He said that in 1891 an arrangement had been made between Germany and the United States for the importation of German sugar to this country and the exportation of American pork to Germany.

He said in the plainest terms that if the Dingley Bill is passed in its present form, the German Government will break the agreement in regard to pork and other agricultural products from this country, and levy such a heavy tax on them that it will not pay us to export them, so that this trade with Germany will be ruined.

* * * * *

Mr. Havemeyer is now on trial in Washington for not answering the Senate’s questions in 1894.  It is said that if he is found guilty he may be sent to prison for a whole year, instead of merely for one month, as Mr. Chapman was.

It would seem as if the Trusts were not going to have it all their own way any longer.  The Coal Trust is now to be looked into.

A referee has been appointed to take testimony about the so-called Coal Trust, to see if such a combination really exists.  If it is found that there is indeed a Coal Trust, the Attorney-General will take proceedings against it, and, if possible, break it up.

The Coal Barons are of course fighting this action fiercely.

They declare that the new law, under which their business methods are to be looked into, is not in accordance with the Constitution of the country, and that they will not submit to it until the State has proved that the law is constitutional.

This new law, which was made after the Lexow investigations, only came into existence on the 7th of May, 1897.  It provides that the price or the supply of an article shall not be controlled by any one, and that an attempt to assume such control is unlawful and shall be punished.

It also adds that the Attorney-General may order witnesses to come before a judge, and may ask them any questions he chooses about their business methods, and that he may also examine the books and accounts of their business whenever he has a mind to.

Finally, the law states very clearly that witnesses must answer all the questions put to them, and that if they refuse to answer they shall be punished for contempt of court.

The Coal Barons say they are quite willing to answer any questions, because they have been carrying on their business in a perfectly proper way.  They are, however, most unwilling to have the Attorney-General go over their books.  They insist that the personal liberty of a citizen is interfered with if this law is carried out, and so they are determined to fight it.

The modern method of mining coal is very interesting, and especially so when we understand that from the mine to the cellar the coal is handled almost exclusively by machinery.

The miners go down the shaft and blast off the coal.  They shovel what has been loosened by the blast into wagons, which hold about two and a half tons.