Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 192, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1920 — WHY COAL IS SCARCE AND HIGH [ARTICLE]

WHY COAL IS SCARCE AND HIGH

(By Representative W. L. Wood.) During the special session of the legislature, we placed a law on the statute books that will help the consumer of coal throughout the state. It is our opinion that as soon as the new increased freight rates go into effect coal will begin to move. The new rates make it a criminal offense, punishable by fine and* imprisonment to collect unreasonable profits or withhold from the public coal or other necessities of life. The following is what other states think of the work of the special session of the Indiana legislature : . Fair Price for Coal. (Ohio State Jornal) '■ - Soft coal is being sold to the state of Indiana for use in the state institutions at $2.95 for slack and $3.50 for lump coal. TheSe figures are most interesting at this time. They show what coal may be sold for and a reasonable profit secured for the producer. They put the stamp of unreasonableness on many prices that have been quoted in other states. Private consumers will not be able to secure such low figures because they do not take so much as the state requires, and their contracts would not be continuous, as is that of the state. But what shall be said of prices up to sls per ton for soft coal that have been quoted? If coal may be sold at a profit to the state of Indiana for $3.50, what is it but shameless profiteering when consumers/ are facing prices four times that' figure? There is no possible justification for some of the coal drice ß that are being quoted in the market. Unreasonable profits are being sought somewhere along the line from the mine to the consumer.