Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1918 — DR. JAMESON VS FRANK BABCOCK [ARTICLE]

DR. JAMESON VS FRANK BABCOCK

INDIANAPOLIS NEWS ARTICLE GIVES MARION COUNTY SITUATION. With the retail coal prices as high or higher than in Rensselaer and with a freight rate about 40c less, Dr 7 Henry Jameson, the fuel administrator of Marion county recommends a 25c per ton raise in the retail prices. The following article is taken from the Indianapolis hews: An increase of 25 cents a ton will be made in the retail price of domestic coal to the consumers of Indianapolis during the next six weeks, if a revised schedule of prices for retail dealers, announced today by Dr. Henry Jameson, fuel administrator for Marion county, is approved by Evans Woollen, federal fuel administrator of Indiana. Dr. Jameson made public the revised prices affecting the retail coal business following a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce at which ,he submitted the schedule to members of the boards of directors of the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trade and the Merchants’ Association. The directors attending the meeting unanimously approved the recommendations made by the fuel administrator.

Effective Until April. < Dr. Jameson said tnat he intended to submit the revised schedule to the state administration late today with the recommendation that it go into effect next Monday. The new prices will be effective only until April 1. The"lncreased price or retail coal will result from an increase given by Dr. Jameson in the margin allowed the retail dealers’ above the cost of coal delivered to them at their yards from the mines. Retail prices were fixed by the federal fuel administration last November at* various amounts in different parts of the country through local fuel administrators. The margin for overhead cost and expense of delivery allowed by Dr. Jameson at that time was $2 a ton for domestic coal and $1.65 a ton for what was classified as steam coal. The new schedule announced by Dr. Jameson calls for a margin of $2.25 for domestic coal with no change in the margin for steam coal. Dr. Jameson has, however, in the new schedule, eliminated the classification of steam coal and made the margin of $1.65 a ton apply to what is purely industrial coal.

Little Eastern Coal. Under the old schedule steam coal applied to any delivery of coal of fifty tons or more to any one point. Dr. Jameson said that later a different margin may be established for coal delivered to flats or office buildings which consume more than fifty tons of coal a year. The new schedule also provides a margin of $2.35 for eastern coal exclusive of anthracite, and $2.40 a ton for anthracite. The prices of these grades of coal are not important because of the very small amount of eastern coal available in Indianapolis at this time.

In explaining the coal price situation to the directors of the business organizations, Dr. Jameson said that reports and statistics which have come to the office of the fuel administration show that local coal dealers have not been able to operate on a paying basis during the winter because of unusual conditions of weather and transportation facilities. He said that other cities in this part of the country have been forced to increase the margin of profit for retail dealers.

Dealer* Lend Assistance. Dr. Jameson said that the Indinapolis dealers co-operated with the fuel administration in a patriotic manner during the trying month of January when they were required to make one-half-ton and one-ton deliveries to all parts of the city under the most disadvantageous conditions. He said emphatically that he did not desire| to increase prices simply for; the benefit of the coal dealers, but said that he believed it would ultimately operate to the benefit of the entire community in assisting to keep the coal business in its ndrn al channels and enabling the coal dealers to continue to do business. Dr. Jameson said that he believed it* would only be necessary for the

present prices to continue in effect until April 1, at which time all contracts between operators and dealers and consumers will expire. Other methods of handling the coal situation throughout the country probably will be adopted after that time be the federal fuel administration. Dr. Jameson said he believed a mistake was made at the time - the original prices were announced. ITe submitted an audit of books made by expert accountants of one yard of a large Indianapolis coal company for January, which showed that this yard had suffered a loss of 5 cents' a ton for more than 3,000 tons of coal handled during the month. Narrow Margin for 'Dealers. He said that he did not believe it was the policy of the government to j enforce confiscatory regulations on ' any line of business which is a necessity to the public welfare, and said that the new prices would only enable dealers ty operate at a very narrow margin above the cost of coal and the expense of delivery under the present abnormal conditions.