Show TH COAL COMBINE How the Companies Meet and Fix Prices 1 Evidence Given In the Reading Investigation Pinkerton Storyof the Homes Home-s ead liioc NEW YORK Nov 26The subcommittee of the interstate commerce committee continued con-tinued their investigations into the coal combine today VicePresident Holden of the Lackawanna road testified freely as to the companies which met and fixed prices from time to time but declined to say how the restriction of the output was accomplished accom-plished Holden admitted that his company was represented at the tidewater meetings which were In the nature of conferences and the various companies represented usually acted in concert There was no agreement between them as to what the reduction of output ot each should be There was some process however by whfch companies reduced production to meet public demand Witness also stated that the producers had no agreement agree-ment among themselves so far as he knew by which they acted in harmony in fixing the prices He said that since the existence of the combination combina-tion there had been no material decrease in the output In fact for 1892 it was already al-ready the largest ever known and exceeds ex-ceeds last years output by one million and a half tons Congressman Patterson stated that the committee wanted to get at the fact if it existed tbat tbe companies acted according accord-ing to an agreement in the matter of limiting limit-ing production E H Mead president of the Pennsylvania Coal company testified that his company was represented at the tidewater meetings and said there was no agreement by which each company reduced I re-duced its output proportionuly The committee com-mittee then adjQurned until Monday I |