New-York tribune., 1919-03-04
Coal BarOns
AreExcOriated
By Vardaman
Southern Senator, in Closing
Speech to Congress, Says 8
Companies Rule Industry
Demands End of Combine
Speech Is Inserted in Record
in Absence of Report from
the Senatorial Committee

WASHINGTON. March Ex-senator
Vardaman, Of Mississippi, chairman
of the Senate Manufactures Com
mittee, to-day inserted in the Congress
sional Record a statement on the
committees investigation of the an
thracite coal situation, charging that
production of anthracite coal in the
United States is controlled by eight
large transportation companies, which
through an almost complete monopoly
were able to fix prices and determine
the rate Of production.
Chairman Nardaman 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 that he had gath
cred together certain facts" which he
trusted would be of help to the next
Congress in dealing with the anthra
cite coal question.
Testimony before the committee, he
asserted in his statement, had dis
closed, in his opinion, that there is
no commodity in common use that Is
so absolutely monopolized as the
anthracite coal production" Shortage
of anthracite during the war and the
existing high prices for the COM
modify, he said, were due almost en-
tirely to this monopolistic control.
TRANSFORMATION CORPORATIONS con-
trolling production in the Pennsyl-
vania field-the only source of mar
ketable anthracite in North America
we're named in Senator Vardamans
statement as follows:
"The Reading (the holding company
of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal
and Iron Company and the Jersey
Central, which in turn owns all of the
stock of the Lehgh and Wilkes Barre
Company, the Lehigh Valley, the
Relaware, Lackawanna & Western,
Coal and Navigation Company (Which
owns and controls the Lehigh and
New England). the Erie, and the New
York. Ontario & Western"
Although controlling but 70 per cent
Of the actual production Of anthracite,
the statement asserted, the eight COM
panies had made it impossible for in
dependent operators to compete with
them on any fair basis.
Notwithstanding the fact said
the statement, that the constitution
of Pennsylvania prohibits a transpor
tation company from engaging IN
panies are in this business Of not only
transporting this coal, but of min
ing it"
Expressing the hope that Congress
might see the necessity of legislation
to protect the people of the United
States from what he described as
'the greed, cupidity and avarice of
these soulless corporations the Mis-
sissipp Senator recommended that
of the constitution of Pennsylvania
which forbds the transportation com
panies to mine coal is dead letter
in that state" the Federal government
under the interstate commerce clause
Of the nations Constitution compel
the enforcement of transportation
companies from mining 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 and which
would "vouchsafe to the people of
America IN ample supply of anthra-
cite coal at reasonable price"
While payment of excess royalties
said to amount in the case of the Lo-
Gust Mountain Coal Company to the
great Gerard estate to $1.0l a ton in
l9l8-constitutcd the first cause of 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 by the
eight large companies to eliminate the
competition of the independent opera
tors.