Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1886 — Monopolies in Soft Coal. [ARTICLE]

Monopolies in Soft Coal.

New York, Nov. 30.—Ike Herald this morning prints the following: “There is to be an advance of from 25 to 30 per cent, in the cost of bituminous coal. The price is to be pu* at a higher figure than it has reached in over three years. Two great combinations have been formed to control theentiresoitcoal output of the country. They have rules as rigid as cast-iron, and they have sent forth the edict: '‘Higher prices.’ And they have not only advanced prices but will say how much coal shall be mined, tvho shall mine it, what railroad shall carry it, and in what quantities, and what the freight charges are to be. Every railroad and every manufacturer in the country will be affected by this gigantic scheme, meaning, as it does, an advance of 60 cents per ton in the price of all soft coal hereafter to be used in every furnace and tn • j gine in the United Slates.

“There are to be two new pools controlling the soft-coal r reduction. One, the Ohio pool, has just been formed. It wil! irect absolutely the output from the great coal-field of Ohio. The syndicate consists of the four coal-car-rying railroads which control the transportation from that section — the Hocking Valley railroad, the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad, the Toledo & Ohio Central railroad, and the Pan-Handle division of He Pennsylvania system.hese four compan e i are name in the order of their importance as coal-carriers. Being in a posii n to dictate, they called the big coal operators together last week and formed a combination. The railroads advanced freight-rates on coal about 2-5 per cent, and said to the operators: “You must put v.p your prices 30 cents a ton all around at once. Lbter, by about the Ist of January, you must advance another 30 cents. Then we will stop and consider whether consumers will stand a further raise.— You must also restrict your mining so n's not to overstock the market. We will carry so much coal for you, and no more.”

“Each of the four companies has fixed on the amount of coal which it estimates the market will stand and the operators along its line have been notified tha f they must agree among themselves as to the relative per centagea of the total allotment allowed by the companies, for so strict h tve the i ailroads been in fixing the allotments and amounts which each operator cm be permitted to mine that operators must prove how much coal they can sell by exhibiting their orderboo s and their contracts. The headquarters of the Ohio pool is a Columbus, O. All the details of the programme have heen arrang(d and the first advance of 30 cts. per ton has already been made. “The other soft-coal pool is known as the Buffalo pool. It consists of the three railroads which, like those in Ohio, control all the product which comes to Buffalo for a market —the Rochester & Pittsburg railroad, the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia railroad and the Erie railroad. They are named in the rder of their importance as coal-carriers. They bring the yield from the western Pennsylvania coal-fields. This pool is not so far advanc ed as the western pool, and the advances in freights and in the cost of coal have not’ yet been made. They may be looked for next week. The first adavnee to consumers will b) 30 cents per ton. his will be followed by a second advance of a itke amount before January, according to the Statements of one who ought to know. This will be made before Jan. I, and wiil afford a pretext fur the GOe rise in Ohio coal.” Congress will assemble next Monday, and we trust early action will be taken in such measures gs will convince these monopolies that there is yet a God in Israel.