Evening star., 1933-03-19
COAL PRODUCERS
SOON TO ORGANIZE
Y. S. Supreme Court Dsole@on
Paves Way for Meeting
This Week.

~ the Associated prosS.
Ths coal industry, Ill manE yD1S1 1Nn
exoegsivs competition, u SbolIt to m0oF;
90 . major operation.
Surgeons, hopeful of more aabgeAn-
tial reward than they have had ID tlae1z
lean decade Just past, are . group d
bituminous producers IN West Virginia,
Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Their long fight for governmental ap-
proval won in the Supreme Court tl11l
week, 1S7 Of these operators plan e
meet In Cincinnati Wednesday and
Thursday to organise and set into mo-
tion q common marketing agency, Ap-
palachian Goals, Inc.
Disclaimtng any intent to monopolixe
the sales field, the operators hope to In
crease the sale-and thus production
OF coal through better methods Of dis
tribution. intensive advertising and re-
search, economical marketing and elm
nation OF abnormal, deceptive and de-
structive trade practices"
Intelligent Competition"
They look Tor their experiment to be
tried IN other httuminous nelds, to re-
suit IN Intelligent competition" with
consequent benefits to coal buyers, and
to bring stabilized working conditions
ana possibly higher wages to miners.
ALREADY the Northern operators an
talking OF forming similar organisa-
tion." one ofhcial Of the embryo cor
poration said this week. I'VE expected
that. But we shan't object. we feel
the intelligent competition which
would result from the whole bituminoua
industry being organized into different
marketing agencies would be for the
good OF the industry as q whole.
we have no intention Of bringing
the entire industry into our group
With differing production and shipping
conditions, that would be impossible."
Stabili1ation of individual output d
one OF the greatest goals Of the move
ment.
Costs continue and labor suffers at
Idle mines. Appalachian Goals hopes
to build demand up to supply. II and
to the member operators on the BASH
Of the railroad car allotment. That
allotment was based on potential
capacity.
Other Ills of Industry.
Other ills the operators hope to cure
include:
% shipment of distress coal" Coal
shipped to possible markets before It
is sold. Such shipments often result in
costly demurrage charges on sale at
figure below cost Of production.
% "Pyramiding." Operators o1ez
one consignment Of coal to . dozen
different agents. They compete and
drive down the price Of q single ship
ment.
IO Various Misrepresentation Of
size and quality.
this week small industrial concerns run
accounts 1T one mine after another.
without paying, and always ind another
operator willing to open an account to
his mine running and In hope Of even
The Supreme Court, In an opinion
written BY Chief Justice Hughes.
showed complete sympathy with the
motives behind the organization.
Il waved aside the decision OF .
lower Federal court that the marketing
agency would eliminate competition
among the defendants themselves and
give the agency the power substantially
to effect and control the price Of btu
nainous coal in many interstate mar
ets."
with respect to DEFENDANTS pun.
poses," the chief Justice wrote, we dnd
no warrant for determining they were
other than those they declared.
One Restriction Fixed.
The unfortunate state Of the indus
would not justify any attempt m-
:ly to restrain competition or to mo
police, but the existing situation
:ompted defendants to make, and the
,sstute (thc antitrust lAw) did not
preclude them from making m honest
effort to remove abuses, to make com.
petition fairer, and thus to promote the
essential interests Of commerce.
The interests Of producers and con-
sumers are interlinked.
when industry Is grievously hurt,
when producing concerns fall, when
unemployment mounts and communi-
ties dependent upon profitable produc-
ton are prostrated. the wells OF COM
mercc 60 dry. -
contemplate or to involve the fixing OF
market prices.
~The fact that correction Of abuses
may tend to stabilize a business or to
produce fairer price levels does not
mean that the abuses should 60 uncor-
r0cted or that cooperative endeavor to
CORRECT them necessarily constitutes IN
unreasonable restraint Of trade"
The court, however, placed one re-
strictson on the corporation. It de-
cided the Virginia district which han
died the case originally shall retain
jurisdiction Of the cause and may set
aside the decree and take further pro
ceedings II future developments justify
that course in the appropriate enforce
meut OF the antitrust act"