The Sun. [volume] (Price, Utah) 1915-1932, 1916-12-22
COST OF COAL FROM Mine TO CONSUMER
by SMITH AND c. E. LESTER
the United Before American Mining Congress-
Chicago November 1916.

The bitumnous coal industry is a modern in
1ustry compared with the mining of anthracite,
and much of the bitumnous coal land was ac-
luired by the operating companies during the
asst twenty years for little if anything more
han its surface value. Today there are large
ireas of btuminous coal bearing lands that, be-
cause they are undevelOped and without rail
Dads can be purchased at low price, but little
VI no anthracite land is on the market and little
las changed hands for years. The present av-
srage resource cost of bituminous coal is not
much over five cents a ton or about per cent of
he average selling value at the mine. In the
Pochahontas region and the Pittsburg district
The royalties are much higher but these. like
others that might be cited, are exceptonsA-one
1ue to coal of special quality and the other TO
location-factors which, incidentally, are exactly
those that have assisted in making the resource
cost of anthracite what IL is
Should you be interested in summing up all
these various costs and striking a balance be-
tween labor's share and capitals return, you
would find that the mine worker, the trainmen
and the wagon driver together receive fully half
the price of the anthracite delivered at your
house. and the same three classes of labor re-
ceive not less than half the price paid by the av-
erage consumer for the cheaper soft coal. In a
similar manner the average return on the capital
invested In land. mining plant railroads and coal
yard may be roughly calculated with the result
that landlord bondholder and stakeholder Of coal
company and railroad together receive about
$1.15 from the ton of anthracite and only fifty
TO seventy-five cents from the ton of bituminous
coal, and Of either Of these amounts the mine
operators share Is only n small fraction.
CANNOT OFFER CUREALL.
IL is not the purpose Of this analysis of costs
10 offer any curea for the high price of COAL YET
some comment on the facts presented may pos
cess value. At least certain lines Of approach
an be pointed out as not very promising. Fol
example, anyone who Is at all cognizant of tn,
lrend In the price Of labor and material can sc,
little hope of relief In lower costs for these items
Furthermore. observation of the advances mad,
IN mining methods in the last decade or two af
lords slight warrant for belief I'm any charge oi
wasteful operation AS consumers of coal W.
might do well 10 initiate the economy now en-
forced by the producers In their engineering
practice. In the northern anthracite field ma
,hine mining is extracting coal from twenty-five
md twenty-four inch beds. and throughout the
anthracite region the average recovery of Goa
IN mining Is SO per cent as against 40 per cen
,nly twenty years ago. Nor are the bitumnoui
operators any less progressive in their conserva
ton Of the coal they mine.
Yet II must be remembered that conservation
of n natural resource, though IL will undoubtedly
10 of direct economic benefit I'm the future. II
rot essentially cheapening process. In fact
,hese increased recoveries OF coal have In larg,
lart become possible only because of higher
Il thought. we may say that the increased safety
n the coal mines that has come through thu
combined efforts of the coal companies, Tn,
tate inspectors and the federal bureau of mines
necessarily involves some increase in cost of op
ration, but the few cents per ton thus added h
he cost is n small price 10 pay for the satisfac
ion of having the stain of blood removed from
he coal we buy. That form of social Insurance.
which Is now enforced through the workman
compensation laws alone adds from two 10 fiv,
ents ton 10 the cost of coal
REDUCING LENGTH OF HAUL.
In the item of transportation perhaps the mos
promising means of relief Is that of reducing tn
ength of haul Though many a consumers pref
renee for coal from n distant field over tina
rom a field nearer home is based on special re
luirements, the decided element in the prefer
nee of other consumers is simply the price, ant
his in turn may be largely due TO differentia
reight scale, which is thus not in the public in
crest If we admit the premise that il is waste
al 10 burn coal in hauling coal into coal dis
90. - IN, 60