The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-01-18
THE COAL TRUST ADDS IMPU.
DENCE TO WHOLESALE
LARCENY.


abundance of wood saves the South from
the suffering and the injury to business
that almost paralyzes commerce in many
towns and cities. The South has felt the !,
injury caused by the action of the coal
trust but its loss and troubles are COM
paratively small.
A few days ago this paper pointed out
that the coal carrying railroads, which
own the coal mines, were responsible for
the whole trouble. They control the Re-
publican party which has not dared to
take any strenuous action to relieve the
situation.
Yesterdays New York American con-
tanned a vigorous editorial, in large type
that filled an entire page, that put the
responsibility where it rightly belongs
Under the headline, THE Coal Trust
Adds Impudence to Wholesale Larceny
the American said:
THE only dealer in coal that is not TAX
ing advantage of the cold weather and
the short supply to steal is the Coal
Trust, the virtuous and public-spirited
Coal Trust The independents, the
wholesalers and the retailers may be en-
gagged in a wicked game of gouge, but
not the good Coal Trust.
THAT, in effect, is what Mr.. George L.
Baer declared before Mayor Low and
mankind on Tuesday.
THE unfounded assumption he
hot ie,
ton of which | am the reputed head
is daily made by certain newspapers.
THERE IS NO SUCH COMBINA-
TION. l am responsible for the acts
of the companies of which l am the
president, but L am pOwerless to con-
troll the action of other companies
and of the individual operators
And later Mr. George F. Baer pro-
nounced the charge that there is COM
bination to be an infamous lie
| who is this Mr.. George F. Baer that
resents as infamous the accusation that
he is in a coal combination to fleece the
public?
MIR. Baer is at the head of the COM
| bined Philadelphia & Reading-New Jer-
sey Central System, and as such repre-
sents the controlling interests in the an
thracite business. More than that, he is
| president of another combination-the
| Temple Iron Company, which is COM
| posed of the presidents of the leagued
| coal carrying railroads that comprise the
| Coal Trust That is to say, MR..
! GEORGE F. BAER IS PRESIDENT OF
THE COAL TRUST
! Behind Mr. Baer, who so violently OBJ
jects to having it intimated that he is
capable of being member of a thieving
i combine, looms, of course, the figure of
| his master, Mr.. J. Pierpont Morgan. But
for all public purposes MIR. GEORGE f.
BAER is THE CHIEF OF THE COAL
| TRUST THE MOST PITILESS COM
BINE ORGANIZED FOR PLUMBER
| UNDER WHICH THE COUNTRY IS
! SUFFERING TODAY.
! According to Mr.. Baer, the independ-
/ ents' have broken loose from the lease
of the Coal Trust and are hunting the
dollars of the well-to- do and the pennies
of the poor on their own account.
IF that were true, if Mr.. Baer had
suddenly lost control of the 'independ-
ents' whom it cost Mr.. Morgan so much
trouble to bring to heel how long would
he permit Mr.. Baer to retain his posi-
ton? Mr.. Morgan has no use for in
, Compctents.
mo doubt the independents are do.
ing what they can to reap as much as
possible of the famine harvest for them
selves. So are the wholesalers and re-
tailers-or at least such of them as are
moved in this time of sore public need
and suffering by none save business
reasons.
but THE FACT REMAINS THAT
t THE COAL TRUST, MR.. GEORGE F
BAER PRESIDENT, IS MASTER or
THE COAL SUPPLY. AND THERE
FORE OF THE WHOLE SITUATION
r How so?
Because the coal-mining and coal
: carrying railroads own more than nine
: tenths of the anthracite deposits enc
= mine three-quarters of the product. We
have the word of the United States In.
dustrial Commission for that, and othcl
r experts put the Trusts proportion OF the
coal still higher.
; Twill even Mr.. Baer, whose nerve
seldom fails him. have the assurance t;
! pretend that those who produce one
quarter of the coal can control the price
of three-quarters produced by the Trust
1t would be a case of the tail wagginl
the dog such as has never been seen. ~
we'll say that "a little dry goods shop 81
, Sixth avenue regulates the price-list o
t Broadway department store.
There are two ways in which the Goa
t Trust, Mr.. George +. Baer, president
can break the fuel famine whenever
chooses to do so.
"One way is to SELL COAL AT ]
: REASONABLE PRICE TO ALL CON
e ERS. Who then would pay an unreas
4 | enable price to the independents or any
= body else?
The second way to break the famin
should be familiar enough to the Goa
d Trust 1t is to REFUSE CARS TO TIL
t INDEPENDENTS if any independent
, there be who is mad enough at this lat
day really to defy the combine of whic
Mr.. Baer is the head.
e 'Mr. Baer knows. and every man &C
S quainted with the conditions of the an
q thracite trade knows, that THE JNDE
PENDENTS CANNOT GET A POUNl
OF COAL TO MARKET WITHOU'
THE CONSENT OF THE RAILROADS
n Time was when there were real indie
: pendent operators in Pennsylvania, bu
1 ho he Il