Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-09-02
FARMERS IN Aip-wEsTEsN
STATES FORM COOPERATIVE
COAL eUNiNG COMMITTEE

Following a recent conference IN
CHICAGO. farmers 81 ten mid.western
states have formed 4 cooperative eoal
haxing committee Tor the cooperative
purchase oi their fuel az Wholesale
prices Delegates from Ohio, Indiana
Michigan, Wisconsin. Illinois. Iowa,
Minnesota. Missouri, Nebraska. and
kentucky have selected o, J. sttrewalt
Of Ohio. r. w Boyle OF Indiana. ! 4
nent of Illinois. J h. McLanshlin Of
West Virginia. and James +. Black as
the purchasing committee. The farm.
ers are placing their orders through
their farm organizations for the
amount and quality OF coal needed,
and these orders are pooled by the
committee, filled at the most favor.
able price. and shipped from the near.
est point OF production for distriha
iion BY the farm organization. which
collects the price from the individual
farmer. Over a million tons Of coal
will be marketed by this plan. which
aeeords with the direct trading cam.
psign now being waged by the An
American Cooperative Commission TO
eliminate the hase profits eSaeted by
useless middlemen and profiteers and
secure fair prices both for producers
and consumers
J Coal offers an exceptional emporium
ity for effective savings through al.
rect trading because of the enormous
4 profits which both coal operators and
( the local dealers are extorting from
/ the public. The coal companies. not
satisfied with 100 per cent plus dur
ing the war tone company actually
made 1856 per cent on It's capital
stock, are now laying off men and
I shutting down mines in the hope of
creating another artificial coal famine
so that they may duplicate their war
Killings" Even NJ present prices.
! the Lehigh 4 Wilkes Barre Coal Com.
pany has declared cash dividend of
$50 per cent for the past year In
deed. the coal Investigations recently
conducted by Senators Calder and La.
Toilette disclose that the profits of
500 operators for the past year were
10 times as great as in 1916 and Z
times those OF 1872 The retail coal
dealers In certain parts of the country
are running the operators close race
for the peoples money, as two news
dispatches of the past week Indicate,
One comes from birmingham, Ala,
and states that coal costs S22b per
ton f. o. b. AT the mines In that dis.
triet. End Is being sold by the Birm.
ingham coal Yards To the consumers
of that city at 1915 per ton. The
second item Is from Baltimore. In
which State Attorney Leach informs
the grand jury that ninety per cent
of the retail coal dealers of this city
have entered into a combination To fix
retail prices, an offense which consti'
tutes a criminal conspiracy" AS II
to mitigate the offense OF this plum
dsrbnnd. Mi. Leach apologies, Il am
not unnindful of the fact that among
retail coal dealers are many of our
best citizens"
Cooperation of The Western farmers
TO buy their coal at the best whole.
sale prices will at least cut out the
turnover of several useless middle.
men. We hope the city workers will
take a similar step In direct trading,
But the coal problem will not be fully
solved until the men who produce the
coal - the miners themselves coop.
crate 10 own and operate the coal
mines for the benefit OF the public In
stead of the l50 percent-pns prof.
teers. Such solution has. In fact,
already been proposed by President
John Brophy of District No. 2. United
Mine Workers of America, which GOV.
ers the heart of the great Pennsyi-
yania coal fields.