Percentage of the total production of certain bituminous coal fields consumed in the State of its origin, for the years of 1917 and 1929. From Bureau of Mines reports on distribution, issued in 1931 and 1932 Mr. HILL. Mr. W. Clark Adams. You have 2 minutes. STATEMENT OF W. CLARK ADAMS, REPRESENTING THE CHICAGO WHOLESALE COAL SHIPPERS' ASSOCIATION Mr. ADAMS. My name is W. Clark Adams, representing the Chicago Wholesale Coal Shippers' Association, of which I am president. We have a membership of 36, which is approximately 85 percent of the coal distributors of Chicago. Referring to section 2 on page 3 of House bill 8479, we are requesting that a distributor be made a member of the National Bituminous Coal Commission of nine to be appointed by the President of the United States, in the event that the bill becomes a law. The greater percentage of coal sold by our organization is shipped in interstate commerce. Thank you. Mr. HILL. James H. Galloway. STATEMENT OF JAMES H. GALLOWAY, DETROIT, MICH., REPRESENTING WHOLESALE COAL GROUP OF MICHIGAN Mr. GALLOWAY. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: Referring to bill H. R. 8479, as it now reads, there is no specific nor direct provision made for the wholesaler of coal. It is true, in this bill that in part 2, marketing, page 19, lines 20 to 24, page 20, lines 1 to 3, it refers to the wholesaler indirectly but we do not feel that as wholesalers or distributors of coal we have received sufficient consideration as the bill stands. We desire that this subsection be amended. to read as follows: (i) All sales and contracts for the sale of coal shall be subject to the operation of this act and to the code prices herein provided for. The commission, after investigation and full hearing and upon notice to the interested parties, shall prescribe a fair and reasonable price allowance to and receivable by persons who purchase coal for resale and resell it in not less than cargo or railroad lots commensurate with services performed; and shall require the maintenance by such persons, in the resale of coal, of the minimum prices established under this Act. Distribution or marketing, in my opinion, is a very necessary division of any industry, whether it is marketing of automobiles, clothing, foodstuffs, coal or what not, the article or substance produced must find a market and be sold to a consumer of that article or substance. Distribution or marketing of coal is an integral and an important part of the bituminous-coal industry and it is our thought that the wholesaler of coal renders equally a service to the consumer as does the miner or the producer of coal. First, we maintain offices, employ help necessary in the proper performance and conduct of our business. Second, we maintain sales organizations that are constantly in pursuit of business.. Third, we contact trade in smaller communities that often the sales organizations of producers cannot afford to do, or does not contact, because of high selling costs. Fourth, we maintain combustion engineers who cooperate with consumers in the proper selection of coals for their individual cases. Fifth, we advance money to mines for pay rolls and carry our own accounts. Sixth, we concentrate our sales efforts in and close to the communities in which we live, making for better and closer relationship with the consumer. Seventh, we understand values and qualities of coals and also our markets. We, as wholesalers in Michigan, market in the State approximately 40 percent of the total tonnage moving into the State, while an additional 10 percent of the total tennage is sold to consumers in Michigan by wholesalers located outside of the State. Therefore, may I direct your attention to page 4 of this bill, lines 3 to 10, wherein provision is made for a commission to protect the affairs of the bituminous coal industry. The wholesaler or distributor who, I repeat, is an integral part of the industry, has no representation whatever on this commission. It is our contention that a representative of our association, American Wholesale Coal Association, be appointed on this commission so that in the administration of the bituminous coal industry our problems, as well as those of the consumers in our respective territories, can be properly presented by one who understands them. When this bill receives your final consideration, we beg your committee to give this suggestion your careful thought. Thank you. Mr. HILL. Thank you very much. Mr. VINSON. What is the position of your associates with reference to H. R. 8479? Mr. GALLOWAY. Our position, as near as I can determine, from the bill as now written, comes under page 19. Mr. VINSON. What I have in mind is this: Does your organization favor H. R. 8479 or do you oppose it? Mr. GALLOWAY. Personally, I do favor it. Mr. VINSON. What about your organization? Mr. GALLOWAY. The organization favors it. Mr. CROWTHER. You suggest that you want a representative of the wholesalers on this commission. Is that your suggestion? Mr. GALLOWAY. Yes, sir. Mr. CROWTHER. We just heard a witness who wants a representative of the distributors. Is that the same thing? Mr. GALLOWAY. Distributors and wholesalers I figure are the same thing. Mr. CROWTHER. Do you want him in addition to the two from the operators and the two from the miners? Would you take one of the five disinterested persons off and put on a wholesaler in the place of one of those, or would you increase the size of the board? Mr. GALLOWAY. Mr. Crowther, I imagine that that is beyond my knowledge. Mr. CROWTHER. I did not know but what somebody might come along in a minute and want a representative of the retailers put on. Mr. GALLOWAY. If the miners and producers are to be represented on this board, in similar fashion I believe that we should be represented on the board or commission. Mr. CROWTHER. All right. Mr. HILL. Thank you very much. Mr. HILL. Mr. E. W. Brandenburger. You have 2 minutes. STATEMENT OF E. W. BRANDENBURGER, REPRESENTING ST. LOUIS WHOLESALE COAL ASSOCIATION Mr. BRANDENBURGER. Mr. Chairman, I represent the St. Louis Wholesale Coal Association, all of whose members are also members of the American Wholesale Coal Association. We are appearing before your committee without any commitment on our part as to whether we are for or against the bill H. R. 8479, but want to go on record that in event said bill is passed and becomes a law, that proper recognition be given the wholesale coal industry, which we feel is not properly provided for in the bill as it reads today. We refer especially to page 19, lines 20 to 24, inclusive, and page 20, lines 1, 2, and 3, which section (i) we ask be amended to read as follows: