West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1903-10-15
II Is HURTING THE TRUST.
Increase In the Importation % coal
sface II was Admitted Free.


sfHce IL was AamisteA free.
The New York Times Of Aug. 81 con-
tained an interview with Mr.. 0eorsu
II. Baer. president Of tho Reading rail-
way. in which he said that coal naines
might have to be closed soon and min
ers thrown out OF work because OF tho
diniculty OF getting rid Of coal. sspe-
ciaily OF the steam size. Tho umrs
report says:
HE said that the plan he had inau-
gurated when he became president Of
tho Reading OF making q reduction OF
90 cents n ton In April and then ad-
vancing the price 10 cents q month nm
I'll tho figure again reached normal bv
Sept had worked very satisfa ctcr1iy.s =
Yes. Mr.. Divine Rights Bacr. Il doss
seem to have worked bcautifuify-for
the coal trust II n, however, Q iittie
hard on few millions OF IN coal con-
sumcrs. who now have to pay hisher
prices for coal than ever before, pxcept
during and after the strike OF last year,
The retail price of anthracite at wash
ington is now $1.25 ana at Chicago
$3.50 ton.
Immediately following the Basr In
teryiew the Times contained q dis
patch from Pennsylvania sayfng:
The Philadelphia ana Reading Coal
and Iron company has issued n sweep
Ing order closing every ono OF its wnsh-
cries that produce small sizes. ana
other corporations and Individual OBJ
orators have followed suit. II In cstf-
mated that there nro 1000, 900 tons of
small sizes now In stock, for which
there IL little demand"
The inadequate demand for nnthra-
cite coal Is said to be partly duo to
closed mills and to tho increased uso
or soft coal for steam purposes. But
the statistics OF foreign commerce for
tho year ended Juno 30, 1909. offer
some additional explanation as to this
ovcrsupply Of hard coal. They show
that we imported last year e,e1o, ,18o
tons OF coal, or nearly 100000 tons
more than were imported I'm any pre-
vious year, and that Of this amount
207.004 tons were anthracite. This n
moro than 100 times as much anthra-
cite as wns imported in any year since
the Dingley bill taxing anthracite be.
came law.
II appears, then, that free coal, while
IL has not compelled tho hard coal trust
to lower It's prices for ordinary sizes OF
coal land this is not strange when II is
considered that there is nowhere else
anthracite like ours-thnt is. Beers
TO take it's place., especially at interior
points, has compelled IL to reduce
prices OF It's smaller sizes used for
making steam and which, therefore,
compete with bitumincus coal Nearly
all OF this imported coal Is consumed In
New England and on tho Pacific coast.
1t does great deal to free manufac-
turers I'm those sections from the exac-
tions' OF the hard and soft coal trusts,
now charging us two or three times q
fair price for this bounty Of nature.
Possibly some mistake was made when
the Almighty consigned this most
valuable heritage to Mr.. Baer to parcel
out TO the rest OF us earth dwellers at
so much per ton.
1t will be observed that the excess Of
imports over former years (2,0O0,0O0
tons) just about measures the surplus
stock Of steam coal for which no mar
ket can be found. although prices have
been reduced from 10 to 30 cents ton
for these sizes. How Mr.. Baer must
hate free coall But he is lying low
and saying nothing, for he knows that
his Republican friends In congress put
coal on tho free list only for one year
and that bituminous coal will be duti-
able again next January. He will not
agitnte this coal tariff again. But win
the manufacturers and the people keep
uuiet7-B w II