Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-11-17
SEES COAL
RING "HARDBO|LED"
Only for Profits, He Tells
American Academy
Conference.

PHILADELPHIA Pa. November IT.
The Governor of Pennsylvania, to-
gether with a prominent spokesman
| leader among the union mine
| workers. in addresses before the
American Academy of Political and
Social Science last night told what
was wrong with the hard coal in
dustry and what the problems were.
The academy Is conducting a two
day conference on coal.
Gov. Pinchot said that, in his
opinion, the whole combination" was
hard-boiled monopoly whose prime
| interest in the public was that the
public shall consume their coal at
| their prices.
! Samuel D. Warmer, president Of
| the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Com
operators in the recent wage negotfa-
| tons with the miners. said I'm effect
that the anthracite industry was not
monopoly.
"A monopoly" he said. Cannot be
! oppressive unless there goes with II
public necessity for the commodity
monopolized. This is certainly not
| true with anthracite"
Tnomas Kennedy. district presi-
Gent OF the United Mine Workers. did
ton, except to say that the anthra-
cite operators were organized and
they practically work the same veins
at all of the collieries and there was
should not exist.
Wage Increase just.
Gov. Pinchot said that the wage in
crease here. which he had suggested
and which was accepted by the
miners and operators. was Just and
necessary to provide a decent Amer
Reiterating that the wage in
crease amounted. to 60 cents ton.
the governor said that 1.-THE operators
not only passed the whole Increase
In cost over to the public. absorbing
vantage Of the situation to add to
their own profits"
AN the anthracite there is in
America" the governor said. Ties
companies produced SO per cent of all
the commercial tonnage and seventy
four companies produced 80 per cent.
Today ten railroad companies pro-
commonly believed that financial re-
lations exist between these ten rail-
road companies and some of the So
called Independent operators. COM
mon report asserts that there has
financial arrangement between these
ten railroad companies and the an
thracite carrying railroads.
ut Is commonly believed that most
Of these large companies make ex-
companies of their own and that the
Wholesale companies affiliated with
some OF the large operating COM
panies take an extortionate return
. =
ware. Lackawanna and western Coal
Company, the sales agent Of the
Glen Alden Coal Company. has paid
dividends averaging so per cent for
each Of the six years from 1917 to
1922. inclusive.
Mr.. Warmer said that no industry
had been so thoroughly or SO fire.
ouently Investigated by state and ma
tional committees, and yet its major
problems were imperfectly UNDER
stood.
His own answer as to whether an
thracite was a monopoly, he said, is
that although anthracite is certainly
vested with a public interest. in that
the people Of a limited section Of this
country find II a desirable fuel, it does
vestment "of public interest than
does any other commodity in com.
District President Kennedy said
that the United States Coal Commits
sion found that the labor cost of q
| ton of coal was s4.12. Comparing
| this $4.l2 labor cost previous to the
present agreement with the price OF
coal paid by the consumers. which
went as high as SIT. per ton. he said
the obvious answer would be tina,
responsible for the prices being
charged to the consumers in the an
| thracite consuming territory"