Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-12-04

Foreign representatives.. Se' r,s-
enzen 4 woodman, Advertising 6ios;,
ChicaxO: 225 Fifth Ave-, New YORK
city: sos Victor Bldg, Kansas CITY
AS TO COAL PRICES.
Governor Harding and Clifford
Thorne have completed their inyest'
xation OF Iowa's coal situation. con
Quoted with the assistance OF bev!
OF witnesses and the mayors OF three
cities. and have sent long telegram
to President Wilson demanding reduc
ton in the prices Of Iowa coal which
the federal government has fixed.
with all the apparent confidence IN
the world, the governor told assembled
Newspaper reporters. after the teie
ram had been dictated, that the price
Of Iowa coal would be reduced. He
did not specify the amount of decrease
INIT he seemed entirely certain of the
result.
II there is any way by which the
price of coal for the private mouse
holder can be reduced. without ue
stroying the coal industry ana tnus
closing the mines, The Courier Is un
reseryedly in favor Of the change. but
We are as definitely opposed to re
sumption of the system which preced.
ed government supervision OF the coal
industry and by which railroads and
pnblic utility concerns obtained theif
coal at prices so low that the house
holder was compelled to pay an extra
margin on his purchases so the coal
operators might balance their DOCKS
with profit
IN view of the fact that the investi
CATION Just completed in Des MONIES
vas said to be inspired and demanded
~ the League OF Iowa Municipalities
and IN view of the fact that this organ.
station is maintained at the expense OF
the urban taxpayers OF the state. ~ =
significant that little or no consiaera,
ton was taken OF the phase OF the Goa
situation which affects the vast major.
l,ity of those taxpayers, the buyers o,
Focal on the retail market for housenoid
use.
Witnesses were examined to estab-
Nah the fact that railroads and puoiic
utilities which were not protected oy
Contracts before the government
nrices we're fixed are compelled no"
to nay a higher price than they vert
accustomed to pay before the natlonai
4 government undertook control OF the
coal industry. The facts which were
sstahlished were exactly those which
ve would have expected to see orolght
cut had the hearing been lhsusateo Wy
railroads and public utilities.
As q business proposition, these en-.
terprises would have had every right.
no doubt, to establish those facts. But
for the state to lend its dignity to the
inouisition, without considering the
nriyate citizen as we'll as the railroad
and public utility, falls far short OF
what The Courier considers the proper
function of the government which IN
theory at least represents all the peo
ole of the commonwealth.
The facts, as far as Ottumwa's retail
coal market is concerned, are that
iowa coal is selling today at lower
price in comparison with last sum
mers figures than has been recorded
N any other year Of which there is
record. Last July, when local dealers
were making every effort to induce
Ottumwa householders to buy their
winters coal supply and help to mini.
mize the shortage which even then
vas inevitable, they made what they
thought was a price far below that
which would govern at this season. in
ordinary years their July price had
ranged from SO cents to 81 and some.
times 81 lower than their December
lprice. Supply and demand had gov
! erned the market in other years, ami
as the weather grew colder the price
Of coal had mounted higher.
In August OF this year the govern
ment stepped in and fixed prices. As
4 result the average price of coal In
Ottumwa today is no higher than 1t
was last July except for the 50-cent IN
crease ordered by the fuel administra'
ton only recently. This is true IN the
face of the most serious shortage OF
coal production. as compared with sup.
ply. in the history of the nation. II the
law OF supply and demand continued ia
control the coal industry as in former
wears, the retail price of coal in OF
tumwa today probably would be 100
per cent higher than 1t Is.
These are facts. but they could not
have been obtained from any evidence
produced at the Harding Thorne in
uuiry. The declaration was made there
that the price Of Iowa coal had in.
creased 100 per cent and more since
the government assumed control of the
industry. This also is fact, but it is
true only of the coal which Is consunl
ed, not by the public but by the rail
roads and public utility concerns.
Months ago. on the day President
Wilson announced his first coal price
schedule in August-The Courier pub
lished the fact that the retail buyers OF
coal were paying the producers profit,
not only on the coal they consumed
but on that which the railroads and big
industries bought at prices that gave
the operators no profit. This has come
to be recognized generally in its true
light as great injustice. but never the
less. the hearing in Des Moines seems
TO have been conducted with the sole