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(9) That the final rulings or orders of such "Appeal Board" shall be subject to review and revision by the United States Fuel Administrator, but only upon a transcript of the entire record and all of the proceedings before such Appeal Board.

(10) That all expenses and costs of such appeal and application for review shall be paid for by the petitioner or petitioners, and the Appeal Board and the State Fuel Administrator shall, if they deem it necessary, require cash deposits to cover all such costs and expenses.

(11) That the said Appeal Board shall have power to make and establish rules and regulations for the purpose of carrying into effect this order.

(12) That the order of the United States Fuel Administrator of December 8, 1917, relative to retail prices and retail gross margins designated by State Fuel Administrators or local committees (Statement No. 347) is hereby revoked as of the effective date of this order.

This order shall become effective at 7 a. m., on the 17th day of August, 1918.

H. A. GARFIELD, United States Fuel Administrator.

CHAPTER III.

ORDERS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE DISTRIBUTION OF COAL.'

TITLE I.

GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS ORDERS, REGULATIONS, AND CIRCULARS RELATING TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF BITUMINOUS COAL.

Distribution Program of the United States Fuel Administration for the Coal Year 19181919 as Announced in a Circular, dated May 25, 1918, Addressed to all State Fuel Administrators and District Representatives, from the Distribution Division of the United States Fuel Administration.

WASHINGTON, D. C., May 25, 1918.

To State Fuel Administrators and District Representatives:

1. Subject to general instructions and policies which will be laid down from time to time by the Distribution Division of the Fuel Administration at Washington, the State Fuel Administrators will have the entire responsibility and authority for the distribution of the coal allotted to their respective States. The general instructions and policies to be laid down by the Distribution Division will in turn be governed by instructions issued from time to time by the War Industries Board.

2. The system of reports, sections 22 to 29, inclusive, is designed for the purpose of accumulating and compiling information which the State Fuel Administrators and the Distribution Division at Washington will require in order to insure proper regulation of coal distribution during the coming year.

3. From present estimates of the country's coal requirements it seems evident that sufficient coal will not be transported to all parts of the country to satisfy the needs of all consumers. Consequently, in order to insure that there shall be no interference with the country's war program, it is necessary, in view of the threatened shortage, to recognize that certain consumers must have preference in the distribution of coal. The War Industries Board will decide what consumers shall have this preference; but the Fuel Administration at Washington has been asked to assist in the compilation of complete Preference Lists by obtaining reports and recommendations from the State and Local Fuel Administrators.

PREFERENCE LISTS.

4. These Preference Lists will be the crux of the entire coal-distribution plan. To facilitate assembling these lists all consumers of coal, except domestic consumers, will be recorded under the following classifications:

(a) Railroads,

1 Chapter III deals with the general subject of the distribution of coal. It includes not only orders of the United States Fuel Administrator but also certain statements, form letters, and circulars which throw light on the methods adopted by the United States Fuel Administration to assure, the most efficient and equable distribution of coal throughout the United States. It includes all regulations regarding jobbers and licensed distributors. While these regulations also affect the price of coal, it was the opinion of the compilers that they were more closely related to the subject of distribution than to price. The chapter excludes, except incidentally, all references to the distribution of coke and petroleum and its products.

(b) Army and Navy, together with other Departments of the Federal Government, (c) State and County Departments and Institutions,

(d) Public Utilities,

(e) Retail Dealers,

(f) Manufacturing plants on War Industries Board's Preference List,

(g) Manufacturing plants not on War Industries Board's Preference List,

(h) Jobbers,

(i) Lake,

(j) Tidewater.

Classes (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) will then comprise the Preference Lists and preference in coal shipments will be given to all consumers within these classes in accordance with instructions which the War Industries Board will issue from time to time.

5. All coal originally classified under (h), (i), and (j) will be redistributed, and will finally be classified under some one of the other classifications, except that part which may go for export through Tidewater, or to Canada through the Lakes.

6. The distribution of coal to consumers in Classes (a) and (b) will be handled from Washington. Washington will also supervise shipments to certain plants in Classes (d) and (f) and in such cases proper notification will be given the State Fuel Administration in whose State the plants are located.

ASSEMBLING PREFERENCE LISTS.

7. A list of Class (d) consumers in his State will be furnished each State Fuel Administrator by the Statistical Section of the United States Fuel Administration at Washington, of which Mr. C. E. Lesher is the Manager. This list will give the name, location and requirements for each plant by counties. The State and Local Fuel Administrators will be required to check these lists and make such additions or deductions as they may find necessary to keep the lists complete and accurate. They shall report any such additions or deductions to the Statistical Section.

8. A list of Class (e) consumers in his State will also be furnished each State Fuel Administrator by the Statistical Section, which list will show for each county in the State the name and location of each coal dealer in the county, together with the 1917 tonnage delivered to the customers of each dealer over the greater part of the eastern territory of the country. Some State Fuel Administrators have already assembled lists of anthracite coal dealers, and, where this has been done, the Statistical Section will not send duplicate lists. The State and Local Fuel Administrators will check all Class (e) lists in the same manner as Class (d) lists.

9. A list of Class (f) consumers will be assembled at once in the following manner: The Statistical Section will send out immediately to each manufacturing plant in the country, a postal card questionnaire, in duplicate-one card to be returned to the Statistical Section at Washington, and one to the State Fuel Administrator in whose State the plant is located. Copy of this questionnaire is attached as Form E. From these postal cards each State Fuel Administrator, with the assistance of Local Fuel Administrators, will assemble the lists of Class (f) consumers in his State in accordance with a supplemental letter which State Fuel Administrators will receive covering the Preference List program in greater detail. Copies of these Class (f) lists shall be sent by State Fuel Administrators to the Director State Distribution at Washington daily until completely assembled.

