Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-13
|AL COMMISSION
FINDS NO COMBINE
|-.vornor's Investigators
'ov Cost Increase to Oper-
.tors' Advanced Expenses
,cEs AND SUPPLIES UP

,,ss,op appointed by Governor
p Inc .,ah to investigate the increase IN
brvns., Of anthracite coal mas iaileu 10
w nv conspiracy to raise the prices ac-
~ hs,rg TO its report, which VIII oe euo-
ecralhse % the Legislature.
niteu ii,,Ie wonder that the operators
~ ,s,onced the price of coal" the report
reads. ,,,, NJ the Investigation the
Ing axnlains may be expressed in the
rpo,. s,atement that since 1918 coal has
slnsle "a s1 ton or approximately fifteen
oer cent 1T, ,o,r,,rz T., p,,p.
l~I, ~ scranton Wilkes-Barre, Erie and
oelp.'ii,o Scores of witnesses were exam
fo.sand counsel for the commission con-
m. with boards of trade retail coal
sur,ars associations. coal operators and re-
IN dealers in other cities.
Summarizing its report, the commission
says: s,,. nor,l, IN wo,o disso,s,or,
nsu and more expensive wage agree
~ nultitudinous petty strikes contrary
~ y nc wage agreements, scarcity of labor
II w-sar wages uncertainty of supply. in.
hsssed TAXATION. humane labor legislation,
srarced costs Cf supplies in both the pro-
4 s.cine aid distributing departments of the
ssnstrv the advanced royalties demanded
y. orners in recent years, the excessive
\ w.,rht rates in Pennsylvania and lastly but
y. ,rimportant, the expense to operators
Y ~ o,bers of constant and extensive in
ss.,sotion by the state and Government, it
y !, uttle wonder that the operators have
sdvanced the price from forty to fifty cents
n ton. ,,- .,.-,-
I. las, 10 the Independent advance of fifty
s.ts ton made by the retailers.
.srbis total advance of 81 a ton, or fifteen
i, can, on prepared sizes is therefore in
~ Judgment OF your commission, due to
s,nv and varying causes and hardly by the
sn,o,est reasoning chargeable to the item
Of state tax TT,
The question Oh hlesdl conlplnatlon
tight be presumed. from a unity of results
n h,ousht about, according to the operators,
~ a similarity of conditions confronting
& bsn all, and it is to he presumed that con-
n s,ons excepting trivial local ones, are
u rauch the same throughout the industry and
that they compel and doubtless merit a
4 slmar result in all the instances.
.eThus your commission feels uncon-
vinced of any illegal conspiracy or unlaw-
n Mi combination among either branch of the
Industry to take advantage of the Roney
act or other mentioned condition. to i'm
\ nroperly and unjustifiably increase the price
of anthracite COAL
Dealing with the retail phase of the coal
n business the report says that while the
margin of profit has increased, there was
nothing in the testimony taken at the hear
lnrs TO show any illegal combination, nor
do We feel that they indicate tremendously
large returns to the retailer"
a aIn Philadelphia there are upward of
4 a0o retail coal dealers, each of whom main
tans a yard, an office and an office force. a
Aellyery service and most of whom sell on
credit
.As distinguished from this condition,
So t1at tnf
N and selling more anthracite coal, supports
y snly sixty-one retail coal dealers.
"Your commission does not believe that
Il N would be either proper or becoming for
A 10 recommend a reduction in the number
of retail dealers or a combination of exist
ing dealers but is impressed with the fact
n that each additional dealer in any given
Edistrict must result in an additional cost
n 10 the ultimate consumer in the price of
anthracite COAL
The commission is impressed with the
Possibilities offered in the suggestion with
Ii respect to the utilization of the canal routes
/ IN Pennsylvania and recommends an inves-
E.tigation thereof by the State and the filing
\ Of complaint. If necessary, by the Attor-
hey Generals Department, to determine the
\ liability of the owners of these canals to
afford better transportation facilities to the
public,
4 h In the event of further investigation of
the coal situation by the State the COM
mission recommends that the investigation
include the btumnous coal situation. It
Is urged that the issues involved in the ap-
peal in the case of the City of Philadelphia,
Harry f. Bells ct al. VS.. the Philadelphia
and Reading Railway Company ct al. be
forced to a determination. I'VE are ad-
vised" the commission says, that the At
torney General is now urging judicial de-
\ Termination of these issues, that the City
Of Philadelphia may have the benefit of
the reduction ordered, if the opinion of
y Commissioner Pennypacker be sustained,
and we commend this action"
The report shows that the Philadelphia
and Reading Coal and Iron Company,
through the Reading Company, owns or
ffontrols forty-four per cent of all the un-
mined anthracite coal, and. together with the
Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, the Del
n aware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Company and the Central Railroad Com.
pny Of New Jersey, owns and controls
s6ib per cent of all the unmined anthra-
II cite coal
Members of the commission were Robert
~ Gawthrop, chairman, West Chester
John Langdon Huntingdon, and Edwin j.
Y taherty, Philadelphia. j. Paul McElree
west Chester, was special counsel for the
commonwealth to assist in the investiga-
s&ion