The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-12-15
COAL INDUSTRY NEEDS OVERHAUL|NG SAYS COMMITTEE
Republican Members Say They Favor Taking Over of Mines By the Government
 Unless Remedied
By Associated Press

by Associated Press
 Washington December H.-Sharp crit icism Of the national coal industry, with implied threat of drastic legislation br' Congress to meet alleged evils of profitt eerfng, accompanied the partial report of the Senate committee on production and reconstruction, submitted to the Senate today In general, the report whieh asked power to allow the committee to continue it's investigation, suggested gov ernment activities to bring about co-op- eration under regulation in building coit- struction, but it's three republican mem bers-Senators Calder of New York, Edge of New Jersey and Kenyon of Iowa supplemented their findings with addi~ tional statements, all of which agreed in asking special legislative attention % present methods of producing and dis tributing coal.
 These, Chairman Calder said, must be corrected while Senator Kenyon le- clared that if the matter is to go on, I. for one, harsh as the remedy may be shall favor taking over the mines.' Sen ator Edge expressed as his conclusion that the coal industry cannot bring order out of the prevailing chaos. and give even reasonable relief to the suf- fering people, so I am ready to modify somewhat in this case my opposition to government intrusion into private busi- ness, and to advocate legitimate scru- tiny
 Coal profiteering especially as it has followed the priority orders of the inter state commerce commission has contln- ued unchecked by the department of jus tice, and is a national disgrace, the committee said in it's joint report "Coai speculation has been permitted to mo- nopolze the transportation facilities of the country, retarding necessary con struction and increasing the basic cost of manufacture and distribution of com modities in general. 1t has bled the home owners, public utilities and indus tries.
 SITUATION VERY BAD "Our investigation into the coal situa- tion has convinced us that the private n- terests now in control of the production and distribution of coal. in spite of eff forts by some, are actually unable to prevent a continuance or repetition Sf the present deplorahle situation and that lit is the duty of the government to take such reasonable and practicable steps as it may deem necessary to remedy the evil"
 Government administration of the pro- duction and distribution of coal, the committee said, should be a last resort. ' but for the present it was recon mended that operators, wholesalers. jobbers and retailers in the industry be required to file full and frequent reports with q federal agency. These reports should show, the committee concluded, total tonnage produced or handled. size and quality thereof, amount of tonnage con- tracted for, sold on account, and at spot sale, to whom and the prices made and received under contracts or sales The report should be sufficient ito determine costs and profits and the corporate inter- lrelations, or the communities of interesE. if any between companies producing and distributing coal"
 sTn other fields, the committee said, there exists a serious shortage of houS-
 ing, not only in the great cities, but in the smaller cities, as we'll, even in the far west and south which it held to have deleterious effect upon public health, morals and industrial growth Labor conditions also were discussed by the committee.
 CLAIMS LABOR GRATING ''The inisdirection and exploitation of some groups of organized labor, through grating leadership. has been revealed :n New York city and has been reported in some other larger cities the report said
 This has spread to combination of en- ployers, who working together with suc. grating labor leaders, have combined to force unduly high prices. The depart ment of justice is urged to prosecute the wrongdoers whenever they are found to have violated the federal statutes
 Establishment of more trade schools by cities and states to train apprentices for building trades was recommended, as was the creation of a federal bureau to assist :n framing building codes which would secure public interests and at the same time lower costs.
 Financing building investment, the committee said, should be aided in sev. ieral ways, suggesting lowering of excess profits and surfaces, and tax exemption for real nortga ges A modification of the federal reserve act, to permit mem ber banks to invest in longtime mort gages, was further recommended. and the committee said it indorsed the prin- ciple of '.the home loan bank bill, which is designed to facilitate a wider distri- button of real estate mortgages through standard bond issues"
 Popular saving and thrift, it was con cluded would be aided by consolidating under the postoffice department all led- eraI thrift activities, and by amending the postal savings law ito provide aoe- ouate interest for depositors."
 CUSHING ANSWERS CALDER Washington, December 1.--Complaint
 
 that a more sympathetic report had not been written by the Senate com mittee on production and reconstruc- ton. which was submitted to the Sen ate today, was expressed in letter tonight to Senator Calder, republican. New York, the committee chairman. by George H. Cushing. managing di- rector of the Americ0n Wholesale Coal association.
 "The practices about which you complain it said, were in no sense general with the coal trade. How ever your condemnations are sweep ing. They are not modified by any statement which would indicate that there is possible any discrimination between the coal trade as whole and the worst offenders in it."
 The letter referred to "the coal trade practices of which you complain" as amounting merely to market expio- sion" which operated only through SIX months.
 "The dislocations in business the letter said have been general and world wide. They have not been con fined to the housing programme of the United States"
 The coal trade. according to MT. Cushing, is striving to satisfy the home demand for coal and at the same time to build up an export trade that