Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-05-08
AMBIGUITY IN RATE LAW PRE-.
VENTED COURT FROM DEAL.
ING HARD BLOW.
TRAINERS SOUGHT TO END
SUPREMACY OF CARRIERS
Wanted to Cut Prices Paid in North
west from $3.50 to s2-RaiIroads
Sometimes Sustained Losses in Sell
ing Coal from Their Own Mines to
Themselves, But Didn't Care.
washinton, May Little doubt ex

the decision of the United States SUI
Of the railroad rate law that the court
would have given the people clean de-
coal combinations if the law had been
clearly drawn. But the law contained
an ambiguity, and upon that rests the
one point of the courts decision, which
may cause the people further trouble
with coal trusts, and especially the hard
coal trust.
This clause Of the law was aimed
primarily at the anthracite coal COM
bine of PENNSYLVANIA. Those who were
honest in framing the clause desired
nothing but to deliver to the people
their hard coal at a reasonable price,
which price should be $3.50 or 50 a ton
less than is now collected turnout
the northwest. To do this it was neces-
sary to take the railroads tapping the
anthracite region out of the business
of merchandising coal. If that could be
done, and the roads compelled to haul
goal at reasonable rate, the problem
was solved.
Cried "confiscaton."
But when the bill came up in the
senate great cry was raised that this
clause would take from the railroad
companies their property without due
process of law; that it would compel
them to sell their coal mines and go
out of the coal mining business. No
attempt was made to amend the bill to
rid it of this possible construction by
the courts, altho such an amendment
would have been as simple of prepara
ton and as easily interpreted as two
and two. The senators left the
ambiguity in the law and satisfied
themselves with talking loudly about
the way it confiscated the property OF
the railroads. And the court, as is it's
right, took into consideration the de-
bale in congress in striving to reach a
full understanding of the intent of
those who passed the legislation.
In aiming the commodity clause at
the anthracite trust the original
trainers of the law attempted to re-
lieve the people of the United States
from the expressions of the most selfish
combine that ever disgraced any coun-
try. 1t happens that all the anthracite
in this country lies within a restricted
area in the state of Pennsylvania. The
country is very rough and broken. Few
railroads can find right of way INTO
it. Consequently few have. But those
few ha
project of controlling all the hard coal
output of the entire district, and then
making the people pay all the traffic
would bear. And they have done it.
At first even these men did not know
how much they could bleed the people.
How Trust Boosted Price.
Everybody can remember that coal
was much cheaper when the trust first
began to operate. But the trust found
the people out by adopting system of
boosting the price as the weather grew
colder, each year, and as the people
grew accustomed to the extortion a
portion of this cold-weather raise was
made good the year round. Then a
couple of great strikes proved another
object lesson on what the people would
stand if they had to, and consequently
coal never since has been as low as it
was before the strikes of 1900 and
1902.
When the trust was organized the
anthracite mines were owned by pri-
vate operators. At that time anyone
could buy all the coal he could burn
in northwest cities for $3.50 to Sc a
ton. Some. of the railroads boldly
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them as railroad property. Other roads
organized separate companies which
We're used as dummies to run the
mines and sell the coal. But in each
case it was nothing but the railroads
Then came the business of compelling
the owners of the mines to sell them
Many of them declined. They had made
good money out of the business and
they wanted to make more.
Put Down Competition.
| But that was money the trust
wanted, and it had to have it. The
railroads at first made trouble for the
Independent operators by failing te
furnish them cars enough to run their
mines at a profit Sometimes the inde-
pendents could get no cars at all fol
several weeks at a time. But finally
the roads put aside all subterfuge an6
simply compelled the mineowners t.
sell all their coal at the mouth of the
mine to the trust. The trust fixed the
price. If some Independent would no,
yield, but insisted upon having cars IL
order that he might continue to supply
1 his customers in various parts of the
country the railroads gave him the
cars, but saw to 1t that his freight bill.
exactly consumed every cent of hi.
profit. That soon fetched him.
Up in the Shamokin district som
years ago an independent operate
had huge pile OF small fragments
"buckwheat' coal they call 1t now, 70
which he had no market. A friend o
his, out of employment was told tina
If he could find market for the lit
, tie stuff he could have for nothing al
he could sell Of it. The man wen
over into the farming country 0
Pennsylvania, west Of the Susquehan
ma, and by teaching the people Their
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