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Show liii, .GUM Representative Hccker Asks in Resolution That Governor Gov-ernor Assume Control of Fuel Shortage. i M'KINNEY CHECKS ACTION ON ORDER Attorney General Shields in Letters to Senator Dern Hints at Grand Jury Investigation. Declaring that a combination or agreement agree-ment in restraint of the delivery of coal within the state of Utah exists between one of the latgest fuel-producing companies com-panies and at least two of the railroads operating within the state. Representative Charles M. Meeker of Halt Lake county yesterday introduced into the house of j representatives- of the Utah legislature a ' house joint resolution directing and ony j powering the" governor of the state to sunie control of the shipments of coal : over all common carriers in Utah and to call upon tho military and police powers of the state for aid in this work if necessary. nec-essary. Tiie resolution arrived so unexpectedly that it came near passing the house under un-der a suspension of the rules, before some of the members besan to raise a question of the legal rijjht of the legislature or the governor to proceed as contemplated by the resolution. A vote on the passage of tli resolution was about to be taken when Representative Me Kinney of Salt Lake raised a question as to tho legal authority of sm li procedure. lie was quickly followed by two or three other members, urging cautious procedure, and on motion the house voted to table the resolution. Resolution on Tabic. Tiie measure was nut introduced in the, senate and as It lias been tabled In the ' house it will lie there Indefinitely, unless by a two-third3 vote it is taken up for I'onsfderation. Immediately after Representative Meeker's Meek-er's resolution had been tabled a iess drastic resolution on the same subject of coal shortage was introduced by Itepre-::ontalivo Itepre-::ontalivo R. K. CuiTle of Salt Lake. This resolution calls upon tho Jcnvor & Rio Grande Ra ilroad company to submit to t he leg Ma turc a. sworn statement showing show-ing the coal tendered it for shipment and tho amount of coal handled over its lines in the state from the 11 rst of last December to and including January of this year. This resolution, under the rules of the house, was laid on the tabbi for one day, after which it will he referred to the committee com-mittee on resolutions and memorials for on side rat km and then be reported back to the house Heckers Resolution. Tho resold I ion Introduced by Reprc-sentallve Reprc-sentallve Decker Is as follows: Re it resohed, by the hoitso nf representatives rep-resentatives of the state of Utah, by and willi the consent of the senate, of the Klatp of Utah: Whereas, A condition now exists In the, state of I'tah relative to the coal situation whereby It is impossible for the people to obtain an adcimito supply sup-ply of fuel for domestic and ul her purposes; and Whereas. t a ppears t hat a trade combination or agreement exists be-t be-t ween one. of the la rgest producers of coal in tiie stale of Utah and at least Iwo of tho common carrlei-H op-erallng op-erallng within this state, to the detriment detri-ment n( I lie, consumer; and Whereas. This condition has brought, a lion t gren t suffering and anguish on the part of the people, f t'oni which t here appea is to be no immedia te relief or effect ive remedy under the present method of handling i'oal from the mines; and Whereas. Public Interest and public necessity demand Instant relief from tills iniquitous situation; be It therefore there-fore I it-solved, Ry the leg I ski lure of ( bn slate of l't a h, t hat t he. chief exec lithe li-the of tills stale br and hereby 1h e : n pn werei I to a ssu me ( on t rol of the operation of the shipments of rna I from any and all mines along t bo 1 lues of t he eon ii unit n T riers of I his stale to all other points will hi the slate. And be it. further t Resolved. That In order to carry rut the full Inlent and purposes ,if this resolution, the chief executive nr . ( he Slate Is hereby .nil horizei -find cmpowpred to call tu 10M ni.1 the hole l'olnt a ry and police tKtVk vV a( ,tl0 slate. Rxplnins Measure. When the i In) Inn had been read M :'. Decker moved tint I'.p rjiVs (. suspended sus-pended and lluit tin- measu!-,. 1(l taken up lor onsldei ;i Hon a I 'rt 'i'he 1110 i (Continued on r ) l.i'o) . . RAILROADS II COIL COMBINE. IS CLAIM (Continued from Pago One.) tton carried by unanimous vote. Mr. Meeker itn mediately explained his measure. mea-sure. Representative Frank T. Bennett of Carbon county wanted the author of the resolution to lie more explicit and flume the concerns aileed to be responsible responsi-ble for the eoal shortage. He thought tue matter should lie on the table the usual time. Representative J. A. Be van of Tooete sprang to hin feet and. waving his arms, demanded to know why there should he delay in the matter when people are freezing- for 1 a . k of coal. He declared it was common knowledge that families were suffering for the lack of heat and he didn't know why there should be any cpuhbling over specifications or why there should be delay in considering the resolution. reso-lution. Charges Combination. Representative Hecker declared it was common knowledge that tiie l'ta.h. Fuel company controls practically all of the coal output of the state; that it is a subsidiary sub-sidiary company of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad company; that it is owned and controlled by that company, and that there is some sort of combination combina-tion or agreement between tiie two companies com-panies and with other railroad eompa- j nles by which the shipment of coal is limited and independent dealers are unable un-able to get supplies. Representative Decker of Iron wanted tn know if Rep resent a t ive Hecker would guarantee that his resolution would give the relief desired. Representative Hecker said he would guarantee nothing. Representative Repre-sentative M (.