The San Francisco call., 1897-02-19

"Who had the custody of the mutiIated
trust deed ?'
"Mr. Parsons
'How was it that you and your assist
ants were so solicitous to conceal these
papers?"
"a hundred people agreed to have that
done. L am not responsible. The deed
should have been destroyed.
"Why?"
cit should have been destroyed because,
in my judgment, it was that deed that
caused all the trouble and hostile legisla-
tion against the company, >,
You mean prosecut on, don't you?
No, l say persecution. ALI the fuss
has been over tha. deed. If that deed had
have been fighting the air. All this sort
of thing has been swept away by the Su-
preme Court"
What do you mean by thatP' asked
Senator Lexow.
"Oh! l thought you were conversant
with things that had gone before in this
matter by former Investigations" said the
witness
II am in a general way" replied Sem
ator Lexow. But explain what you
mean"
IL mean that we have had. these inves ti-
cations before; that one Judge has ruled
we are a criminal monopoly and another
Judge that We are not. The Supreme
Court has swept all this aside by declar-
ing we are not monopoly, inasmuch as
we do not stitie competition"
Henry Burns, president of the National
Wallpaper Company, was the next wit
ness. He was not one of the original in
corporators or original directors of the
corporation, which was organized in July,
1892.
Were you connected with any company
at the time of the organization?"
"Yes, sir: with the Robert Greayes
Company"
Witness said that twenty-elght compa-
nies in all were absorbed by the National
Wallpaper Company.
How many companies were left out Of
the com bination ?'
About seventeen"
What amount of business did the COM
blnatlon secure?'
About 65 per cent. judging by the ma
chlnery we employ. We have 1S8 ma
chimes as against SS of those not in the
combination"
What twas the capital stock issued ?"
he original issue was $14. 600, 600 and
was subsequently increased to $27, 600, 900
or S26, 100000. This was common stock. |"
Witness said that IS, 900 of deben-
ture stock was authorized, but only ST.
500 900 was issued.
y
tribution of stock?'
1--WE calculated the profits of the vali-
Gus concerns for certain years and multi
piled 1T by sixteen"
sin other words, you capitalized each
concern al per cent and bonded it, the
Issue OF common stock"
Y eS, sir, common and debenture. We
subtracted from this amount, however, a
lot of tangible property which we issued
in debentures. The rest was given in
common stock"
"How do your prices compare with the
prices of the companies not in the combi-
natiOn2"
"Our prices are 25 per cent lower. The
wages also have not decreased. They are
about the same and the employment Is
steadier. About 5000 men are employed
by the com pany in the United States"
Have you an agreement with the SELL
ers of your product in New York?"
"Yes, in one or two cases."
Witness said they had competitors in
New York State who worked under agree
ments.
Are these agreements similar to
yours2'
81 do not know the methods our COM
petitors use. l only know there is wall
paper trust somewhere"
You claim, then, you are not trust ?"
Yes, sir"
"The agreement you have with your
sellers restricts them TO the sale of your
goods ?"
Yes, sir"
Adjourn ment was taken until to-mor-
row morning, and the witness was directed
to produce the agreement.