Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-04
Coal GOugers Give
Palmer Opportunity
Continued from PAGE One

Continued from PAGE One
are compelled to pay more for their
short ton by a dollar or Two than the
Wilkes Barre consumer pays for his
long ton.
Here are the facts: Pea coal IN
Scranton sells, delivered. for $50 a
ton: in Wilkes Barre. it commands
S595 ton, a difference Of S215 with :
in twenty miles. Chestnut coal il 50. 10
in Scranton and $7.35 in Wilkes Barre.
Egg coal brings $3.50 in Scranton, and
iS delivered, 24O POUNDS more 10 the
ton. in Wilkes Barre for 81. 25. Stove
coal under the SAM condition costs
50 80 a ton more in Scranton than in
Wilkes Barre.
II the coal producers will SOAK"
their own people what will they not do
to the outside public? What have they
not done?
Retailers Also Exploited
The retailers part in this is a purely
local one. IL it is proved that he il
r"nftrering, it must be done locally by
his victims. His sins Of commission
should be laid bare in his own home
town.
But primarily the retail coal dealer il
not the big offender. He is often OK :
plotted AZ viciously as the public itself.
1t all goes back in a sinuOus trail to tn.
officer of the big coal company. the indi-
vidual coal operator or the sales cor
poration or sales agency Of the great
coal company.
Nearly every big coal corporation has
its own sales agency or a designated
agent company 10 handle it's OUTPUT,
However cleverly camouf1aged they may
De, they are part and parcel of the
operating company.
Thus when the NichOdcmas Coal Min
ing Co. sells the output Of all its collier
les to the Nichodemas Sales Corpora
tion, it is just the same as John Smith
mining coal and selling II to himself
It's like taking money out OF your
breeches pocket and putting It into your
vest pocket and then charging yourself
dollar for making the transfer.
Scheme to Add Profit
The purpose Of sales corporation il
to permit the coal company TO add Il
good profit on the coal and at the same
time permit the sales corporation. which
is ordinarily owned and operated by the
mining corporation. to pull down" an
other fat profit from the wholesaler or
retailer to whom the next sale Is made
Very often the householder contrib
u''o W iVui HNpulhNt anu NlSllHNl
its when he pays his coal bill. The min
ing company gets profit on the coal it
sells to itself, Ia the shape OF It's sales
corporation. The sales corporation col
lects its profit from big regional whole
saler in New England or elsewhere per
haps, or If not, from tho retailer, who
in turn gets his profit from the chap at
the end Of the line, the consumer.
1t is simply pyramiding profits on the
head Of the public, In Wilkes Barre and
Scranton there should be none of this
The householder can send q team or
truck to the colliery and haul his coal
home. But the operator treats him just
the same and puts on all the tariff the
citizen will carry.
] am informed that in these two cities
as high as S12 and $13 a ton has been
charged for anthracite coal taken from
the ground almost from under the feet
of the citizens.
Cite Prices Elsewhere
This is explained by the assertion that
dealers everywhere are offering high
prices for coal The independent oper-
ator Is the real offender in this. He
whoops prices to the roof on the slight
est pi etext. And yet his basic cost Of