Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-10-06

Chicago and New York Take Preliuin.rz
Trust.
CHICAGO, Sept estates Attorney
Longeneclzer took the first legal steps
yesterday toward the breaking up Of
the coal trust An information was
fled In the circuit court to restrain the
Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron
| company and j. w. Skeele, its agent in
Chicago. from selling anthracite coal In
the county of Cook, Ill, on the ground
of unlawful combination.
The petition, which is fled in the
name Of the people of the state OF
Illinois, sets forth that in February,
1892, in the state of New Jersey, the
Philadelphia s. Reading Coal & Iron
Co. was incorporated and ever since has
been doing business in New Jersey
and elsewhere. At that time the cor
poration is said to have entered into
a trust and combination with the Phila-
delphia & Reading Railroad Co, the
Port Reading Railroad Co, the Central
Railroad Co of New Jersey and the
Lehigh Valley Railroad Co, all incor-
porated to regulate and fix the price Of
a commodity called anthracite coal,
and to fix the quantity to be mined and
sold.
The Reading company and the other
corporations, it is said, are about to un-
lawfully fix, regulate and advance the
price of coal regardless of the demand
or amount to be purchased or>consumed
IN violation of the state laws and to the
damage OF the people of the county OK
Cook of over $1,000, 600. Under these
circumstances the court is asked to
compel the Reading company to answer
whether it has entered into the combi-
nation and if not to set forth the agree
ment or arrangement it has made with
the other corporations
The court Is asked to grant an in
junction prohibiting the company from
doing business in the county OF Cook.
state of Illinois. No further steps than
| fling the petition were taken and
an injunction has -ct been granted
ACTION IN NEW YORK.
New YORK, Sept 2S.-The state sen.
ate committee instructed to investigate
what is known as the Reading coal
| combine met yesterday. The members
| present were Senators SaXton and Err
| win. The latter acted as chairman.
| The session was spent in listening to
the recommendations OF the counsel to
the committee, D. S Griffin and Thomas
Jackson, which were read by Mr.. Grit
! fin.
The testimony. he said. show ed that
| the Philadelphia & Reading company
and four other companies controlled
the whole of the output of an thracite
coal and had raised its price without re-
| gard to the cost of production In New
York state this was done through rail-
roads operated here under charters
granted by the state. Several of
4
der a corporation known as the
to the Lehigh Valley Rail-
road Co. and released to the Pennsyl-
vania & Reading Co, a Pennsylvania
! corporation. Other railroads in this
state known as the New York division
of the Delaware, Laciawanna & West
| crn railroad were under control of q
! foreign corporation It was against
| the laws of the state for any stock cor
| poration to combine with another stock
| corporation to prevent composition in
! the production and sale of the neces-
| saries of life.
1t was against the laws of that state
| for the railroads 70 combine to control
| price of coal. They had no right to do
| this under which they were bzilt, and
the corporation that leased them could
| not acquire such right There were
two remedies of which the people might
avail themselves One was to dissolve
| the companies that had so leased their
| roads, the other was to annul the
! leases
The committee resolved to adopt the
recommendation OF its counsel as its
! opinion, and to refer it to the Attorney
general. together with q copy of the
testimony taken and to ask him to take
such legal steps as he may deem sdvisa-
| BILE The committee then adjourned