The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-18

atorS to come under it without losing their common law defenses, and that this item gives the Tennessee oper- ators an advantage of 20 cents ton over Alabama.
 These figures (production cos.) may sound high compared with those of 1914" said Mir. Bush, but we are willing to lay our cost sheets on the l table and to show you everything. | With these taxes 1t will cost 35 cents more to make coke. The 5-cent tax is on run of the minef coal, which makes it cents on washed coal. It takes one and six-tenths of washed coal to make a ton of coke, which adds g cents to the coke ton cos&; then add the workman's compensation tax and the increased cost is between 30 and 35 cents a ton.
 We expect to lose the New Orleans trnde, which has been taking p Der cent of the commercial coal produced in Alabama Coal from other districts Is being shipped into Anniston, Gads- den and Mobile. Coke made in Chatta- nooga is being shipped into Birining- ham. The restriction of our territory means that fewer people will be in the business and as production goes down the cost of production goes up.
 If Alabama could produce 50, ,0oo,OOo tons this year instead of 1s,0o0,00O it would mean highly prosperous condition. We would be doing something.
 NO state has a tax on coal except a little section in northwest Pennsylvania. where anthracite coal is mined and it has no competition. That district is for | tifed by the laws in New York Phila del. phia and other cities which prohibit the burning of soft coal. They did put a 10- cent tax on bituminous coal, but it stayed on only one year. Minnesota has no tax | on ore; they put on a 1-cent tax there about % years ago, but 1t was withdrawn. Michigan put on a 1-eent tax but it was withdrawn in 1891.
 STATES LAST BIG INDUSTRY Coal is the last big industry owned in Alabama. It started on a small scale, and the operators had to put their earn ings back into the business. land tax | is now paid on Alabama coal lands, the value being based on conditions of land seams and other things that affect the value"
 Mir Bush explained that for every 300. coo tons of iron ore mined a furnace cost ing $1 ,000, 600 had to be provided and other equipment at the mines and the furnaces run the total investment up to about $5, ,000,O00, upon which tax is paid to the state
 He stated that machinery cannot be used in Alabama coal and iron ore mines because of the character of the | SedIHS or oepOSlIS ana TOT tnlS reason the cost of mining is greater than in district where machinery can be used
 He stated that Alabama ores, be- cause of their character, cannot be ship ped out of the state, and therefore must 1 be smelted in furnaces in Alabama; that it costs as much to produce ton of | S6 per cent ore in Alabama as it does to produce 30 per cent and 60 per cent ores in Minnesota that Alabama fur naces use from 800 to 40o0 pounds ot coke to the ton of pig iron against 2200 pounds of coke at Chicago, Gary and Pittsburg and Ohio points.
 He said it was erroneous to think that Alabama iron makers were profi- teering because they were selling iron at s25 a ton; that it might just as well be said that farmers were profiteerins when they sell cotton at 34 cents when they used to sell it ten cents. Every thing used in making iron has gone up just as the cost of the things used by the farmer has gone up. Taking the Pratt scale of s5 cents for labor, which is what labor gets for shooting" the coal. he said in 1914 it cost from s1.35 to s145 cents a ton to get out coal. To- day 1t costs s354
 i9 A. B. Aldrich of Walker county, intro