The independent., 1903-01-29

the coal trust may be, they will be pu.
down in blood s'tts
But relief from this cruel and
wicked and life-sacrificing coal famine
must be had, and had quickly. =
The only recourse of a law-abiding
people against this gang of law break
ing monopolists is such an expression
Of public opinion, such a tornado Of
popular protest, as shall shake the
capitol and the White house and set
the machinery of the law into swift
aVenging- notion ....- .-
You perceive that Mr.. Hearst calls
the coal baTons nurderers," and, yet,
they remain silent-and so do all the
New York newspapers.
Now, | have tnis proposition to SUBJ
nit, namely, that, if the coal barons
are innocent, and if they are not en-
gagged in a conspiracy to put up the
price of coal, they would at once
bring suit against Mr.. Hearst in the
courts and punish him civilly and
criminally. / desire also to submit,
that every day they fail to bring a
suit against Mr.. Hearst for slander, is
a confession that they are guilty of
conspiracy under the Sherman anti
trust law. And yet although they are
proclaiming their innocence from day
to day, they do not bring any suit
against Mr.. Hearst. How, then, can
we, the common people, come to any
conclusion other than that the coal
barons are guilty and ought to go to
jail?
The republicans at Washington have
concluded to put coal on the free list.
This means free trade in coal. Now,
we Will have an opportunity to see
what the effect will be. | predict that
it will make no change whatever in
the price of anthracite, because there
is no foreign anthracite to come in
1t may make some change in the price
or bituminous, because there are
large quantities of this kind of coal
In Canada, which can be brought here.
1t was never the intention of con-
gress to put duty on foreign anthra-
cite coal, but it seems that the law
was so framed as to include anthra-
cite. The law expressly declares that
coal anthracite' shall be free from
duty, but when they were fixing the
duty on bituminous coal, they in
serted a provision that "all Goals con-
tanning less than 92 per cent of fixed
carbon should be subject to duty
of 67 cents per ton. This made. the
duty 81 cents on anthracite coal, be-
cause there is no foreign anthracite
containing as much as 92 per cent
carbon.
The republicans, in deciding to put
all coal on the free list, have acted
very wise. The correspondent of the
New York Press (January 13) remarks
in this connection:
political economists in congress
Will watch the developments with
great interest. Experience has taught
them that theories do not always iibe
with results, where tariff questions
are concerned.
Last year, when the democrats de-
manded that meat should be put upon
the free list, | hoped that it would he
done, in order that it might be proved
that free trade in foreign meat would
not lower the price of domestic meat.
But the republicans refused to nut
meat on the free list, and consequent
ly, we were not able to demonstrate
what many would like to have seen
done. But, now, we shall have an
opportunity OF watching the result of
free trade in coal. We shall read with
interest the editorials of the New
York papers on this subject.
| could write interminably upon this
subject, if | had time and you had
space. I believe that a great deal of
time and space ought to be devoted to
this subject, not only for sending the
coal barons to prison, where they are
likely to go, under Mr.. Hearst's ham,
merfng; not only for arousing a public
which will cause the
president to remove Mr.. Knox, the at
torney general who has been mislead-
ing and fooling the president so long:
not only for removing the trust ques-
tion from our politics, but to enable
the country to come to economic and
political questions, such as taxation
and money, which SO greatly need the
public attention.
JNO. S. DE HART.
Jersey City, N. J.
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