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Show I WHY UTAH SUFFERS. Freight ratea on coal must come Idown. if the Utah coal industry Is to escapo a Bcrloua crisis. That 13 tho statement of H. W. Prickett of Utah 'made to the interstate commerce com mission in Washington. Mr Trickett Is continuing his lighl 'against rate injustices inflicted on the Industries of this region and in argu ing his point on coal he showed how I impossible it is for the Utah product to meet competition on the Pacific coast, if a remedy in ihe lortn of re i duced freight rates Lb not applied He i gave specific examples Kor instance coal from Cardiff, Wales, is being brought across the Atlantic, ihiough the Panama canul anil up to San Fran claco and delivered ai ihe dock for $7.50 per ton net to the purchaser, whereas the freight rale alone on coal from Utah mines tq San Francisco la $7.25. In other words, Ihe cost of Cardiff coal plus the freight rate to San Francisco la only 25 cents a ton higher than the mere rail freight rate from Utah to San Francisco Mr. Prickett cited the case of the Standard Coal company, which owns a coal mine in Utah and which Invested (260,000 in a plant on San Francisco bay, where it planned to bunker ships with coal from its own mines Thai company during the past few months, because of high freight rates, has been compelled com-pelled to cease shipping coal from ita Utah mine to San Francisco and Is now hungering ships with Rrltiah coal entirely, while its own mine In Utah remains practically idle. This is only one of many handicaps inflicted by the extremely high ireight rates Nearly everything Utah II yields is subject to long hauls In reaching reach-ing the markets for surplus production, produc-tion, so that when freight rates are boosted ns they have been, the effect is crippling. |