Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-03-03
TRANSPORTATION CONIPAN
CHARGED WITH CONTROLLING
PRODUCTION OF ANTHRAC CITE

mittee chairman declares
Price And Production Of
Hard Coal Is. Governed By
Eight Large Companies.
Washington, March s.-senator
vardaman Of Mississippi, chairman Of
the senate manufactures committee
today inserted in the congressional
record. a statement on the commit
Z tees investigation Of the anthracite
coal situation, charging that produc-
ton Is controlled by eight transporta-
\ ton companies which, through an al
L most complete monopoly, were able
/ to. fix prices and determine the rate
OF production. s a
Chairman. vardaman explained that
the committee, was unable to present
its report as not all Of the testimony
taken in hearings in Washington and
in the Pennsylvania coal fields had
been printed He added, however,
tain facts" which The trusted would be
Of help to the next congress in deal
ing with the anthracite coal question.
Testimony before the committee, he
asserted, had disclosed in his oplnion
that there Ii no commodity in COM
mon use that is so absolutely mon
apolized as the anthracite coal pro-
luction." Shortage of anthracite dur
L,ig the war and the existing high
arices for the commodity he said.
were due almost entirely to this mon.
,polistic control.
Transportation corporations con-
rolling production in the Pennsyl-
vania f1eld-the only source Of mar
ketable anthracite in North America
were named by Senator Vardaman
VAS follows:
The Reading. the holding company
IT the Philadelphia and Reading Coal
and Iron company and the Jersey
Central, (Which in turn owns all the
company, the Lehigh Valley, the
delaware. Lackawanna and western:
The Delaware and Hudson: the Le-
high Coal and Navigation Co. (Which
WINS and controls the Lehigh and
New England); the Erie and New
ork Ontario and Western.
Although controlling but ~ per
41ot of the actual production Of an
iracite, the statement asserted, the
ght companies had made 1t ''impos-
hle for Independent operators to
-npete with them on any fair basis. !"
n Notwithstanding. the fact" said
" statement, "that the constitution
Pennsylvania prohibits a transpor-
ton company from engaging IN
1t..!,:ing, these Transportation COM
4. 1ias are In this business Of not only
nsporting this coal. but Of: mining a
Expressing the hope that congress
ghs see the necessity Of legislation
protect the people from what he
arioe ii tfsss soaliess 81 corpora
t,,,s,,i this mississippi senator recon-
tended that .if The constitution iot
rennsvlvailia. which forbtds .tne
transportation companies to mine coal
,s dead letter, in that state the led
raj government under the interstate
commerce clause Of the nations con.
stitution compel the divorcement OF
Transportation companies from min
ing corporations. :,
The statement made the additional
recommendation that the price OF coal
be fixed by the government at rate
which would guarantee fair return
to the mining companies ana wnacn
would "vouchsafe to the people OF
America an ample supply OF antnra-
cite coal at a reasonable price,"
While payment Of excessive royal
ties-said to amount in the case ol
the Locust Mountain Coal company
to the Girard estate to $1.09 a ton IN
a-.191S--constituted the first cause o1
the high price Of coal, the statement
said that was mot the full story"
The other causes given were the
means alleged; to have been used py
the eight large companies to elamin-
ate the competition of the independ-
ent operator. The statement said the
companies were able to do this in the
following ways:
High demurrage charges on cars al
,tidewater awaiting accumulation OF a
inability Of indepsndent operator to
accumulate temporary surpluses N
bins and storage YARDS. .t,n sne ra'erTad deniad
to the independent operators the use
OF their facilities, and.
The "Dog in the manger, attitude
of the eight corporations which It was
charged Continually reach out and Oh.
tatn. ali available unmined coal and
/. prevent the independent operator
from securing new land. Much OF
this land, the statement said, IL re:
tained in an undeveloped state oy tne
corporations. :,,.x..
tons Of coal could have been obtained
to relieve the recent shortage had tnt
! fuel administration compelled trans.
portation companies to develop CUM
banks or turn over this accumuAt'on
Cf small sized coal to many independ-
Ont concerns willing to reclaim It.
The. large corporations also wers wer,
charrcd by senator Vardaman WITT
maintaining the e4lo price Of Goa
through publication Of "circulal
Thescs prices. the statement said
were nut out by the Reading com
j,any andswcro 'ethe law Of the ousl
cess vi ii e !3ls \ n VI. s =, :,
!. WEATHER. FORECAST.
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