Therefore, the operators of southern Ohio have formed the Southern Ohio Coal Operators' Exchange and have adopted the following declaration of purposes and by-laws:

PURPOSES.

1. Conservation of coal supply.-From many of the Ohio mines not more than 50 per cent of the minable coal is produced and shipped by mining methods now in vogue; the average output from mines in southern Ohio does not exceed 70 per cent of the minable coal; and it is but a fair statement of the situation that throughout the mining districts of the State at least one-third of all the minable coal underlying the areas yet unmined will be forever lost to producers and consumers, and the wages and freights that would be paid for mining and transporting the same forever lost to miners and railroads, unless all the minable coal is actually mined and shipped. For every 2 tons of Ohio coal shipped to consumers at least 1 ton is left in the ground and lost beyond hope of reclamation. It is obvious that operators, miners, consumers, mining communities, and railroads are mutually and alike concerned in the conservation of the State's most valuable natural resource, and it shall be the purpose of this exchange to take active steps in the effort to remedy an evil which is the outgrowth largely of unfortunate mining, transportation, and market conditions. 2. Cooperation with public officials.-Based upon principles of economic welfare, it is the settled public policy of Federal and State Governments to encourage the perpetuation of our natural resources by conserving the same and by avoiding waste in production and consumption; likewise Federal and State Governments are active in their efforts to prevent avoidable accidents and deaths in mines, and in their supervision of mining methods by which minerals may be more safely, more economically and more efficiently produced; and State Governments have adopted workmen's compensation laws and are administering funds for the benefit of injured employees and the families of those who have been killed. With the systematic assistance and cooperation of coal operators, these departments of governmental activity will be more effectively administered and their benefits more completely realized, and to that end it shall be one of the objects of this exchange and all its members to cooperate with public officials in the effort to bring about harmonious relations and prompt and complete compliance by operators with all legal regulations and requirements. And the purposes and objects of this exchange and the desire of the exchange and its members to assist and cooperate with and assist public officials, shall be communicated to such officials.

3. Community interests and relations.-There is a very definite community of interest directly affecting and uniting in common interest the producers, miners and users of coal, all citizens of the mining communities, and the railway companies over whose lines coal is moved from mines to consumers. Coal is used for heating and cooking purposes in probably two-thirds of the homes of Ohio, both in town and country; it heats nearly every schoolhouse and public building; it furnishes power for factories, mills and shops; and it may safely be said that at least four millions of Ohio's people are directly affected by and interested in the production and conservancy of the greatest possible tonnage of Ohio coal. Thus the interest and welfare of producers, miners, and users of Ohio coal, of the communities in which mining operations are conducted, and of the transportation companies, are mutual and interdependent. If it be true that prosperity of the coal-mining industry, with the increased pay rolls attending such prosperity, will contribute to the welfare of all miners, citizens, property owners, business men, and farmers in the mining districts, it is equally true that their prosperity in the form of thriving local industries, better homes, better living conditions, better schools, better roads, and higher community welfare, will tend to advance the welfare of coal producers in the form of contented and better paid miners and the improvement of labor conditions generally. Therefore, one of the objects of this exchange is to establish and maintain cooperative relationship with the citizens of the mining communities and with their boards of trade and welfare associations and to exchange information which may be helpful to them and to the producers and users of Ohio coal.

4. Relations with miners.-The welfare of Ohio miners and their families, the progress and development of the communities in which they live, and the recognized standards of living and education in Ohio not only justify, but require that proper relations shall be maintained between employers and

employees, that adequate wages shall be paid, that Ohio coal shall be systematically conserved, and that it shall be properly mined, carefully and satisfactorily prepared and promptly shipped to markets at reasonable freight rates. One of the objects of the exchange shall be the prompt, proper, and equitable adjustment of all questions that may arise with employees and with those who represent employees by and through the medium of an experienced and qualified commissioner or commissioners, who shall investigate and make prompt and equitable adjustment of differences in order that there may be no economic waste through the unnecessary closing of mines pending the adjustment of those differences which from time to time arise between employees and the superintendents of mines.

