Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-09-25
FEDERAL COAL SUPERVISION


+- The L. S. Coal Commission has
sent its final report to the President.
AS was foreshadowed in previous re-
ports it favors Federal SUPER
vision of the industry and for this
purpose recommends specially
created division of the Interstate
Commerce Commission. 1t ought to
be clear to the people by this time
that If there be need of a commits
sion to regulate our railroads there is
at least equal need for some agency
to contribute toward our protection
in the matter of fuel. although it
may no be equally clear just how
this may be done.
The Commission finds the basic
evil of the anthracite industry the
fact that it is a monopoly, a feature
which only the Federal Government
may regulate effectively. One of the
means suggested is a graduated tax
On royalties and diffcrcntlal profits
In the production of bituminous coal
WV NSiOPAiiClll anu lIiSS
are blamed and the remedy proposed
Is through governmental agency.
The Commission points out how
"this dependence on coal is not only
country wide but all embracing;
every man. woman, and child is the
beneficiary of COAL" How many of
us appreciated the fact set forth
by the Commission that "bituminous
coal enters into interstate COM
merce on a scale approached by no
other commodity? And so we
should understand that 1.-The present
extensive and unrestrained inter-
state exchange of foodstuffs and
other commodities, which has so
lessened the danger of either local
shortage or local monopoly, is itself
conditioned upon an unfailing supply
of coal, the very lifeblood of inter-
state commerce"
Surely such a key to the health,
safety and prosperity of the country
cannot be permitted to remain the
shuttle between exploiting capital
on the one side and exploiting labor
organization on the other.
The Commission recognizes a dis
position or tendency in manage
ment for effective service existing
in the industry and expresses the
conviction that this is in the ascend
ant; that 1.-The coal industry can re-
form itself from within" But it
would not trust to this. 1t would
establish permanent agency for COL
lecting the facts that the people
may be kept informed and not be
at the mercy of the propaganda of
either side of the controversy. The
Commission also recognizes the fact
that the main remedy against ex-
tortionate prices for anthracite rests
with the consumer and his willing
ness to make use of substitutes.
With regard to the regulatory
features the report adds:
80 THE most convenient and practic-
able of the various possible methods
of exercising the right of control
over the interstate commerce in coal
would appear to be the licensing of
all who desire to ship coal from one
state to another or to buy and sell
in. interstate commerce; whether as
operator, wholesalers, or jobbers.
Reasonable conditions logically grow
Ing out of the inherent power of the
government, and implied in it's exer-
else, would naturally be attached to
the granting of the license and viola
.tion of them would be cause for sus-
pending or revoking.
e."fThroughout its investiga ton this
Commission has constantly found
points of intimate contact between
interstate commerce regulation and
the coal business. Greater use of
river transportation would help TO
get more coal to market with less
coal cars. The river movement of
coal, considerable at one time has
been discouraged, if not stif1ed, by
artificial railrates. Economy in the
use of transportation also demands
that the long haul of coal be no
longer encouraged by favoring rates,
.esta blished without adequate regard
to the cost Of the transportation SER
vice rendered. Thus. much of the
soft coal that is now produced and
consumed in TINS country is trans
ported undue distances, in many in
stances on it's way to market pass
ing across other fields producing coal
of similar charactcr.
Gradually and without undue
violence to established conditions,
the rates should he readjusted to re-
establish more natural relations be-
tween the elements of cost and SER
vice which will make for economic
no will
ton inthe total cost of transporta-
ton to the nation. This proposal is
apparently in line with recent de-
cisions of the Interstate Commerce
Commission.
40 I'VE look forward to the working
out under Federal supervision of a
national policy commensurate with
the importance of the coal industry.
This would include not only
natural limitation Of marketing area
by the adjustment of freight rates
to express the true relation of cost to
service, with voluntary division of
territory on economic lines. but also
the consolidation of mining COM
panies. The consolidation. grouping
or pooling of bitumnous mining
operations should be not only per-
mitted but encouraged with a view
TO securing more steady production,
less speculative prices. a wider use
OF long term contracts with con-
1siirners, better living conditions. more
regular employment. and lower costs.
The existing legal barriers to such an
: economic arrangement should he re-
moved, retaining, however. the nee
essary protection to the public inter-
est by requiring supervision of the
q financial structure of the consolida-
lon, as Is prescribed in the Trans
!. po:tatlon Act for railroad consolida-