September 2, 1922





RECORD    .A. N D    G U I-D E





295





REAL   ESTATE   SECTION





Legislature  Passes  Bill  For  State  Coal Administrator

Official to Be Appointed by Gov. Miller Will Regulate Distribution, Use, Price
and Rationing of Fuel During the Existing Emergency

[Special to The Record and Guide]





Albany, August 30.

BY an unanimous vote in both branches the Legislature,
called in special session by Gov. Miller, has enacted
into law his recommendations to safeguard the interests
of the people of the state in the emergency caused by the
strikes in the anthracite and bituminous coal fields and of
shopmen on the railroads. The Legislature met Monday night
and adjourned Tuesday afternoon, after passing the bill, to
which   Gov.   Miller   affixed   his   signature   Tuesday   evening.

In his message explaining the necessity for the enactment
of emergency legislation the Governor outlined the situation
as  follows.

"Happily the resumption of mining in the bituminous fields
has averted the threatened national calamity from the suspen¬
sion of industry. The shortage of bituminous coal promises
to be speedily relieved if the railroads are able to transport
it. The menace at the moment arises from the shortage of
anthracite coal. There are no stocks of anthracite anywhere
and surveys so far made indicate that there is less than the
usual amount in the hands of consumers. Five months of
production have already been lost and cannot be made up, as,
unlike the bituminous situation, the capacity of the anthra¬
cite mines is but little above the consumption of the country
mostly during the winter month's. The summer is the time for
the accumulation of supplies for the winter. The summer pro¬
duction has been lost and the resumption of mining is not yet
in  sight.

"If production were resumed tomorrow the situation would
probably be aggravated by the impairment of railroad equip¬
ment which will soon be taxed to move the crops. Whatever
happens, there is bound to be a shortage of domestic fuel
and every day's delay in the resumption of mining now adds
in increasing ratio to the menace. There is bound to be such
a shortage as to require rationing to insure everyone a fair
share of what there may be. Hoarding and gouging always
attendant upon a shortage must be prevented. In any case
unless the State intervenes those who can pay most will be
served first, whereas the least able must be our first concern
for they are totally unprepared to cope with a fuel shortage.
We must practice rigid economy. That may have to be en¬
forced.

"Those who have anthracite coal should save it all for
severe weather. It will be easier to use substitutes now and
during the cold snaps of fall and early winter than after cold
weather sets in. Oil, gas and electricity should be substituted
for anthracite whenever possible and people should equip
themselves with the facilities to use them. Wood will have to
be used by those who can procure it and it is well to lay in
a stock now. There promises to be enough bituminous coal
if it can be transported to care for the needs of industry
and the public utilities and we must learn how to use it "for
domestic fuel. Hydro-electric energy may have to be diverted
from industrial to household uses. Light, heat and power,
however produced, may have to be regulated and their use
possibly   curtailed   for   some   purposes.

"In a word, the State must intervene or leave the public to
shift for themselves in a situation which has got beyond the
operation  of economic law or the power of individual  action.





The State must intervene in an emergency or confess that,
except under normal conditions, it has not the power, the
capacity or the energy to serve the high purpose of its crea¬
tion,  i.  e.. the  promotion  of  the general welfare."

Gov. Miller added that he did not contemplate putting the
State into the coal business but to create an agency with power
enough to make it unnecessary for the State to go into the
coal business.

The Governor was interested in the criticism of the measure
as made by Senator Lockwood and others to the effect that
the Fuel Administrator could nullify those sections of the hous¬
ing laws, also passed as an emergency measure, compelling
landlords   to   furnish   hot   wa.ter,   heat   and   elevator   service.

"The decisions of the Court of Appeals and of the United
States Supreme Court in the so-called rent or housing cases
appear to remove any doubt of the constitutional validity of
the legislation proposed," declared the Governor. "The present
emergency directly involves the public health and the general
welfare. The temporary interruption of transportation due
to terminal conditions in New York harbor has on two occa¬
sions within recent years created conditions from la;k of
fuel in the tenement districts of Xew York, which no one can
calmly contemplate having repeated on a larger scale. The
courts have held that government is not impotent in such an
emergency and it is for us who are charged with responsibility
to   demonstrate   its   capacity   to   protect   its   citizens."

The outstanding provisions of the law enacted at the sugges¬
tion of Gov.  Miller are as follows:

1.     Appointment of a State- Fuel .Administrator with plenary-
powers of regulation, investigation, control and distribution of
fuel.    The governor -will make the appointment  promptly.

2.     The administrator is authorized to buy and sell fuel for
public  and private consumption.

3.     He is empowered to flx the price at which fuel may be
bought and sold and in hi.s discretion rests the licensing of fuel
dispensers.

4.     A revolving fund of $10,000,000 for the purchase of fuel by
the State administrator for public and private distribution is
created by appropriation.

5.     AU conflicting laws and ordinances, the effect of which
would be to hamper tjie activities of the fuel administrator, are
negatived by implication during the e.xistence of the emergency
upon which this law is predicated.

6.     The administrator may seize fuel supplies, privately owned
or otherwise, and may require dealers in fuel to report to him
concerning supplies, prices and other particulars. If the com¬
pensation fixed by the administrator for seized supplies is ques¬
tioned, the owner of sucli fuel may resort to an action for
recovery in the State Court of Claims.

7.     The administrator may issue subpoenas, compel the pro¬
duction of books and the attendance of witnesses at hearings
held in connection with inquiries designed to disclose coal or
fuel  reserves.

8.     Every governmental agencj'. State or local, is reiiuired to
assist the  administrator  in his  work.

'.I. Violation of any orders, rules or regulations promulgated
by the administrator shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable
by a fine not in excess of $1,000 or a jail sentence of a year or
both.

10.     Municipalities are freed from all statutory provisions with
regard to bidding and contract for fuel, and may issue certifi¬
cates of indebtedness to cover purchases of fuel for municipal
use.

11.     The administrator may order tlie closing of schools, the¬
atres and other places of congregation.

(Concluded   on   page   298)