The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1909-04-15
Mt. A etna II Eruption
And Peru Feels Quake
FREE GOALS
NOT DESIRED

~ N
practically free. Mr.. Elkins said. the
freight receipts of thescoai carrying
roads would decrease. and In innu-
merable ways would the wage-eafn-
ing capacity of the laboring classes
be reduced. He also pointed. out
that free coal would mot help the in.
|terior states, for the reason that not
pound of Canadian coal could
reach them because OF the long haul.
The natural competition that would
exist aIongs the border and on the
seaboard caused by free coal from
Canada would end at points where
the additional freight charges
equaled the advantages caus-
ed by the difference IL. the original.
cost OF the coal.
Loss to Mines.
Free coal. however. would inin-
riously affect the American public
generally, he said, by reason OF the
loss that would come to the mines
that were in competition with Ca
madam coal. A forced reduction in
any line of manufacture or business,
Mr.. Elkips pointed ont, had an eff
feet upon similar lines of Industrial
ACTIVITY, nov matter haw widely scat
tered. and when 1t was known that
the average profit on bituminous
coal was but IL cents ton 1t could
he easily seen. he believed. that even
a small disturbance. would work u
great harm to the business and. the
men employed in It,
Senator Elkins at some length
pointed out to the committee the In
Justice. from his point Of view, done
to the coal operators in West vir-
ginia and other states in the matter
of the importation of slack or culm.
which of course would come IN free
under the reciprocal clause OF the
Payne bill During the last year
more than 100000 tons of this was
imported. chiefly at Boston, and
supplied 10y the Dominion Coal Com
pany of Canada. This was done I'M
der Is cents ton rate, and this
product was entirely taken un by
the 400 sly-product ovens OF Boston.
in the manufacture of coke and the
sale of gas.
Nova scotia's Expcdicnt.
Coal to be satisfactory for coke
and gas manufacture must he crush
ed and reduced 10 very fine condi-
tion. something like powder
When the duty on slack was reduced
to 10 cents, in order to avail them
figure and the higher duty on coal
figure and tn higher duty on coal
the Nova Scotia mines crushed the
coal intended for the Boston ovens
Z so that ii would pass through the We
quired screens. and in that way gave
these New England factories high
grade coal nj a reduced rate and in
an advanced state requiring but lit
the additional labor. This. Nr. Elkins
said, naturally Disseminated against
natural slack of the West Virginia
mines, which had to stand the long
rail and water haul and Transports
tion charges. The Federal govern
ment. he said, discovered the fraud
land stopped it. Then, SO the sena-
tor pointed out, these Nova Scotia
mines prepared shaking screens and
thigh tipples from which the coal was
dropped so that it was reduced to
the consistency of slack or culm
through apparently natural causes.
land in this fashion they have contin-
rned to obtain an unfair discrimina-
tion against The domestic culm and
slack.
He read letters to the committee
to substantiate the conditions he pic
tured and declared that the only
practical method of preventing a
continuance of such frauds against
the revenues of the government and
the discrimination against American
lmines was to provide the same rates