10. The Distribution Division at Washington will supply each District Representative with a complete list of Class (f) consumers for each State included in the District Representative's shipping zone, in conformance with the lists assembled by the State Fuel Administrators.

APPLICATION OF PREFERENCE LISTS.

11. With these lists to guide them State and Local Fuel Administrators and District Representatives are directed to give their attention to building up proper stocks of coal for all consumers in the Preference Classes in accordance with instructions issued by the War Industries Board from time to time, which instructions will be communicated to the State Fuel Administrators and the District Representatives by the Distribution Division at Washington.

12. The weekly reports from consumers (see Forms G and H attached) will prove of great assistance in accomplishing this result, since the State and Local Fuel Administrators, by watching these reports, will be able to direct increased shipments to Preference Class consumers who are not making sufficient gain in their stocks of coal, as well as to check shipments to those consumers under any Class, whose stocks are accumulating too rapidly.

RETAIL DEALER'S DISTRIBUTION.

13. In order to control the distribution of coal to domestic consumers and industrial plants by retail dealers, and wagon mines, they will be required to make a special report to the State Fuel Administrator, shown attached as Form H.

REPORTS FROM WASHINGTON.

14. In addition to the weekly reports received from the District Representatives and the consumers of coal within his state, each State Fuel Administrator will receive from the Statistical Section, at Washington, a weekly report showing the production of coal in the various producing fields, the distribution of coal in his own state, properly classified, the consumption of coal in his own state and the stocks of coal on hand. In this report the totals will be shown for each class of consumers.

ASSISTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERS.

15. Under this plan of distribution each consumer should arrange for shipments from the same source of supply as last year, if possible. When arrangements of this kind can not be made, due to interference by the zoning plan or by a diversion of coal tonnage for war-program requirements, or by any other cause, the consumer should make every effort to form some new connection in a coal-producing district from which a coal supply is available, preferably under a contract arrangement. Coal operators will be urged to make these new contracts with the consumers whenever possible in order to reduce to the minimum the number of applications for assistance to the State and Local Fuel Administrators.

16. When called upon for assistance by a consumer who has been unable to make arrangements for his coal supply the State Fuel Administrator is directed to communicate with a District Representative-never with an individual coal producer who can ship to the consumer, with the request that, if possible, the District Representative arrange with one of his operators to enter into a contract with the consumer for the amount of coal he requires. If this can not be accomplished, the District Representative shall direct shipments to said consumer in accordance with requisitions which may be received from the State Fuel Administrator from time to time, provided he can do so without violating the instructions from the War Industries Board which may be in effect at the time. In placing these requisitions, the State Fuel Administrator will, of course, take into consideration the total amount of coal which the State can expect to receive from the District Representative under the allotment plan, to be announced by the Distribution Division, and also whether or not the consumer belongs in one of the Preferred Classifications.

17. Whenever a District Representative is unable to fill a requisition from a State Fuel Administrator he shall so advise the State Fuel Administrator, giving the reasons for his inability. In such cases the State Fuel Administrator shall make an effort to secure the coal from other District Representatives who can ship to the consumer, and, if no one of the District Representatives is able to make the shipment, the State Fuel Administrator may, in an emergency, divert coal to the consumer in accordance with Paragraph 25 of the Section of the Distribution Program entitled "Reports." If no emergency exists the matter should be referred to the Director of State Distribution at Washington.

COMMENT.

18. In many states it may be found advantageous to decentralize the State Fuel Administrator's work by making subdivisions within the state, which subdivisions can deal directly with the consumers, the District Representatives and Washington, thereby preventing a congestion of the work in the State Fuel Administratror's office. Whenever a State Fuel Administrator thinks that such subdivisions would be advantageous in his state, he should take the matter up with the Director State Distribution at Washington.

19. As used herein, the expression "District Representative" is intended to include the Manager of shipments from the docks at the head of the Lakes, the Managers of all Tidewater Pools, the Managers of all Terminal Pools, if any, and the Committee appointed to supervise the distribution of anthracite coal.

20. The reports required under this plan are short and simple, but at the same time complete and comprehensive, and the interchange of the information provided therein should greatly facilitate complete coordination between the State Fuel Administrators and the District Representatives. The successful accomplishment of the War Program depends in large measure upon the proper distribution of coal, and, in turn, that proper distribution will depend upon the close and sympathetic cooperation between the State Fuel Administrators and the District Representatives. In putting this revised Distribution Program into effect, the United States Fuel Administration asks for your energetic and enthusiastic support.

REPORTS.

NOTE. In order to standardize the work of the Fuel Administration all over the country, and in order to reduce to the minimum the number of reports requested from coal consumers, coal producers, jobbers or retailers, or from any member or department of the Fuel Administration, it is intended that the reports set out below shall replace and supersede all report forms now being used in connection with coal distribution.

REPORT FROM MINE OPERATORS TO DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES.

21. Mine operators shall report, each day, to the District Representatives a list of the cars shipped during the day giving consignee and destination of each car. Mine operators shall also furnish such other information to the District Representatives as is now authorized, relative to contracts with consumers, coal production, car supply, etc.

REPORT FROM DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES TO STATE FUEL ADMINISTRATORS AND STATISTICAL SECTION.

22. Each District Representative shall send a weekly report to each State Fuel Administrator into whose territory he ships, a copy going to the Statistical Section at Washington at the same time. This report shall show the number of cars shipped into each state during the preceding week, classified as follows:

(a) Shipments to Railroads,

(b) Shipments to Army, Navy and other Departments of the Federal Government,

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