Show A DANGEROUS combination citizens of f pennsylvania new jersey and new york are considerably agitated over the developments taking place in the recently consummated combination among the principal railroad corporations engaged in the carrying of coal A few weeks ago the philadelphia and reading beading railroad the lehigh valley and the central en of new jersey entered into a form of consolidation ly by a system of beasi leasing ng which though technically not a trust yet is con such by the people ot or the atlantic seaboard it Js is claimed that this combination can now control 75 per cent ot of the total anthracite output in the united states and with its allies the del lackawanna and western the del and hudson and the and hudson can control 90 per cent of the entire product of anthracite thra th elte coal coa the region embraced by these railroad systems comprises the whole country from buffalo to lake champlain and along the at lantic alantic to the borders of virginia at buffalo and oswego they have dis die points for the lake states and central lines of steamers forthe trans por tation of coal the magnitude of the interests involved in this deal patu naturally rally make it one of the great issues of the hour in the eastern states T atje ie fact that the domestic supply of the wage workers store as well as the operating fuel of the large manufacturer may be at the mercy of one management as to the settlement of prices occasions much alarm pennsylvania new jersey and new york have already taken official cognizance of the matter A committee of the new york senate was author i zed to investigate before this body several railroad officials testified one of these ahw th president of the trust was asked would not his company control the price of coal he said well we might to some extent yes to a extent 11 the courts in pennsylvania have the matter in hand but it is feared that the attorney general favors the coal combine and that it will triumph there in new jersey the situation has assumed an entirely different phase the legislature pawed passed a bill legalizing the combine and the little commonwealth A which is said to be outside the united states is seriously agitated piteous appeals are made to governor abbett not to sign the bill while charges of the most flagrant corruption are made against members ot of the assembly it is said that a corruption f und fund of was expended at the state capital during the progress of the bill one of the appeals to the governor say A trust in coal is almost if not quite as mean as a trust in bread already the effects of the combination are being felt last wednesday chesnut coal was advanced in price in new york 25 cents a ton three collieries colli eries operated by the reading railroad were closed thursday and 1000 laoo men were thrown wit out of work the th new york fork and lake erie railroad has it is believed joined ned issue with the conspirators and thus u another source of relief and hope has been absconded ed 11 there is a probability that this movement wm wig lead to the question of state ownership and operation of railroad a several very able magazine articles nave been recently written on this topic by amed men of acknowledged ability the reading beading combine will bring the issue directly before the pub lic and people will ask whether the state to is to manage the railroads or the railroads ralle manage the state |