Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-07-26
WASHINGTON To
END SHORTAGE
Of COAL; ORDER
STOPS EXPORT
All Railroads of East viii
Be Directed to Garry No
Fuel to Tidewater, Ex-
cept for New England,
NORTHWEST ALSO .
WILL GET RELIEF
TangIe in Illinois Field Be-
Iieved in Fair Way to Be
Settled; Operators Deny
Whites Statement,

lsv MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEAsko wiRsl
Washington, July 25.-The gov
ernment will take definite steps to-
morrow to straighten out a mud
died coal situation.
The Interstate Commerce com
mission will issue an order for prt-
ority of movement in the trans
portation of coal to New England,
/ The order is expected to include a
prohibition against any movement
of coal to tidewater unless con
signed to New England. This, in
the view of coal experts, Will
amount to an embargo on the eN-
portation of coal.
Under a recent order of the COM
mission, more than score of rail-
roads serving bituminous mines IN
western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West
Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and
Tennessee, will begin to move coal
to lake ports for transhipment to
the northwest. The summer move
ment of coal to the northwest is
more than fifty per cent behind
schedule and the railroads will at
tempt to dump four thousand car
loads of coal a day at lake ports.
Dspai tment of labor conciliators
tomorrow will begin efforts to end
the walkout of mine laborers in the
Illinois fields which is reported
to have closed about two-thirds OF
the mines.
Officials of government agencies
concerned in the Strengthening out
of the coal tangle today read the
statement issued by John L. Lewis,
president of the United Mine Work
ers, last night but declined to COM
ment. Mr.. Lewis had declared that
any settlement of the Illinois strike
which would modify the basic in
terstate agreement under which the
miners of the central competitive
fields are working would result in
action by national officers of the
United Mine Workers to bring
ahait y cessatie3 af work BY the
10000 men employed in that
field.
The National Coal association, an
organization of operators, said to
represent two-thirds of the coun-
try's bituminous production, today
denied the Illinois operators had
expressed a desire to have the ex-
ist'ng wage contract amended as
stated by the president of the mine
workers. The only overture look
ing toward re-opening of the wage
agreement which was entered into
March 81 and which was effective
two years, the associations state
ment said, was made by the miners.
n, t.fVt
iected by the operators who held
that only action by the government
under whose auspices the agree
ment was entered into would per-
NIT re-opening of the contract.
Exception was taken by the as
sociation to Mr.. Lewis assertion
that the coal operators were
charging unprecedented prices for
coal. The question of coal costs
and prices was covered by the fed
eral trade commission in its fourth
monthly bulletin on bituminous
coal costs, issued today, The COM
missions review for April showed
that the average sales realization
of the S12 operators reporting for
that month was 1926 a ton, while
the average reported for the mine
cost amounted to $2.76. OF the
latter amount s2.04 represented
labor costs per ton: 81 cents the
cost of supplies and Al cents gen
eral expense or overhead. The diff
ference between the sales realiza-
ton and the f. o. b. mine cost was
so cents a ton. which the commits /,
sion emphasized could not be con-
sidered as profits as from 1t must
be subtracted certain expenses
such as selling costs and Interest