The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-05-06
A VICTORY WON.
Why Spreckels Sold His Eastern
Refinery.
Tie Desperate Battle the Trust
Gave Him and the Results
Returns TO CaIifOr-
MIA With Millions.

to return to his California home,
there to spend the remaining years
of life that has been devoted to
constant and unremitting toll, says
the San Francisco Post Although
but GO years of age and possessed of
splendid physical health, still Mr..
Spreckels feels that he can employ
more copgenially his remaining time
upon earth surrounded by those who
are dear to him than by continuing
the arduous strain that his immense
Eastern business imposed upon him.
An entirely erroneous opinion has
gone abroad concerning the reasons
which finally impelled Mr.. Spreckels
to dispose of his Philadelphia pro-
perty. The cry has been raised by
those who have no knowledge of the
facts that, after making long and
bitter struggle against the Eastern
sugar trust, he had at last been com
PEELED to surrender. Nothing could
be more at variance with the facts.
A gentleman who has been in the
employ of the Spreckels firm gave
an interesting history to a Post re-
porter this morning Of the tremen
Gus battle Claus Spreckels was COM
PEELED to make against tho trust and
why it is now ended.
"Spreckels told them candidly that
he was probably as DESTROYS of max
ing money legitmately as anybody,
but he really could not accede to the
proposition. There was too much in
volved in it for him to favorably con-
slider it for moment. He told them
that he had commenced business in
California, great many years ago,
md at that time had employed
large number of men, some OF whom
were young at that time. They had
grown old in his employ, and some
had raised large families. He had
not the heart to cast them out, some
of them, perhaps, to starve. Rather
than do it he would starve with them.
"This ended the conference and
war was at once declared. The head
manipulators Of the trust announced
their intention of Immediately NOV
ing upon Spreckels' California forti-
fications and to force him into bank
ruptcy as speedily as possible.
SAT this time Spreckels was getting
on in years and was rapidly reaching
that period in the life of every man
when the strain of such a work as he
was compelled to engage in could not
but tell heavily upon his system. He
was also involved in many great en-
terprises. He had his immense Ha-
waiian interests to look after; he also
had control of big steamship com
pany, land there were hundred other
minor matters that occupied much of
his time and attention. But all of
these hindrances were as nothing to
the old gentleman when once his
blood was up, and he can be as deter
mined as anybody when he feels that
he has been unjustly assailed. So he
proposed alone and single handed to
give the trust a fercer battle than
they had ever bargained for.
"Of course" he said, ''every one is
familiar with the gradual upbuilding
of the sugar trade on this coast by
Mr.. Spreckels. It required many,
many years of arduous toll before he
became a formidable competitor in
the sugar market of America. It
took two decades to bring his I'M
mense Hawaiian sugar plantations to
a proper state of cultivation, and
after this had been accomplished and
he had built his California sugar re-
finery in this city, there suddenly
sprung into existence the Eastern
sugar trust that had behind it fully
$50,000,000 of capital. At the head
of this tremendous organization were
some of the shreWdest and keenest
business men of America. This
strong combination of brains and
money was fully equipped for bust
ness, and it was the intention and
purpose of the trust to control the
sugar market of America. This re-
suit, of course, could not be accom-
plished SO long as Spreckels was so
strongly fortified on this coast. That
they meant to summarily dispose of
him there can be no question, but be-
fore making their intended onslaught
upon Spreckels in California it was
thought best to endeavor to prevail
upon him to join the trust.
1T is about five years ago that this
aggregation of wealth first trimmed
its sails for operation. At this time
MIR. Spreckels was in Europe, but
Immediately upon his arrival in Phil
adelphia Havemeyer and some others
connected with tho trust waited upon
him at his hotel and made a PROPOSE
ton to him to ally himself with the
new combination. He at once saw
that to do so would involve the clos
ing down of his immense California
refinery, which would result in hun
dreds of men being turned out of
work. They argued earnestly with
MIR. Spreckels, telling him that in
Joining the combination the accumu-
lation of vast wealth would be an
easy matter
Meanwhile the combination had
decided to ruin Spreckels' California
sugar trade if they had to spend
millions in doing it. They would
give sugar away if it were necessary
to the accomplishment of their pur-
pose. But they evidently had formed
a wrong idea of the man they had to
deal with, for Spreckels no sooner
heard of their Intentions than he
went straight into their domains and
built in the city of Philadelphia the
finest sugar refinery in the world at
cost of 100000.
Thus, N quietly submitting to
the crushing-out process which had