The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1906-12-04
MONOPOLYCAUSEs|T
The Whole West Is Suffering
Through Frauds.
THE REMEDY COMES TOO LATE
Coal Production and Car Supply u
Checked BY Twin Syndicates
for Sake of Greed
A Salt Lake special to the Portland

A Salt Lake special to the Portland
Oregonian says:
Owing largely to the monopoly
which has been built up by fraud,
perjury and wholesale stealing in the
vast coal fields of the west, the entire
country this side of the Missouri river
is in the grip of the greatest fuel
famine ever experienced.
So extensive and general has become
the shortage in the coal supply that
industries are being crippled, manu-
featuring paralyzed, mines aud smelt-
ers closed, the business of the farms
and of the cities seriously retarded,
and even life in the homes of the
people is being threatened. The coal
producers and the transportation COM
panies are totally unable to cope with
the situation, although they are bend
ing every energy to relieve the urgent
necessity of the people.
The shortage in coal-partially the
fruits of greed and monopoly-grows
daily and has become alarming. So
inadequate is the present supply OF
coal to meet the demand that in this
city there is not single coal firm
which will guarantee the delivery of
a single ton of coal to the home of a
customer under IA days.
Both the transportation and the coal
companies are bending every effort to
relieve,the situation. Their managers
insist that it is the wonderful aud
unprecedented growth Of the country
which is causing the shortage.
The people who are suffering aud
who are clamoring for coal insist that
their sufferings are due to the mono
| polistic grip which the Gould and the
Hartman systems have succeeded in
| placing on the coal industry of Wyon-
ing, utah, Colorado and other western
states. In proof of this contention,
they point to the disclosure recently
made at the investigation by the i1-
terstate commerce commission.
That body produced evidence to
show that by system of fraud the
| railroad companies have succeeded in
! seizing all Of the valuable coal land
along their rights of way. and have
| prevented development in other
fields by exorbitant freight rates and
by preventing independent capital
from investing i'll coal ventures.
The railroad companies insist that
they are giving preference to coal
shipmets and are sidetracking all traffic
in favor of coal. The people who need
coal insist that the railroad companies
are using theft coal cars to transport
/ ores and other products \
Whatever the truth may be, there is
no denying the fact that the railroads
do not begin to have sufficient power
and equipment to transport the coal
that is mined. There is no doubt
that they are doing all they can to
relieve the shortage, but there is also
no doubt that the shortage is largely
due to the methods of monopoly. 1t
is pointed out that, had there been
free and unrestricted development of
coal properties, the coal production
would have more nearly kept pace
with the demand, and the transporta.
tion facilities would have increased
more nearly in proportion to the in
CREASED coal demand.
Under present conditions the Colo
RADIO Fuel & Iron company practically
has monopoly, assisted in this con-
nection by secret freight rates of the
coal carriers in Colorado and the
states east of the Missouri river
In Wyoming the coal consumers are
practically at the mercy of the Union
Pacific Coal company and the Superior
Coal company, which are creatures of
the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah.
The monopoly in Utah has been
built up by the Gould lines, the Den
yer & Rio Grande and the Rio Grande
Western, through the medium of the
Utah Fuel company and the Pleasant
Valley Coal company. 1t is an
astonishing fact that these companies
market practically all of the output
of this state. At Coalville and Grass
Greek are small independent COM
panies whose output is infinitesimal.
It is stated by officials of the Utah
company that rs per cent of the coal
produced by it is marketed within the
state of Utah, showing conclusively
that the coal output in this state has
been retarded. Conditions in Colorado
and Wyoming are similar.