Arizona republican., 1920-12-15
SAY
 COAL PROFITEERING
 NATIONAL DISGRACE
IRcpubIlean A. p. Leased WIrel

WASHINGTON, Dee. IA. - Sharp criticism of the national coal industry, with implied threat of drastic legis- lation by congress to meet alleged evils of profiteering and speculation ac- companied the partial report of the senate committee on production and reconstruction, submitted. to the sen ate today. Tn general, the report, which asked power to continue the investigation, suggested government activities to bring about cooperation under regulation in building construc- tion. but its three Republican mem bers, Senators Calder of New York; Edge of New Jersey, and Kenyon of 1 Iowa, supplemented their findings with additional statements. all of which l agreed in asking special legislative at tention to present methods of pToduc- l ing and distributing coal.
 These, Chairman Calder said, must be corrected" while Senator Kenyon declared that If the matter is to go on, I, for one, as the remedy might be, shall favor taking over the mines. Senator Edge expressed as his conclu- sion that the coal industry cannot bring order out of the prevailing chaos, and give even reasonable relief to the | suffering people. so I am ready to
 modify somewhat. in this case, my op-
 position to government intrusion into
 private business, and to advocate le- gitimate scrutiny"
 Coal profiteering, especially as it
 has followed the priority orders of the
 interstate commerce commission, has
 continued unchecked by the depart
 ment of justice and is a national dis
 grace" the committee said in it's joint
 report Coal speculation has beer
 permitted to monopolize the transpor-
 tation facilities of the country.
 Our investigation into the coal sit. uation has convinced us that the pri.
 vate interests are actually unable tC
 prevent a continuance or repetition oi the present deplorabie situation, and , that it is the duty of the government to take such reasonable and practica , steps as 1t may devise to remedy th' , evil"
 Government administration of tn,
 production and distribution of coal
 the committee said, should be a las
 resort" but for the present it wa.
 recommended that operators. whole \ salers, jobbers and retailers in the in
 dustry be required to file full ant | frequent reports with federal agency The reports should be sufficien ito determine costs and profits, an' . the corporate inter-relations or tn 2 communities of interests, if any, be a tween companies producing and dis tributing coal"
 In other fields, the committee said
 there exists a serious shortage o n housing, not only in the great cities
 but in the smaller cities, as well, eve
 in the far West and South" which i
 held to have deleterious effect upoi public health, morals and industria
 growth.
 $ "The mis- direction and exploitatio 'l of some groups of organized labol I through grating leadership, has bee y revealed in New York city and ha Y been reported in some other larg
 cities the report said. This ha
 spread to combinations of employer e who, working together with such graft q ing labor leaders, have combined { d force unduly high prices. The de
 partment of justice is urged to prose r. cute the wrong-doers whenever the le are found to have violated the feder; )r statutes"
 Establishment Of more trade schoo Pr by cities and states to train apprer s- tices for the building trades was rec + commended, as was the creation of le federal bureau to assist in framin Id building codes and at the same tin ar lower costs.