276 HISTORY OF THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



WESTERN COAL MINTS. 



displays of rapacious greed that the world has witnessed 

 since Christianity became the religion of civilized man?" 

 There is no good reason why coal that costs two 

 dollars per ton at the mines should cost seven dollars 

 to the Eastern consumer. The actual cost of transpor- 

 tation could be paid and a fair profit returned to the 

 railroad companies, and yet the price of coal be reduced 

 very much. But a fair profit is not to the taste of the 

 monopolist. He must have an exorbitant return for 

 his capital, or he is not satisfied. He cares nothing for 

 the thousands of suffering poor who are unable to pro- 

 cure fuel at the prices at which he holds it. He is 

 deaf to the voice of humanity ; he thinks only of his 

 gains. So the curse of the railroad monopolist hangs 

 like a black pall over the Republic, growing darker and 



