The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-11-25
PROGREssIVE CLUB.

4
The attitude of the president of the
Weber club Of ogden in deciding TO lay
/ before the members of that Organiza-
ton the adusability of taking some
action in relation TO the coal situation
in Utah shows that this club is bearing
out its reputation OF being on the job
whenever there is anything to be done.
! AS one of the prime movers whenever
anything is on foot that will be Of
benefit to the city OF ogden and Utah.
'the Weber club could not do a better
work for the interest of it's members
than TO lend all the aid it can give 70
the fight that is being made in the in
|terest Of the people.
/ ogden is a hustling little city. and
/ l. includes within its corporate limits
some of the most progressive citizens
of the state A great many Of these
citizens are members of the Weber
club; In fact. it is said that every
Ogden business man of any promi-
hence has his name on the roster OF
that organization. While it is essen
TALLY social in its nature. yet it COM
bines utility with ornamentatiOn, and
when anything good for Ogden is on
the tapis the Weber club is always
asked TO do something. and, like the
| Commercial club of Salt Lake. it never
fails to respond.
Ogden cannot become the CITY il
ought to be SO long as the coal trust
/ is gnawing at its vitals, just as it is
at the vitals of every city and town
in the state. It cannot attain the full
measure of its development so long as
the homeseeker and the prospective
business man are confronted with the
fact that they must pay an extortion-
ate rate for eoal-the prime necessity
of life in this state during the cold
months. New industries will not To-
cate in ogden so long as they know
their profits are 70 be filched from
them by the illegal combination that
controls the coal business in Utah.
Great industrial plants are needed
in Utah, and ogden is in a most ad-
vantageous position to secure some of
them But these plants are not going
to locate where fuel is so high in price
as it is in this state. When the word
goes out from Utah that fuel is going
to be sold at a reasonable price the
reads of great industrial concerns that
are looking for virgin territory are
going to cast a longing eye towards
/ Utah as a probable and infinitely pos
sible location. Ogden will get her
share OF them, but she will not get
them until this coal trust has had its
sting amputated.
/ For that reason the Weber club, as
the chief power for progress in Ogden
/ and Weber county, can do nothing bet
/ ter TO justify the excellent reputation
it bears throughout the state than to
take a decided stand against the coal
trust. There can be little question that
when the Weber club acts its attitude
viii represent public sentiment in Og-
den thoroughly. A casual visitor 20
the club realizes that he is meeting the
men who are making their impress
upon the history OF the state, and that
are shaping the commercial history Of
one of its most thriving municipalities
the second city in the state, and the
strongest rival of the capital for com
mercial preferment
There are abundant indications that
the commercial organizations all over
the state are taking an interest in the
coal situation. They are beginning to
see that it is impossible for the state
or their respective communities TO
grow so long as coal is sold at a price
that is almost prohibitive, and they
have known for years that Utah must
get more industrial establishments If
1t is TO keep its place in the onward
march of the banded commemorative
OF the greatest nation on Gods foot
stool Factories and workshops are an
impossibility for Utah until fuel gets
down TO a figure at which it can be
purchased and used without absorb
ing all the profits that the concern can
accumulate.
Highway robbery does not especially
commend itself TO anybody. and that
is true when applied to combines as
well as individuals. There Is little
question that the Weber club win align
itself against the highway robbery that
Is being perpetrated in Utah by the
coal trust. Its actions on previous
great public questions in the past Jus
| tify that opinion.