The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-10-10
A BIG CIGAR COMBINE.
Tho Manufacturers are Forming U
s25, ooo,o 900 Trust.
THE COMBINATION NOT FORMED
So Readily as tho Cigarette Trust.
What Theodore Allen Says of the
plan.-.Gcorgc Storm Not In lt.-Ncar.
~ Ono Hundred Thousand Work.
mel Concerned.

NEW YoRE, Oct. 0.-Reprcsentativcs
OF tho large cigarmaking firms in this
and neishbo.ing cities met ut the office
OF Theodore II. Allen, No. is Broadway,
yesterday, to form Il trust. It will prob
ably BIO capitalized at $25, 100000. STRAIT
ton 4 Storm were not represented.
The meeting was held with closed
doors, and each person who attended,
when approached by a reporter, refused
to cithe- disclose what took place inside
or to give any names. Enough waa
learned from other sources, however, to
Say that The combination will put up
the price OF cigars and at the same time
will reduce the profits OF retailers.
Each 'liin in the combine expressed
the conviction That this was tho only
way to freeze out the multitude OF small
manufacturers, who now get good
share OF tho trade, and whose aggrcs.
slvc competition keeps Il iair grade OF
cigars within reach o.! tho smoking
public. The trust will include the
manufacturers ri the domestic article
only. The makers Of Havana goods
were not invited to the conference.
A meeting OF the leading mnnufac.
turcvs Of domestic cigars OF the Third
Metropolitan district was recently held,
and il has been followed by weekly
meetings IN IIr. Aliens Office, il. the
Weiles arildins, No. Is Broadway.
Since the first meeting 4 committee
ni five has been appointed 10 nppra!sc
tho s:ocH on hand and 10 report the
business each iirm il doing. To each
lnembs: OF the organization will be is-
sued trust certificates or bonds OF the
corporation to the u,noilnt OF the ap.
praised "aluc OF his business, besides
which nG vii! receive stock in the cor
poratlon Tor \ like amount. An cnor-
nous operatin: capital is thus secured,
which it is beloved will amount to S25,-
coo, 000.
According to the report OF one manu-
facturer who is in tho scheme, each
factory is 10 be mdcr the management
OF the present owllcrs, who will turn in
their profits to the central organization,
to be DIVIDED pro rate according TO the
amount OF stock and bonds held by each
individual member.
Theodore II. Allen, father OF the
scheme, told 4 reporter yesterday that
the primary object OF the consolidation
was TO obtain fair prices for goods. He
said that the present high price OF
tobacco, coupled with the fierce coin
petition in trade, had been ruinous and
had to be stopped. He said dictation
by jobbers vas another evil which would
be done away with, while the trust
would only exert its powcrin legitimate
directions and not wantomly Cypress or
injurc any M 1t was purely Il meas
ure OF sclt-dcienso on the part OF the
manufacturers.
In forming the cigarette combine, he
said, only six manufacturers had to be
brought together, while in the cigar
trade there are no less than l9, 000shops
in the United States which can be
classed as factories, besides the multi
tudc OF little stores employing three or
four men. al Of these men must
either be brought into the combine or
frozen out before its object-absolutc
control-could be called an accom-
plishcd fact.
When asked what effect the trust
would have upon the question OF labor.
and whether 1t was not being formed to
crush out the labor unions, Mr.. Allen
said:
~ am not here TO be interviewed up
on that subject"
a member OF the cigar makers union
said the first thing the trust would at
tempt after it got in good running order
would be to crush the lie out Of the
labor unions.
Another great object OF the consolida-
ton will be the purchase o! leaf tobacco
in large quantities. TO Go this they
will send their own agents to Amstcr-
dam to buy the Suma;ra leaf direct IRON
the planters, while they will likewise
send their agents throuGhth wrapping
leaf districts in Connecticut, Massacl.u-
sets, Pennsylvania and this State and
buy the growing crops. They will to-
tally ignore the leaf merchandise and mid
dlcmcn and practically drive them out
OF the business.
Mr.. George Storm; oiStraiton &Storm,
Salu: II Is Il great Undertaking and
will probably not amount to much. 10
make it 4 perfect success a largo major-
ity OF the 10000 cigar manufacturers in
the United States must be brought in
touch with il. | doubt whether it is
possible to 10 that, vet I am awaiting
DEVELOPMENTS, and do not propose to be
precipi:atc III my action In the matter"
The scheme is SO far advanced that its
projectors expect it to be on a business
iootlneby JanUaryl. Among the prom
incnt manufacturers who are said to be
interested in the combination are Nor
ris Jacoby < Co., Norman Jacoby, S.
Jacoby 4 Co., ~Lichtonstcin Bros. & Co.,
S. Gutenberg 4 Bros. lIcyman Bros. 4
LoewcnStein, Foster, iIilson & Co., and
about twenty others in this city; Powell
4 Smith, OF Kingston and New York;
MI the Binghanton factories, aud many
oil the larger factories in western cities.
When the trust gets in operation it
will directly control 100000 workmcn
and the output OF between 100000 and
000 On0 clears in This rnup.-v