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THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. 37
THE BITUMINOUS COAL INDUSTRY AND THE SHERMAN LAW*
By Charles M. Moderwell
If I were to tell one of my hearers today that
beginning at once and as long as life lasts he is
to depend upon a large storage warehouse for his
supply of food; that under no circumstances can
this supply be augmented, but that each day's
withdrawal reduces the supply and that only by
care and prudence can he be assured that the supply
will be sufficient for the needs of a long life,
what think you would be the result?
The question answers itself, but I have used
the illustration to show the situation of the American
people with reference to their supply of coal.
Locked up by Nature in an underground storehouse
during the earth making process, it is now
available for the use of mankind, but no further
additions to the present supply are being made.
Considering the welfare of the human race, laws
or economic systems which result in the waste of
our coal supply are wrong in principle, and cannot
be defended—and yet such theories and laws
are accepted in the United States in the Twentieth
century.
I speak today in behalf of the bituminous coal
industry—and I know whereof I speak. This
great industry which produces the cheapest fuel
in the world for the factories of the United States,
is suffering because those engaged in it are not
allowed to "co-operate," but must "compete." The
result is that with an investment of almost a billion
dollars and an annual production of 500,000,-
000 tons, the average return on the investment is
only 2i_ per cent, annually.
With a knowledge of conditions such as are
described above, you will not be surprised to hear
that the bituminous coal mining industry of this
country is not conducted so as best to conserve
the coal deposits. Because of inability to get a
sufficient price for the product, the least
EASILY MINED COAL
is left unmined. This coal, in most cases, will
never be recovered, or if recovered, it will be at
a tremendous cost.
In Bulletin 47 of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, Dr.
J. A. Holmes, director of the bureau, states:
"During the past year (1911) in producing 500,-
000,000 tons of coal we wasted or left underground
in such a condition that it will probably not be
recovered in the future, 250,000,000 tons of coal.
In a higher way, our mineral resources should be
regarded as property to be held in trust with regard
to both the present and future needs of the
country. Neither human labor nor human agency
*Paper read before the National Civic Federation, Hotel
Astor New York City. Nov. 12. 1913.
has contributed to their intrinsic value and whatever
rights the individual may possess have been
derived from the general government. The government
does not surrender its right, and should
not neglect its duty to safeguard the welfare of
its future citizens by preventing the waste of these
resources."
Admitting the duty of the government to safeguard
the coal deposits and to prevent waste, does
it not follow that government should permit such
co-operation under regulation, as will permit the
coal operators to obtain a price for their product
which in turn will permit them to save for future
generations the coal measures now so ruthlessly
wasted?
The industry for which I am speaking is one of
which the public has or should have, an interest.
Next to agriculture it is the most important of all.
It employs more than three-quarters of a million
men, furnishes 65 per cent, of all the traffic for
the railroads and has made possible the great industrial
development of which we love to boast.
Intimately affecting, as it does, the lives and
welfare of all our citizens, it should receive at
the hands of
OUR LAW MAKERS
attention proportionate to its importance. And
yet although approximately one-half the size of
the agricultural industry, the United States spends
only 1/24 as much for the mining industry as for
agriculture, to say nothing of the same relative
expenditures by state government.
Let me show by an actual example the effect of
the Sherman anti-trust law and similar laws of
the various states.
During a time of unusual prosperity, four coal
mines were opened in a western state and engaged
in interstate trade. Of these, two belonged
to large companies owning mines in different parts
of the West, one belonging to a man independently
rich and the fourth was the sole property of a
man who invested in it the savings of a life time.
For a few years all prospered. Then came the
panic of 1907 and hard times followed. The demand
for coal was less than the capacity of the
four mines and the mines began to lose money.
After enduring the loss for some time, representatives
of the mines met to agree upon a limitation
of output and to cease their cut-throat competition.
Because they wished to avoid any offense
against the law, they called in a lawyer, to advise
them. The lawyer told them that to agree to
apportion the territory supplied by these mines
among the different producers, or to agree upon