-Kinney sounded a note of warning. He feared the measure might violate the constitutional rights of ' the companies and might be a case of seizure seiz-ure of property without due process of law.. He suggested a reference of the measure to the reference committee, declaring de-claring it a too serious matter to be acted 1 upon hastily. I Constitutional Test. J Representative R. Q. Young. Jr., raised , a question as to the constitutional right of the governor to call out the militia for such purpose as- that provided in the resolution. He did not believe the gov- i ernor had t his authority and suggested that the house proceed slowly. i Representative Currie of Salt Lake an- j nounced that he had a resolution bear- I ing upon the same subject which he j thoiight michl clarify fne situation and which he asked permission to introduce, i Speaker Tolton took the house to task ! for suspending the rules to vote on a i measure when it was not prepared to sot j upon it. He ruled that a motion to table ' the resolution or to defer action on it i until a definite date would be in order. ; Representative Hammond of Grand conn- ! ty moved that the resolution be tabled ! and the motion carried over the negative vote of Representative Hecker. Currie-s Resolution. Immediately Representative Currie of Salt Lake introduced his resolution, which reads as follows; Be it resolved by the house of representatives: rep-resentatives: That the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad company be and is hereby called upon to furnish the legislature of Utah a statement, under oath, showing the number of carloads of coal, coke, slack and kindred; commodities com-modities - tendered it for shipment daily in the state of Utah from December De-cember 1, 1916, to January 15, 1917, inclusive, with the movement of such coal and other products over its rails, together with final destination, and an explanation of all delays of such cars over and above the average schedule, freight train service, between be-tween points of origin and destination. Goes to the Table. The resolution was read and received without comment. Under the rules it was ordered laid on the tab'e for one day before being referred to the resolutions resolu-tions committee. Following adjournment of the house, the committee on resolutions and memorials me-morials held a brief informal session in consideration of the two measures, although al-though neither was officially before the committee. The members of the committee com-mittee expressed the opinion that the Hecker resolution is rather radical and authority for its execution is too uncertain uncer-tain to warrant approval of it. The committee, however, was of the opinion that the Currie resolution is a step in the right direction, which the committee can well afford to approve when the measure reaches them. Asks Investigation. Another preliminary step toward providing pro-viding a remedy for fuel shortages was taken by the legisla ture when Senator George H. Dern presented a joint resolution resolu-tion providing for the appointment of a committee to investigate the shortage now reported to exist. The Dern resolution grew out of a letter let-ter from Attorney General Dan B. Shields, in which the suggestion was made that the legislature appoint a commission of both representatives and senators to carry on the proposed investigation. The resolution, following the rules of the upper house, was laid on the table for one day, and will be taken up for discussion today. It provides that a joint, committee shall be appointed by the presiding ofticers of the two branches of the legislature and shall be composed of t hree niembers of the senate and four members of the lower house. The committee com-mittee is to make a careful investigation of present conditions and report back not later than March 1, and upon receipt of the report it is the intent of the resolution resolu-tion that such action may be taken by the legislature as will prevent fuel shortages short-ages in the future. Railroads Blamed. The resolution sets forth that there appears ap-pears to be a shortage of coal for domestic do-mestic and industrial needs and that on account of the reputed shortage there is a great deal of physical hardship and that industries are being crippled. It is suggested that the shortage is due to the failure of the roalroads to furnish empty cars for coal loading and the delay in ha ndling the cars after they have been loaded. Before the legislature attempts to lix the responsibility, however, the t (.'solution provides that a t horough investigation in-vestigation shall he made by a committee commit-tee to be appointed by tiie presiding officers of-ficers of the two brandies of the legislature. legis-lature. Shields's Letter to Dern. The special committee, under the terms of the resolution, is to be given power to 'pU and subpoena witnesses, compel and take testimony, and to do alt other matters mat-ters pertinent to carrying out the purposes pur-poses of 'he resolution. I , : torney General Shields's letter to St. 'or Dern follows: li :-reds no armimcnt io s.k.w how v; i,' ily important in this day is t he ma '.or of adequately supplying a community with fuel for lis indus-t indus-t rial and domes t ic purposes. Unless there are proper transportation systems sys-tems from the coal mines to tle consumer and a proper, just and fair use of the transportation systems already al-ready in existence. . the suffering n mong the people dependent thereon there-on may become even a matter of life itself. Purine the last month the situation with respect to tho t i ;i nsportatinn of coal from the mines of this state and the matter of delivery of coal to tho consignees have hc'-ome of very grave public concern. It may be said to be acute, and unless something effective ef-fective is done verv soon the conse-l-.-.e:-cps iray be disastrous. This office is not equipped to carry on investigations for (he purpose of q;it!c" im; evidence or determining a complicated set of facts. Bring letral advisers of the various state bnardy and dep'-m men I s. ;'n: t-xcrcismu' su-p.-rv v jvrid i'-t i'ci over pruscctit -ih' at tonic;.' a only, we are not equipped with the machinery for extended ex-tended investigations. It is our opinion, opin-ion, however, that it is within the province of this office to consult with parties who have special knowledge of conditions for t he purpose of determining deter-mining whether or not to suggest to the proper officials the advisability of a grand jury investigation. But, while this is being done, it is our belief be-lief that a far broader Investigation might at this time be undertaken by a joint committee consisting of members mem-bers of both houses of the legisalture, which Is now, very fortunately, in session. Its investigation might take a broader scope than that, of a grand jury, whose purpose would be to report re-port on the immediate situation. If you concur with us in t his idea we would be glad, in our capacity as legal advisers to the legislators, to frame the proper resolution to be introduced to bring this committee into being. |