All sales and contracts for the sale of coal shall be subject to the operation of this act and to the code prices herein provided for. The commission, after investigation and full hearing and upon notice to the interested parties, shall prescribe a fair and reasonable price allowance to and receivable by persons who purchase coal for resale and resell it in not less than cargo or railroad car lots; and shall require the maintenance by such persons in the resale of coal of the minimum prices established under this act. The St. Louis Wholesale Coal Association members have a situation which we believe is peculiar to the locality in which we operate, being in brief that we represent a number of small operators who have neither the mines, nor the facilities, nor the tonnage justified to maintain their own selling organizations, and rely upon us wholesalers for the distribution of their product. We, as wholesalers, perform a service to them that includes: (a) Financing of their pay rolls. (b) Guaranteeing their compensation insurance premiums, and (c) Underwriting their royalty accounts, and (d) Are responsible to have available at their mines sufficient money each pay day to meet the pay roll when due. It is reasonable to assert that services as above described cannot be performed unless proper compensation is allowed and provided for, and it is our opinion that bill H. R. 8479 does not at present contain such provisions, and we might be subjected to a commission in which we have no voice or so small a commission in the resale of coal that would make it unprofitable for us to continue handling the coal from these mines, with the result that these smaller operators would be compelled to shut down their properties for lack of proper distribution facilities, resulting in the unemployment of men at these mines which to a certain extent are oftentimes owned by men working within the mines. Therefore, we are insisting that on the commission of nine provided for in said bill that at least one member of this commission be chosen from the wholesale coal industry, so as to give us our proper place on the commission to protect our several interests. The mines which we represent in St. Louis employ approximately 4,000 men, with a pay roll of approximately $3,750,000, no single one of which is of sufficient size in tonnage production to justify the expense of their maintaining their own sales organization. The territory in which these mines lie is adjacent to St. Louis, Mo., within a radius of approximately 80 miles of that city. Our failure to be provided for in this bill would cause the mines which we represent to have their production curtailed to such an extent by lack of proper marketing facilities, as would eventually take these mines out of the production picture, resulting in unemployment to these men with no apparent means of livelihood provided for them. Mr. COOPER. Mr. Brandenburger, whom did you state you represented? Mr. BRANDENBURGER. The St. Louis Wholesale Coal Association. Mr. COOPER. Do you concur with the views expressed by Mr. Galloway and the other gentleman? Mr. BRANDENBURGER. Mr. Adams? Mr. BRANDENBURGER. Yes, sir. Mr. COOPER. It is on the same point which you are talking? Mr. BRANDENBURGER. I am talking on the same point. However, he talked about the Detroit situation, and Mr. Adams about Chicago, and we about St. Louis. We will be nationally represented by a representative of the American Wholesale Coal Association, of which we are all members. Mr. CROWTHER. I would like to ask you one question, because you seem to be qualified to answer it. What distance is it economical to transport or truck coal from the *nes? How many miles away can you do it economically? Mr. BRANDENBURGER. Do you understand that I have made no reference to coal being handled by truck? This is all railroadhandled coal which we represent. The truckers have a distinct and separate organization. Mr. CROWTHER. Do you happen to know what distance they can economically truck coal? Mr. BRANDENBURGER. Apparently they can economically haul coal from my view of it, as much as 100 miles. Mr. CROWTHER. One hundred miles from the mine? Mr. BRANDENBURGER. It seems to be that way at the present time, that they can do that, although most of the trucked coal hauled, with particular reference to the St. Louis area, is hauled within a radius of not over 30 miles. Mr. HILL. Thank you for your appearance. Mr. HILL. Mr. Jonas Waffle. How much time do you require? Mr. WAFFLE. Uninterrupted, 20 minutes. Mr. HILL. Can you get along with 10 minutes? Mr. WAFFLE. No, sir; I would like to put in my statement in full, if I may. Mr. HILL. You see what we are up against, and we have had a pretty full exposition on both sides. I will start you out with 10 minutes and see how we get along. STATEMENT OF JONAS WAFFLE, TERRE HAUTE, IND., ON BEHALF OF THE COAL TRADE ASSOCIATION OF INDIANA My appearance is on behalf of the producers of Indiana coal who are members of the Coal Trade Association of Indiana. The association membership is composed of coal-mine operators whose combined output is 90 percent of the total annual production of the Indiana shipping mines. We desire to record objections to certain features of the bill and to recommend some changes therein. The first feature of the bill to which I will refer is the price-control provisions, included in part IIMarketing. We feel that any form of price regulations should be made as flexible and as simple as possible and should be so constituted as to extend to the producers, under reasonable limitations and restrictions, the right to conduct their business as nearly as possible along normal lines. This is essential because the marketing of coal, under the most favorable circumstances, is an intricate and difficult problem, and of course, will become more involved under any form of regulation. The basis set up in the bill for establishing minimum prices is extremely unfair to those districts, and the producers therein, that enjoy certain natural advantages. It is unfair to the consumers who purchase coal from those districts and, in addition, we believe it is impracticable, that it will not work and that eventually price fixing under the basis provided in the bill will collapse. The producers of Indiana coal are convinced that the proposed method of price fixing, in practical application, will actually demoralize, rather than stabilize, the bituminous coal industry in the State of Indiana. That is the honest, conscientious opinion of the producers of Indiana coal, and in that connection I want to emphasize the fact that the men employed in the mines, the members of their families, |