The western sentinel., 1895-10-31
AMERICAN TOBACCO CASE.
EFFORT TO KEEP THE COMPANY
OUT OF NEW YORK.
Briefs Filed With Attorney General
Hancock, in a Petition for Pro
Gee dings TO EDj ,in and Pro-
hibiG the Tobacco Trust

Gee diBgs TO EDJ iin and Pro-
hibit the Tobacco Trust
From The New York Journal of Commerce
Briefs have beer filed with-A ttorney
General Hancock, in a petition made
by Charles a. Whelan, of Syracuse,
for proceedings to enjOin and prohibit
the American Tobacco Company from
operating in this State. Both the
petitioners and respondents briefs
are exhaustive, and form a great mass
of technical matter relative to the
rights that the Attorney General can
exercise in ordering an action against
the Tobacco Trust.
In the first part of the petitioners
brief it is claimed that five corpoTa a.
tionS com bined for The purpose of
manufacturing paper cigarettes and
fixing definite price on that article
of commerce, and by regulating its
trade by certain contracts succeeded
in ruling out competitors and making
q close market.
Part second of the brief st ates that
the Attorney General has the right
and should order an action against
the American Tobacco Company, and
goes on to say that at the outset it is
long duration of suits which have
been instituted against the respond
ent, both in the State and Its crea-
tion, New Jersey, by the Attorney
General of that State for the revoca
tiOn of its charter, On the ground of
its Illegal method of doing business,
and ia Illinois by the Attorney
General Of that State for relief SINH
lar to that asked for by the petitioner
herein, this is the hrst time that the
American Tobacco Company has
found itself compelled to declare the
principles of law upon which it relies
to maintain its contention of legality.
The American Tobacco Company.
in submitting its brief, acknowledges
that such combination was formed
at the time specified for certain
reasons peculiar TO the circumstances
surrounding the case. The brief
claims that the American Tobacco
Company is simply large manufac-
turing Corporation, with about two
thousand individual stockholders,
owning It's property absolutely, man
aged by its own Board Of Directors,
and the charge that it is an alliance,
or partnership, of corporations, or
trust, even if reyalent in this pro
ceeding. is so readily shown to be
false by the public records of its home
State, and is so easily demonstrated
by its own records, as to make any
charge to the contrary ridiculous.
Since its Incorporation, in regular
course of business, it has purchased
outright several other tobacco plants,
only one of which manufactures paper
cigarettes, and this IL purchased sole
ly to acquire machine for manufdC-
turing mo paste" cigarettes. as
explained in Respondents answer,
and it was not until March, 1892, that
it adopted the method of consigning
its cigarettes for sale, as set forth in
the draft of contract in the petition
e., two years after its incorporation.
Since March, 1892, it has sold in this
State, through cOnsignees, all cigar
cites, the price of which is not less
than s. so per l 900 on this plan. Un-
der this agreement it insists that its
consignees shalt not sell less than its
list price.
A number Of cases are cited, which
are in contradiction Of the petitioners
allegations.