5. The safety of miners and compliance with the workmen's compensation laws. The safety of employees, the preservation of their health, precautions against avoidable injuries and deaths, and the equitable distribution of funds provided for the benefit of injured employees and the families of those who have been killed are the beneficent objects of public opinion and legislation. The inspection of mines and mining equipment, the adoption of safety devices and precautions for the purpose of avoiding accidents and deaths, and cooperation with employees and with public authorities in the effort to assist in the prompt and equitable distribution of the workmen's compensation funds are among the purposes and objects of this exchange.

6. Widened markets for Ohio coal.-The natural markets for Ohio coal are close at hand, principally within the State of Ohio. Within the borders of our own State are markets and distributing centers. including Lake Erie ports, to an dthrough which twice the present output of Ohio mines should be sold. Such an output would again bring prosperity to producers, miners, mining communities and railroads, and proper and equitable competitive and transportation conditions will restore Ohio coal to its normal place in its natural markets, from which it has been largely excluded by coal shipped into these markets from other States.

The reclamation of our natural markets and the retaining of such markets when reclaimed shall be among the objects of this exchange.

7. Competition from other States.-Ohio coal has been gradually excluded from its natural markets, which are relatively close to the Ohio mining districts, by coal shipped much greater distances from mines in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Trains loaded with coal from those States are hauled through Ohio coal districts to Ohio destinations which are the natural markets for Ohio coal, on their journey passing idle Ohio mines, idle miners, and depressed mining communities. The sale of these competing coals in our natural markets, from which Ohio coals have been gradually excluded, is of vital concern to all who are interested in the preservation and prosperity of the Ohio industry; and it is one of the purposes and objects of this exchange to ascertain and make use of all data directly and indirectly bearing upon the production, transportation, and marketing of coal from all competing districts, to the end that Ohio producers may reclaim and retain their natural markets.

8. Improved and uniform accounting and cost-keeping methods. In order that all operators may have the advantage of improved and standardized bookkeeping and cost-accounting methods, the exchange will collate and furnish to each member all information and improvements relating to uniform and simplified bookkeeping methods and cost-accounting systems, and, when desired, will assist in installing the same, so that all members may have the benefit of the most approved practices in these respects.

9. Cost of production.-Because of lower cost of production, more favorable freight rates, and lower delivered prices, coal from competing districts in other States has displaced Ohio coal in great and increasing proportions; and from some markets Ohio coal has been almost excluded by the competing coals. To retain present markets and regain those that have been lost, Ohio coal must be delivered at competitive selling prices, which prices are based upon cost at mines with transportation charges added. One of the objects of this exchange will be to ascertain the cost of production in the several producing districts, and, whenever possible, to reduce the cost of production and to standardize and maintain the quality of Ohio coal.

10. Publicity and sales extension. For many uses, specially domestic and steam, Ohio coal in superior; yet its quality, quantity, and efficiency for domestic and steam purposes have been brought in question by the representatives of producers and carriers of coal mined in competing districts, in such manner and to such extent that it has become a matter of common interest and concern

to all producers, miners, and users of Ohio coal and to Ohio mining communities that wide, active, and persistent publicity shall be given to the facts in these regards.

Again there are many markets, especially small towns, villages, and rural communities, which are not reached by individual producers of Ohio coal because of the prohibitive cost of sending their salesmen to such markets.

One of the objects of this exchange shall be to establish bureaus of publicity and sales. Through the former, data and statistics will be compiled and distributed, and a campaign of education conducted with respect to the quality of Ohio coal and the quantity remaining unmined and yet to be shipped from the Ohio producing districts; and through the latter, efforts will be made by traveling representatives and various forms of advertising to reach markets in which Ohio coal is not now sold or in which sales have diminished.

11. Relations with railroads.-Ohio coal must reach the markets by and over the lines of the railroads connecting mines with markets. Just and proper relations with carriers, including the establishment and maintenance of equitable freight rates for the transportation of coal, are essential not only to the prosperity but to the existence of the Ohio coal-mining industry. The delivered price is the essential factor which admits or excludes a particular coal-producing district from any particular market or distributing center; and in every case the transportation charge is an important, sometimes the determining, element in the delivered price And as the same railroads connect the competing districts of different States with the common markets and distributing centers, it is essential that just freight rates from the several districts and equitable differentials shall be established and maintained. To that end one of the objects of this exchange shall be the ascertainment of facts and the systematic compilation and distribution of data and statistics relating to transportation charges from all the coal-mining districts to the natural markets for Ohio coal, and the establishment and maintenance of proper relations between the carriers and the coal-producing companies.

