COAL: In Rebuttal

The General Policies Committee of the Anthracite Coal Operators issued a statement in an endeavor to refute charges made by the United Mine Workers that the coal operators were profiteering. The chief point of debate between the miners and the operators is the matter of cost of production.

According to the best figures now available, say the operators, 54 cents is the average margin between cost and realization per ton. Out of this 54 cents must be paid trade discounts and taxes, which reduces the average profit to not more than 35 or 40 cents a ton.

The case of organized labor, presented on this page three weeks ago, involved the allegation that the operators were getting an average profit of $1.60 a ton, and that a reasonable return on invested capital could be made with a profit of only 28 cents a ton.

The coal magnates answer this latter statement by saying that the investment in the coal industry is about $8 per ton of annual production, and that a bare 6 per cent on this investment would require a net profit of 48 cents a ton, or 20 cents more than the miners consider sufficient.