coal, cree of duty, would, there
fore, relieve the situation and help
10 regulate the price and to keep it
within the bounds of reason. 1t
would allow more coal to be shipped
from the mines to the Western States
by reducing the quantity needed at
the seab0ard. 1t would also relieve
the railroads Of that much freight and
allow them to hurry forward the
much-aeeded coal which they now say
they are unable to carry in sufficient
quantities to supply half the demand.
Free coal, both anthracite and BIZ
luminous. is, therefore. an immediate
necessity to every one, and yet Con
gress delays to pass this most neces-
sary legislation For partisan reasons
the Republicans nave decided that the
tariff issue must not be opened for dis
s.ussion This may be letting well
enough alone" from the standpoint
of Senator Honna, who is a mine own
or and who is piling up riches by
charging exorbitant prices for his coal.
hut it is cruel and inhuman to the
suffering poor and is robbery of those
in better circumstances.
Tie political necessities of the Re
publican party are SO interviewer with
the trusts, it so relies aPon the trusts
for campaign funds, chat the leaders
who dominate Congress viii not al
low any bill changing the present tar
III law to come up for consideration.
The Democrats would have the right
10 offer amendments to such bill
when 1t reached the stage of the COM
mittee of the whole, and il bill was
reported 10 place anthracite coal on
the free list the Democrats would
propose to include all coal. Amend
ments would also be offered to put
trIst products on the free list and that
is what the Republican leaders fear
Thus the abjeet misery that comes
from lack of fuel is intensified by the
graSpiug partisans who control the
Congress of the United States. The
trust mother the tariff. must not be
touched. even to a hair of her head. TO
prevent the suffering and loss of life
shat - sure to follow if free trade in
coal is nat at once provided for.