12. Statistical bureau.-In order that Ohio operators may widen and increase their markets and produce and ship greater quantities of coal to meet the demands of widened and increased markets, it is necessary that they shall have at their command complete detailed data and statistics showing mining methods and mining costs in the various mining districts, transportaton rates, and conditions over the different transportation routes from the several mining districts to all the markets north and west of the Ohio River, market conditions in the various consuming and distributing centers, and the terms on which coal from the producing districts in Ohio and other States is sold in all the principal consuming and distributing centers. It is one of the purposes and objects of this exchange to establish and maintain an effective statistical bureau in order that the members of the exchange may have at their command full and complete data relating to the cost and conditions of transportation, market conditions, and the prices and terms at which coal is marketed from all the several districts.

13. Reciprocal relations.-The exchange, its members, officers, committees, and employees will endeavor to establish and maintain reciprocal relations between the Ohio mining interests, including the producers of Ohio coal and the Ohio mining communities, on the one hand, and customers who buy and use Chio coal, communities in which considerable quantities of Ohio coal are used, and railroads using Ohio coal for railroad fuel, on the other hand, to the end that, wherever it is practicable to do so, Ohio producers and Ohio mining communities will establish reciprocal relations with customers and others.

14. General welfare.-In addition to the purposes and objects herein enumerated, from time to time and as occasion may arise the exchange will take such further steps for the general welfare of all producers of Ohio coal and especially of the members of this exchange, as the members may deem to their interests, it being the intent that in matters of general welfare there shall be reciprocal and cooperative relations among all members of this exchange to the fullest extent that such relations may properly and lawfully exist.

15. Prices and production.-No effort shall be made by this exchange, or by any of its members, committees, or employees, acting in harmony, concert, or combination, to establish, regulate, maintain, or control selling prices, or to regulate, diminish, or control the operation or output of any mine or mines. All members of the exchange shall continue to mine and market their coal in unrestrained and unrestricted competition.

ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION AND BY-LAWS.

I. Title: The title of this association shall be the Southern Ohio Coal Operators' Exchange.

II. Officers and committees: The officers and committees and their respective duties shall be as follows:

1. Secretary: A secretary shall be appointed by the membership for such time and at such terms as the membership may determine. The secretary shall keep an accurate record of the business of the exchange, and shall record all meetings of the exchange and of the executive committee; he shall give members five days' notice of all regular meetings. The secretary shall notify all members of assessments due and keep an accurate record of the finances of the exchange under the direction of the executive committee; he shall preserve all vouchers, and be prepared to exhibit all records of accounts to the executive committee at any meeting thereof; he shall conduct the general correspondence of the exchange, and shall collect and distribute such statistical information as may be required by members under the rules and regulations of the exchange; he shall collect and distribute all moneys of the exchange in manner and form as shall be from time to time prescribed by the executive committee, and shall be at all times subject to the supervision, direction, and control of the executive committee.

The secretary shall give his exclusive and undivided time and attention to the duties of his employment by this exchange. He and all other employees of the exchange shall subscribe, under oath to be administered by a public official, their written covenant not to disclose to any member of this exchange or to any other person, firm, or corporation, any information confidentially intrusted to him or them, unless and excepting only that the same may be disclosed in response to summons or subpoena from a court of law. And, in the discretion of the executive committee, the secretary and any other employee will give bond for the faithful performance of all duties in such amount as shall be prescribed by the committee.

Section 1 A. Commissioners: The executive committee may appoint such commissioner or commissioners to take charge of any department of the work of the exchange as may be considered necessary to carry out the purposes of the exchange.

2. Executive committee: The executive committee shall be composed of four members, to be elected by the membership of the exchange by ballot, as follows: At the first meeting of the exchange four members of the executive committee shall be elected. The four so elected shall determine by lot immediately after their election their terms of service, one to serve four months, one to serve three months, one to serve two months, and one to serve one month. Thereafter all members of the executive committee shall be elected for the term of four months, one to be elected at each monthly meeting of the membership. The member of said committee serving the last month of his term shall be chairman thereof, and a majority of the committee shall constitute a quorum.

