No. 8. PITTSBURGH RAILROAD TONNAGE AND PRICES FROM JANUARY 1, 1919, TO MAY 1, 1920

All records of actual tonnage shipped to railroads during this period were destroyed when we moved our offices in December, 1925.

Contracts during this period in our files indicate sales during the period to railroads as follows:

THE CLEVELAND, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO & ST. LOUIS RAILROAD Co.

(1) Contract June 1, 1918, to April 1, 1919: 187,500 tons run of mine, at $2.35 f. o. b. mine.

(2) Contract May 1, 1919, to March 31, 1920: 140,000 tons run of mine, at $2.03 f. o. b. mine.

(3) Contract May 1, 1919, to March 31, 1920: 13,000 tons nut and slack, at $1 85 f. o. b. mine.

THE BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD CO.

(1) Contract July 1, 1919, to April 1,! 0: 17,500 to 25,000 tons monthly, n of mine, at $2.05 f. o. b. mines.

Senator COUZENS. Who are your stockholders?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. The Lorain Coal & Dock Co. is practically a closed corporation, originally owned by four men, E. N. Saunders, of St. Paul; A. C. Saunders, of Cleveland; and Thomas Johnson and Edward Johnson, of Columbus, Ohio. Álso, formerly a man named Nye, but his interest was afterwards acquired by the Johnsons. Mr. Saunders and his brother are both dead. Their shares are held by their estates. Mr. Edward and Mr. Thomas Johnson are living and their stock is still held the same.

Senator COUZENS. They have no connection with any railroads? Mr. WILDERMUTH. They have no connection with any railroads whatever.

Senator WHEELER. What profits did you make in 1920? Your net profits?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. I can not give you the profits that we made in 1920. I did not anticipate that.

Senator WHEELER. Can you give us any of the other years?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. I just recall the three months of 1927. We ran three months at a loss of a little over $35,000.

Senator WHEELER. What were they in 1926?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. I do not recall the exact amount.

Senator WHEELER. Approximately?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. I think it was in black, though. I think there

was a small profit.

Senator GOODING. Had you finished the prices for 1927?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Yes, I had finished.

Senator WHEELER. Yes; he gave them. What were they in 1925? Mr. WILDERMUTH. I do not have them here. I can not recall them.

Senator WHEELER. So the only time that you suffered a loss was the three months that you ran in 1927?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. That is the only figure I can recall, Senator. I will be glad to give the other figures if you so desire.

Senator WHEELER. Let me ask you this. In figuring up your losses what do you include? You, of course, include depreciation in the mine?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Well, our regular labor cost, taxes, insurance, workmen's compensation.

Senator WHEELER. Depreciation?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Depreciation. Depletion.

Senator WHEELER. How much do you charge off for depreciation? Mr. WILDERMUTH. Ten cents a ton.

Senator GOODING (presiding). At this point the committee will rise until 2.15, and the session will be until 3.30 this afternoon.

(Thereupon, at 11.55 a. m., a recess was taken until 2.15 p. m. the same day, Saturday, March 10, 1928.)

AFTER RECESS

The committee resumed at 2.15 p. m., on the expiration of the

recess.

Senator GOODING (presiding). The committee will be in order. You may resume your statement, Mr. Wildermuth.

TESTIMONY OF R. L. WILDERMUTH, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE LORAIN COAL & DOCK CO. Resumed

(The witness was duly sworn by Senator Gooding when he took the stand at the morning session.)

(Direct examination, resumed by Mr. Henry Warrum, attorney, representing the United Mine Workers of America.)

Mr. WARRUM. Mr. Wildermuth, would you state to the committee what percentage of your production in eastern Ohio went to the railroads?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. I can probably give you that from the statement I have here.

Mr. WARRUM. Just approximately, if you do not know exactly. Mr. WILDERMUTH. Oh, approximately 25 per cent.

Mr. WARRUM. Twenty-five per cent went to the railroads?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Yes.

Mr. WARRUM. And the price that you got for the coal furnished to the Big Four and the B. & O. Railroads decreased constantly since 1922?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. I think the figures so show; yes.

Mr. WARRUM. I believe that you stated you terminated your contract and have not operated since the 1st of April, 1927.

Mr. WILDERMUTH. The contract expired and we shut down and have not operated since.

Mr. WARRUM. But you were operating under the Jacksonville agreement?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Yes.

Mr. WARRUM. And you regarded that as a binding agreement? Mr. WILDERMUTH. We operated under it until the 31st day of March, 1927, when it expired.

Mr. WARRUM. But did you regard it as a binding contract during the period for which it was written?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Well, now, laying aside the legal question, I will say frankly that whether it was legally binding or not we elected to hold it as binding and did operate under it.

Senator GOODING (presiding). You held that there was a moral obligation there, did you?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Yes, sir.

Mr. WARRUM. How long have you been operating those mines in eastern Ohio?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. My connection with the company has been for 20 years, and I am entering the twenty-first year.

Mr. WARRUM. You have employed union labor during that time? Mr. WILDERMUTH. Yes, sir.

Mr. WARRUM. Under a union scale arranged by collective bargaining?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Always.

Mr. WARRUM. And you kept that contract, commonly called the Jacksonville agreement, until it expired, April 1, 1927?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. We have tried to and I believe we have. Mr. WARRUM. Was one of the reasons why you declined to negotiate a new wage scale after April 1, 1927, the constant decrease in the railroad fuel prices that you were receiving?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. No; we did not decline to negotiate a scale. In fact, we have atempted to negotiate a new scale ever since the mines ceased operation.

Mr. WARRUM. But you were unable to do so?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Yes, sir.

Mr. WARRUM. The miners asked for a continuance of the Jacksonville scale?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. They asked the old sacle, which we thought was impossible under the existing conditions.

Mr. WARRUM. And you desired a reduction in that scale?
Mr. WILDERMUTH. Yes, sir.

Mr. WARRUM. And one of the reasons that made you desire a reduction in the Jacksonville scale, and that led you to the point of inability, or the parties at least to the point of inability to negotiate a new scale, was because of the constant decrease in the price of fuel coal used by the railroads, the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania and so on?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Not particularly the railroads but all prices. Mr. WARRUM. Did you with your associates either in the company or your associates among the coal operators in that section, discuss the effect that this constant decrease of railroad fuel prices would have upon your attitude in negotiating a new wage scale?

Mr. WILDERMUTH. Not particularly with reference to the railroads. We did discuss the competition from the States of the South, particularly northern West Virginia, because that field is the greatest competitor of the No. 8 field.

Mr. WARRUM. For railroad fuel?