766





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





June 2, 1917





COAL PRICE INCREASE.

(Continued from Page 758.)

dollars invested in these Oklahoma coal
lands now would require a final return
of 160 million dollars in royalties to bal¬
ance the account.

' The burden that seems evitablc un¬
der unre,gulated private ownership of a
natural resource like coal is that, because
the lands containing these national re¬
serves of heat and power are taxed and
because   the   individual   or   corporation





properly charges  n;
rates   on   this   lar;
sumer must  pay  a
takes into account i'
development.     Evii
royalty  on  the laiii
tate  may  be   found
they seem if a centr
est   charges   are   fiu
remains  that  the   i'
represents a  much
the cost of the miii
luminous   royalties.





interest at  current

holding, the con-
:'esourcc cost which
e long period of un-

the high rates of
^ of the Girard Es-
less excessive than
ly's taxes and inter-
ired. Yet the fact
yalty for anthracite
hirger proportion of
I d coal than any bi-

Moreover,   we   be-





Window
Shades





A new and thorough window shade service is available to
managers of New York City buildings.

This service guarantees that every window shade is honestly
made to order and installed.

All of our shades are custom made to window requirements and
are planned to match window and interior appointments.

Let us confer with you now and submit samples and estimates.
You will find that our modern service will mean genuine
economy and that our prices will be figured on the manufactur¬
ing costs of the largest custom shade factory in New York City.

Ordinator  Co.





101 PARK AVENUE

(40th St.)
Telephone, Vanderbilt 3250





New York City





o





Trust(





'wners, irusreesj
Executors and Builders

Last year %ve closed 1640 sales and leases, or
over five each day, involving nearly $50,000,000

Our management organization is to be judged entirely by the results we have given
so many owners who are using our service. We make one charge (or our services and
give the owners of properties the benefit of all discounts and rebates of every kind. Pur¬
chasing in such large quantities for so many properties, we are able to get special prices
from most dealers and contractors, and can also insure deliveries of such supplies when
an  individual owner would not be given  consideration.

We have developed a co-operative spirit in our organization, and through a club which
we organized for the purpose, to which all of our superintendents and engineers are
eligible, the personal element and friendship of these men has been encouraged, so that
they are  glad  to help  each other out in an emergency.

Every building in our charge is under the careful supervision of a competent agent
from our offices who visits the property constantly to see that the employees are at all
times  keeping  the  property   in   the  best  physical  shape  possible.

It is only true economy when a property is maintained at the highest possible level.
To effect such economy and to satisfy tenants, and at the same time secure the best net
returns for the owner, requires skill and efficiency and experience of the highest order.

The fact that our management department has just closed its best fiscal year with
phenomenal increases suggests that we are in the front rank of those who are recognized
to practice   true  and profitable  economy.

Pease & Elliman

Real Estate and  Insurance
55 Liberty St.          340 Madison Ave.          165 West 72nd St.

(This   advertisement   is   the   third   of   a   series   demon¬
strating why WE should be made your representatives.)





Daniel Birdsall & Co., Inc.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE

Uptown Office                                     Main  Office

425 Fifth Avenue, cor. 38th St.         317  Broadway, cor. Thomas  St.

Telephone,  Vanderbilt 4281                                                  Telephone, Worth 800

Established   1860





lieve the highest royalty prevailing in
lhe anthracite region has far more in-
Huence in fixing the selling price than
the lower rates of the older leases.

Aw-y study of costs in the coal indus¬
try finds its point in the question, not
who but what fi.xcs the price of coal.
Exact mining costs, however, cannot be
determined until the operators have ac¬
complished their reforin of standardiza¬
tion accounting. Too often the opera¬
tor includes in his account only the two
largest and most obvious items, labor
and material. Thus, when the market
for bituminous coal is dull, the com¬
pany whose land costs little or nothing
is able to set a lower limit of price than
the company whose coal must stand a
charge of five to ten cents a ton or even
more, be that charge called royalty, de¬
pletion or amortization. At such times
the operator with the larger resource
cost must sell at a real though not al¬
ways recognized loss, but, of course,
with the hope of recouping himself later.

Confessedly, this analysis of the cost
elements that enter into the price o£ coal
emphasizes our lack of specific facts,
which can be supplied in the future only
through "installation of uniform cost-
keeping methods and uniform and im¬
proved accounting systems," to quote
from the declaration of purposes of the
Pittsburgh coal producers. With the re¬
sults of such bookkeeping in hand, more
definite reply can be made to the pub¬
lic's appeal for relief from high prices.
Yet even now it may be possible to sug¬
gest how that relief will eventually be
obtamed. Study of present conditions
in the coal mining districts fails to en¬
courage the idea of governmental op¬
eration of the seven thousand coal mines
in this country. More in line with the
trend of public sentiment in the last
decade, however, is governmental con¬
trol in the interest of the consumer by
regulation of prices, and to judge from
the facts of experience in the regulation
of transportation of other public utili¬
ties, the public coal commissions will
be given sufficient discretionary powers
to safeguard the interests of producer
and consumer alike, and even mandatory
requirements, either legislative or execu¬
tive, will be subject to judicial review.

As coal is more an inter-state than
Ultra-state commodity, any regulation of
prices needs to be under Federal control
and to benefit both consumer and pro¬
ducer such control cannot stop with
transportation and mining costs, but
must stand ready lo exercise full rights
as a trustee of the people over the coal
in the ground. The private owner of
coal land, which derives its real value
from society's needs, has no more sacred
right to decide whether or not that coal
shall be mined when it is needed by so¬
ciety or to fix an exorbitant price on this
indispensable national resource than the
coal operators have to combine for the
purpose of exacting an excessive profit
from the consumer, or the railroads to
charge all that the traffic may bear. The
proposal to bring landowner under the
same rule as mine operator and coal
carrier may seem radical, but where is
the point at which coal becomes the re¬
source upon which industrial society de¬
pends for its very life?





Damp-Proofing Walls.

For insulating stone buildings so that
they will not absorb dampness from the
surrounding ground, a new process has
been introduced in Europe which, it is
claimed, has proved successful. The
method consists in sawing a slot in ths
foundation a few inches above the
ground line and inserting in this lead
plates coated with asphalt. To accom¬
plish this a machine has been construct¬
ed which cuts a kerf about an inch in
depth in the stone. .'Vfter the plates are
set in place temporary wooden forms are
laid and liquid cement employed to close
the crevices. This plan, it is said, pre¬
vents moisture from creeping up a wall,
since it is unable to pass the insulation
blocks.





—If buildings in the United States were
as fireproof as in Europe, the annual
cost of fire losses and protection would
be only $90,000,000.