The Honesdale citizen. [volume] (Honesdale, Pa.) 1873-1908, 1908-09-24
Coal and Carriers in Pennsylvania.


The recent decision OF the L. 3. Cir
cult Court, holding the commodities
clause" OF the Hepburn rate Dlll uuoou-
stitutioDal, has moved divers Demo
crats Of Pennsylvania to repeat the in
quiry, so etrenuously urged few yeare
ago, why the Republican party in THE
State has never enforced the constiiu.
tional provision forbiddding common
CARRIERS to transport their own coal.
The State constitution of 1874. hrt.
XVII, SEQ. D, contains the fOlluviou
provision
mo Incorporated company doing the
business OF a common carrier shall. ~
rectiy or indirectly, prosecute or engage
III mining or manufacturing articles for
transportation over its owu works ; nor
shall ahy such company, directly OF ii.
directly, engage In any other business
than that OF common carrier, or hold or
acquire landa, freehold or leaseho l, d..
rectiy or indirectly, except such Hs shal,
be necessary for carrying OH its business /,
but any mining or manufacturing con-
pauy may carry the products OF its
mines and manufactures on Its railroad
or canal not exceeding fifty miles in
length"
The chief purpose OF this provision
was to prevent unfair discrimination
against Individual coal operators, by the
coal carrying railroad companies which
were also engaged In mining. Most OF
these companies we're parties to the
proceeding In the U. y. Circuit Court.
They own, directly or indirectly, about
ninety per cent OF the coal still remain.
ing unmined, and their competitors,
owning no roada, are obliged to ship
over their roadp.
These mining and. carrying companies
shipping their own coal over their own
roads, are undoubtedly violating the
letter OF the constitution Nevertheless.
they are not legally within the provision
thus violated, but are protected IN their
course by provision OF the federal con
stitution, aud also OF the several con-ti
tutlons OF the State, beginning with that
OF 1890, that the state shall not impair
the obligations OF contracts. The cor
porations engaged Ia mining and trans
portation are operating under charters
graf ted before the constitu ton OF 1874
lng In law contracts with the State, can.
not be impaired by the State through
either statutory or constitutional pre-
visions
When these corporations were char
tered, the conditions affecting mini ug
aud transportation were ms terialiy dif-
ferent from those now existing. Iu the
beginning, a corporation owning coal
land wished to get its coal to market,
aud there was no apparent reason why
1t should not build railroad or CANA
for this purpose. 1t would have been
impossible to interest outside capital in
mere railroad building and operating.
Had the pioneers In the coal field been
told that they would he allowed to mine
coal, but not to build road for send
Ing it to market, there would have been
for long tune neither mining or rail.
roadiDg. There was little thought OF
mining, without transporting, 10y individ-
ual or independent operators, or of
need to protect them from the corpora
tioLs that both mined aud transported.
Under the charter right to transport
as well as mine, the Delaware and Hud
son Canal Co., the Pennsylvan ia Coal
Co., the Delaware, Lsckawanna aud
Western Railroad Co., the Lehigh Coal
and Navigation Co., (since merged in
the N. ]. CentraD, the Lshigh Valley
Railroad Co., and the Philadelphia and
Reading Railroad Co., practically ere
ated the coal business with its mines,
railroads aud markets, and Its many
attendant industries. Later, iudepend-
ent mine operators, entering the field,
were obliged to compete with the min
ing corporations which practically con.
trolled all transportation, aud condi
tions finally developed which, Ia 1873,
led to the provision OF the constitution
framed In that year, forbidding common
Carriers to transport their own property
But paramount constitutional pro
vision bars the application OF this pro
hibitlon to corporations previ ously
chartered.