The Washington times., 1923-07-03
FINDS SOLUTION
Of SOFT COAL
PROBLEM
Commissioner Potter Would
Permit All Shippers to Use
Their Own Cars.
CONTINUED from First Page.)

Continued from First Page.)
the side Of complete non-discriminat.
ing car-serviee to all mines in pro-
portion to their rated coal produc-
ton output and irrespective OF
their coal production cost.
Against this principal Commits
sioner Potter raises a piercing pro-
test in tones both negative and
positive.
Negatively he charges that the
Commissions decision will increase
the chief evil which the Coal Conn
mission was created to try to re.
move. This evil is too many btu
minous mines and too many btu
minous miners.
We, pay several hundred million
dollars every year, says Mr.. Potter,
to support bituminOus mines and
bituminous miners that work half
time. We need fewer Of them.
The commission, by enacting q
wider car-service, 10 going to give
us more Of them,
The effect on the efficient con-
sumner, according to Mr.. Potter, will
be crippling. Consider the case of
Henry Ford.
Suppose that Henry Ford should
want to send coal cars Of his own
to mines of his own. Under the
commissions present ruling he
could not have his oars placed in
front on his mines except in pro.
portion as q PRO rata" number OF
cars was placed in front of each
and every other mine in the whole
district.
The result might well be that a
lot of Mr.. Ford's cars would stand
idle on a distant siding while out
Of the cars delivered to high-ccst
mines Mr.. Ford would have to buy
high cost coal.
"This illustration" says Mr.. Pot.
ter, rs typical Of what the majority
decision will do throughout the
industrial world"
Negatively Mr., Potter maintains
that the commissions merging OF
private cars" and of the assigned
car" into tho general pool of tramp
cars will be q deplorahle and dis
astrous step backward. Positively
he makes the novel suggestion that
the private car" could be made the
agency for puncturing the initiation
Of the bituminous coal industry and
for bringing the industry down from
q high cost to a low cost average
level.
Potter's Argument.
The fact that most of Mr.. Pot.
ter's colleagues do not seem to be
in auraaYnanf Nx,ifk him 10 vaouE.oNn a
point against his scheme, while the
fact that he has been a railroad
president and has dealt with coal
mines is perhaps a point In favor
OF It-or perhaps not. In any case
Mr.. Potter argues as follows:
Instead Of prohibiting assigned
and private cars, their use should
be encouraged. The greater their
number and the fewer. the mines at
which they are placed, the better.
IL this commission would announce
the right of shippers chat Is, Of
consuming shippers) to use private
cars in their own service, and IL
1t would announce that they would
be protected, then private capital
would promptly come to the aid
OF the carriers and provide private
cars to an ample extent. Then the
carrier equipment available for
others would be greatly increased
and the price of coal would drop"
Big Coal Supply.
It would drop, says Mr.. Potter,
because with more cars there would
be a bulge in coal supply com.
pared with coal demand. Having
dropped, however, this new low
price would operate as q scissors
which would cut the high-cost mines
out of existence.
There are really two stages, there.
fore. in Mr.. Potter's argument.
First, he sees the private car re.
leasing the regular railroad car to
bring more coal to the cities and so
pulling the price of coal down.
Next--and permanently-he sees the
private car giving more and more
trade to low-cost mines and so max.
ing the high-cost mines lose more
and more of their market.
1--WE need interfere with no one,"
says Mr.. Potter. "All we need to
do is to permit all shippers VINO
want them to possess and use pri.
vate cars in carrying on their bust
ness. With this right recognized
and protected, the coal world itself
would remedy the evils"
1t is reasonable calculation that
Mr.. Potter's scheme will become one
Of the rallying points of all those
coal solVers who do not want more
Governmental regulation and regu-
Iators.
Copyright, 1928, by Washington
Press Service.)