Said committee may meet at any time or place by the unanimous consent of the members thereof or upon call of the chairman after three days' notice. If any member of the executive committee is unable to attend a meeting or meetings of the committee, he may designate another officer of his own company or any other operator from his own district to serve as his alternate on such committee during his absence.

The executive committee shall have general management of the affairs of the exchange, including the approval of the accounts of the secretary, the appointment of all committees not otherwise provided for, and generally it shall carry out the objects and purposes of the exchange, provided, however, that all action of the executive committee shall be subject by approval or rejection by the members of the exchange at the first regular meeting following such action. 3. Standing committees: Such standing committees shall be selected from time to time as the membership may deem advisable. Until othrwise ordered the following standing committees shall be elected to serve until the next annual meeting or until their successors shall be elected:

(a) Committee on conservation, safety, and workmen's compensation. (b) Committee on mining conditions and wage agreements.

(c) Committee on cost system, accounting, and statistics.

(d) Committee on public relations, community welfare, and publicity.

Each committee shall consist of three members, to be elected by the membership, and they will serve until the next annual meeting or until their successors are elected.

The several standing committees shall investigate and report on such subjects, within the general scope of their duties, as may be from time to time referred to them by the membership or executive committee, and they shall keep the membership advised of such facts as they may ascertain and make recommendations concerning the same.

III. Membership: All persons, firms, or corporations engaged in the production of coal in southern Ohio shall be eligible for membership. Applications for membership and resignations must be transmitted in writing to the secretary and shall be acted upon pursuant to a majority vote of the membership. IV. Meetings: The regular annual meeting of the exchange shall be held on the second Tuesday of January in each year, at Columbus, Ohio. The chairman of the executive committee shall preside at all meetings. A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum, and members may vote either in person or by proxy. Each partnership, corporation or interest which is a member of this exchange may have only one membership and vote.

Regular monthly meetings of the exchange shall be held on the first Tuesday in each month at Columbus, Ohio, unless otherwise specified.

The executive committee shall meet on the first Tuesday in each month, immediately prior to the regular monthly meeting of the exchange at the place selected for the regular meeting of said exchange, and at such other times and places as may be deemed advisable.

Under the direction of the executive committee the secretary shall call special meetings of the members of the exchange or of the executive committee at any time, upon such reasonable notice as said committee may determine.

V. Revenue: The exchange shall raise no revenue other than that required to pay all its legitimate expenses, including such unusual or extraordinary expenses as may be incurred and authorized from time to time at regular or special meetings or by the executive committee. Such funds as are needed for such purposes shall be raised by just and equitable assessment from time to time levied on the members, to be fixed in amount and time of payment by the executive committee; and when made such assessments shall be paid by the members to the commissioner and accounted for by him. An initiation fee of $10 cash shall accompany each application for membership, and a pledge to pay such assessments, not exceeding in the aggregate 1 cent per ton on the annual output of each member, shall be given by each member upon his election; and all assessments for expenses shall be levied from time to time on the basis of the output of the member's mine or mines, for such period as may be deemed fair and equitable by the executive committee.

VI. Order of business: The order of business shall be as follows:

1. Calling the roll.

2. Reading the minutes of last meeting.

3. Reports of officers.

4. Reports of committees.

5. Communications.

6. Unfinished business.

7. New business.

8. Reports from members on conditions affecting the industry.

VII. Reports, statistics, and markets: To effectuate the purposes of the exchange, each member shall furnish to the commissioner upon request such data and records relating to mining methods, conditions and costs, and to transportation and markets as may properly and reasonably be requested.

From all available sources of information the commissioner shall compile and furnish from time to time such statistics, reports of market conditions, quotations, and records of sales made in the general interest as the members or the executive committee may require.

It shall be thoroughly understood by the members of the exchange that all information reported to the exchange or distributed by it is purely statistical and pertains only to past and closed transactions, and that no part of the machinery of this exchange will be permitted to be used to fix prices for the sale of coal, to divide territory, limit the production of coal, or limit or control competition; and no information shall be collected or distributed respecting any prices which any member intends or expects to ask under any circumstances whatsoever.

VIII. Credit bureau: Under the direction of the executive committee, a credit bureau may be established, in connection with which desired information with respect to the credits and practices of customers shall be compiled by the com