The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1903-01-22
MANYTRUEBILLS PLAGUESPRBADS
FoRTY.FIvE/ INDICTMENTS RE.
TURNED AGAINST ILLINOIS
COAL DEALERS.
CONSPIRACY IS ALLEGED


;. thracits Strike Is the Principal
Cause sf the Coal Shortage in Chi
eaao Certain Combinations in Re-
straint Of Trade and for Fixing
Prices Are Found to Exist.
Chicago, Jan. 2O.-A true bill was
returned during the morning against
forty-f1ve coal operators and retailers
charging conspiracy to do an illegal
act injurious to public trade. The in
dictments are against both corpora
lions and individuals doing business
in Illinois and Indiana. Bail was fixed
at $500.
Accompanying the return of the in
dictments was an explanatory report
setting forth the grounds upon which
the jurors based their action. The
coal shortage. they declare, they found
due primarily and principally to the
recent great strike in the anthracite
coal fields"
Bituminous coal could not be mined
and stored in sufficient quantities to
supply the deficiency caused by the
restricted output from the anthra-
cite field, first, because the capacity
of the mines could not be increased SO
materially on short notice and, second
ly, because the storing of bituminous
coal during the summer months is in
t1 Ion Of LOTT
alton through stacking and of destruc'
ton by fire through spontaneous COM
bustion."
In Chicago, the report continues, the
amount of anthracite coal received in
1902 was 1,507,637 tons less than in
1901, to offset which there was in in
crease of only 1887 tons of bitumi-
nous coal. The difficulty experienced by
the railroads in handling the large
quantity required for daily supplies,
owing to the failure to store bitumi-
nous coal during the summer months
also, they found, constituted one of the
causes of the famine.
Railroads Doing Their Best.
The railroads they believed to be do
ing all in their power to move the Goa;
promptly to market and the accumular
tion of coal laden cars in railroad
yards does not exist to an unusual ex'
tent at this time of year. THE jury
finds no convincing evidence" the re
port reads, "of deliberate detention
of cars for the purpose of intensifying
the difficulties of the situation"
While not finding the present con
dition due to or appreciably Influenced
by any conspiracy in restraint of trade:
and while convinced that the laws OF
supply and demand sufficiently &C
counts for the high prices prevailing
the jury found that there existed in
the city of Chicago and in Illinois and
in neighboring states certain comb.
nations which it deems to be con.
spiracies or combinations in restraint
of trade within the meaning of the
statutes" as follows:
The Northern Illinois Soft Coal as
ISOLATION; the Retail Coal Dealers as
ISOLATION of Illinois and Wisconsin; a
certain combination of Indiana coal
operators with the Crescent Coal and
Mining company. While not differing
in character and scope from similar
combinations in other lines of business
the jurors deem it their duty to present
the foregoing indictments. Other as
sociations of operators and coal deal
ers were found to exist and to have
more or less effect in the fixing of
prices and restricting competition, but
against whom the evidence did not
warrant action. They are the Chicago
Coal Exchange and the Chicago Track
Dealers association.