Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 247, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1920 — COAL FOR THE PEOPLE. [ARTICLE]

COAL FOR THE PEOPLE.

The special session of the Legislature met in a session that was garrulously criticized by every grouch in the state, and all the tax dodgers. . ; Profiteering was allowed to go stalking on, robbing the people right and left, and no attempt by the National administration to stop it. As the summer advanced, the coal barons whooped up the price of coal. Everywhere the price went Sailing from $5 to $6 and up to $lO and |l2, and this for bituminous coal in Indiana that did not cost the operators $3 to mine and Ship. Gov. Goodrich advised a coal commission. A bill was passed creating a coal commission, and authorizing it to investigate to the very dregs the coal business, because fuel was the factor of the home and coal was all that kept the human family from freezing and starving. The American Coal Company thought such-. a bill an infringement. The Company sued for an injunction to stop the commission Trom doing such an odious thing as to investigate into the people’s welfare, such a matter as the people’s fuel. The Federal Court denied the American Company’s appeal and sat dowii on its petition. • The Commission proceeded with ’ its work. Governor Goodrich could not help but laugh in derision. ■ The first thing which was dope, was to make the State Institutions safe. They burn 200,000 tons of coal a year. The coal barons rushed like mad to fix the State Institutions comfortably, because' they feared the worst, so they made a deal to furnish the state at $3.20 a ton, and the deal was closed. The awful price of $6 a ton was threatened, but the enactment of the Coal Commission law scared them into doing that, and the state saved the almost unbelievable amount of $3 per ton on 200,000 tons. Figure it yourselves and then call that maniac Claude Bowers of the Fort Wayne Gazette, Chief Propagandist of Free and Easy and Wide-open Ben Bosse, the beautiful booster of bourbon ballads for the Democratic State organizations, who has his Democratic State Committee run from the mayor’s office at Evansville. ...J Then the commission proceeded to help the individual —to help the consumer—you and I and the tax •payer and all who use coal for food and fuel, and unless it can be gotten, we will freeze and die. The Governor appointed Jesse Eshbadi chairman of the commis-" sion with other men good and faithful. z They held hearing after hearing; heard .every complaint; nil that was presented; stacks of evidence. But the heart of the Coal Baron was filled with fear and trembling. A tacit agreement right off the bat, was made to .furnish mine run coal at $4.00 at the mine. That was only a starter, but a good starter it was, because 36 cars were shipped last week out of Knox county at that/ price, and there will be more ana more, and at a less price. But this price made the Indianapolis dealer come down to $7.25, delivered in the basement. He was asking slo'and sll, so here was a reduction nght off the bat, that saved the consumer $3 to $4 a ton on thousands of tons of coal, and the commission has just gotten started. So, in spite of the sneers of the Democratic press, Gov. Goodrichs coal commission is working. Jt is working overtime! It saved the state $600,000 m coal bills alone, for its state institutions, just as easy as that!!! It will save the people, the poor proletariat, and the autocrat, with his purple and fine linen, thousands and millions of dollars. The State Commission will be protected, too, by th” Federal Court, and relief come to the people. The refuge pf the masses was in the state and Mt. Eschbach’s commission has already done a mighty work and do more. Al So while the Democratic cohorts, the mud slinging Democratic press, and the slime shngmg Democratic orators were beating their tomtoms, Gov. Goodrich with his commission had the Coal Barons on their bended knees, beseeching temporary protection, but promising to reduce the price of coal and .top profiteerin®! , v .A- W 1 _ Did the mighty Wooarow wuson* anything like°that? Guess notT ° Millions of dollars will be saved the tax payers. On the State lnLegSture was saved in one item, JUSt tWenty Luneß. , | , . • ♦JLa noncnntAW AO W A oSMIS uvHiiaerciai. ■ v k —-