The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-03-03
INDICT 226 COAL
Men And Miners
Indianapolis Jury Holds 0per-
atorS and Union Chiefs
Under Anti Trust Act.
WAGE COLLISION CHARGED
Joint Conferences, 1t Is Alleged,
Agreed to Add Increase to Workers
to Price of acknowledgements
Cover Three Years.

Indianapolis, Indian Indictment in
five counts, charging conspiracy to
violate the Sherman Antitrust law,
was reported to Judge A. B. Anderson
by the Federal Grand Jury against
226 bituminous coal operators, coal
operators association, coal mining
companies and coal miners. All the
individual defendants except twelve
are already under Indictment on
charges of conspiracy to violate the
Lever act.
The names of the twelve individuals
under Indictment for the first time
are withheld pending their arrests.
Bonds for the defendants under in
dictment were fixed at $4,000 each.
The arraignment was set for May 2,
which is the first day of the May term
of court, and after the indictment was
reported the Grand Jury was dismissed
until such time in April as Frederick
Vannuys, United States District Attor-
ney, shall decide to hold a short ses-
sion for the purpose of cleaning up va
rious cases pending.
The National Coal Association is one
of the corporations indicted. Many of
the coal operating companies in In
diana are in the list as well as leading
operators. The miners named include
John l.. Lewis, President of the United
Mine Workers of America; William
Green, Secretary treasurer, and other
union men who were indicted the first
time.
The indictment charges in the first
count, restraint Of trade; in the sec
ond, restraint of commerce; in the
third, restraint of trade and COM
MERGE; in the fourth, conspiracy to
monopoliZe, and in the fifth, mOnOpoltZ-
ing. The case is drawn solely under
the Sherman Antitrust law.
The indictment covers the past three
years and goes into a detailed history
of the bituminous coal industry and Of
the methods by which, it is charged,
the operators and miners have worked
together to restrict the production and
distribution of bituminous coal.
The charge is made that at various
joint conferences in the last ten years
it was agreed by the miners and the
operators to be partners in mining,
production and distributing coal, and
that they would aid one another in
plans to increase wages, increase
prices, to create a shortage, and to
otherwise limit production and dis
tribution.
1t is charged that the agreements en-
tered into between the miners and
the operators provided that coal
should not be sold at any time for a
price that did not yield profit to the
operator; that increases of wages to
the miners should be added to the
price of coal; that competition among
the operators should be eliminated,
and that means of increasing cost of
production in the price of coal be
closing and keeping idle the coal
mines.
1t is charged further that the oper
ators established q uniform cost ac-
counting system for the operation of
the mines, and that by agreement a
greater number of miners were en-
ployed than were reasonably necessary
properly to operate the mines. 1t is
alleged that the agreements entered
into at the conferences between the
miners and the operators have been
continuous from one conference to an
other up to the filing of the indict-
ment.
1t is charged that in accordance
with this recommendation a strike
order was issued by Lewis and other
officers of the United Mine Workers
of America on October 10, 1919.
The indictment alleges that follow
ing the suspension of the fuel regula-
lions in February, 1919, the operators
agreed not to contract for the future
delivery of coal and not to sell coal
unless they were able to obtain a price
that had been fixed by the Fuel Ad-
miniStration.