Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-09
HIGH COAL PRICES
CALLED MYSTERY
consumers' League Official De-
/ cIares Present Costs Are
UnexplainabIe
MANY BIG FIELDS UNWORKED

Fpeofoi Dispatch 70 Ercrro Pubic Ledcrr
Pottsville. Pa. Sept 9.-"Thc lime
light which the EVENING PUBLIC
LEDGER Is throwing on anthracite Goa
prices Is certain to bring startling re-
siIts,v declared officials of the An
fhracite Consumers League here today
"The riddle of the Sphinx Is as moth
ing to how the cost Of anthracite Is ar.
rived at declared Frank G. Reese
secretary Of the league. I'VE cannot
understand how ton Of coal, for which
The miner receives only seventy OF
eighty cents for mining, should cost
$12 10 S15 in Philadelphia or New
York.
1--WE have not only investigated this
question ourselves, with the aid Of men
who are experts in the business, but We
have also had the aid of the United
States Government. with All I.n powers
and resources. Unforeseen cirCum-
stances prevented the government in
veetigation being probed to the point Of
securing actual results, although much
information was obtained which will bc
Of great value in the future. We fully
expect. however. that the anthracite
situation will result in speedy action
by Congress as soon as it reassclnblcs.
Meanwhile there is no doubt that
oVfthhVA SplOul VIII uSt uli NV Ib"''
of the state to protect the public from
extortion.
Operators Figures Challenged
''when the United States Senate
committee on coal visited this city last
year It was shown by their investign-
tions that the actual cost of mining and
preparing a ton of coal at the mines.
ready for delivery. was S3.5S ton
These were the figures as given by the
operators. We question their correct
ness. The public was not allowed to
know what entered into these charges
and on what basis they were computed.
'It was found that the correctness
of the figures could only be obtained by
examining the books of the coal com
panies. Unfortunately the term of Sen
ator Vardaman. of Mississippi. the
chairman Of the committee, expired be-
fore the work Of the committee could
be pushed to n conclusion. We will hope
for better results with the next inquirer.
'Among the charged items in the cost
per ton of coal, which the coal oper-
ators submitted to the Senate at that
time, was eight cents ton for taxes.
We showed that less than cent ton
was being paid. Other items were also
questioned.
High Prices IneNplicable
'sBut even allowing the correctness of
these figures. we are unable to see how.
with coal costing an average of S3.5S
at the mines. which cost includes the
most expensive sizes. the present high
prices now charged at Philadelphia and
New York arc arrived at. The operators
say they are not getting the money, the
railroads disclaim extortion, as do also
the coal dealers. Where, then. is the
excess amount going to?
"There is no doubt that coal could
be mined in this region cheaper than is
now being dorn. For instance. we find
corl companies owning large tracts Of
land rich in coal, leaving these tracts
Idle and are paying large royalty for
the privilege of mining coal on tracts
owned by other interests. The public
Is therefore required not only to pay for
the capital and taxes on these idle
lands, but for the royalty, also.
why could not these big companies
devote their energies to developing their
own coal tracts and thereby avoiding
the payment of royalties? Is their OBJ
ject to prevent the mining of these ad
ditional tracts by concerns which might
bring competition in the business!
"The demands for royalties by coal
land owners will also be found one of
the great abuses of the present system
of mining hard coal. Owners of coal
tracts are demanding as high as 81 %
and 81 80 just for the privilege of al
lowing coal to be mined on tracts con
tanning many million tons. 1t can
readily be seen what great burden this
puts on coal mining from the very be
ginning. A royalty Of fifty cents would
be ample in nearly all cases.
N'While our anthracite mines are idle.
We have been receiving complaints of
to obtain coal at any nrire
from consumers all over the country.
Charles Meyers, president Of this
league, recently received complaints
from consumers as far apart as Water
bury, Conn, and Egg Harbor, y. J..
where consumers are unable to obtain
coal. The present cessation OF mining.
involving closing down of the entire
region for period already covering ten
days, is bound to be felt next winter.
"The public should know that the
striking mine workers do not wish to
increase the cost of coal to consumers.
On the contrary, the United Mine
Workers have spent large sums of
money to prove that the wage increase
being asked by the miners can be paid
without asking consumers one cent ad-
ditional.
Last January this league informed
government officials there would be
trouble in this region if the cost Of living
was not reduced. That is what the
ininers want more than TN increase of
wages. Unfortunately the efforts Of At
torney General Palmer were not con
dugted on a scale TO afford any relief
TO this region. The cost of living has
reached its peak in the anthracite re-
gion and this Is spurrng the miners to
enforce their latest demands.
roDAY'S MARRIAGE LICENSES
John W. wooards. 2Ola waverly st.. ana
Matilda y, Glass i427 siYerwood 81.
Philip Canorotti. 26i0 y. Water st, and
Nellie Knott, 25l0 n. Water 81
Howard White, Torresdale Pa, and Pene-