The San Francisco call., 1897-02-07
Havemeyer and Arbuckle
Heard by the Lexow
Committee.
Secretary Searles Fails to Ap'
pear, and May Be Prose-
.cuted for Contempt.
One Witness Tells Hcw Thousands
Lost Employment, and Havemeyer
Said He Was a Liar.

NEW YORK, N. Y, Feb. 6.-The joint
to investigate trusts and monopolies in
the State resumed its session this morn
ing. Senator Lexow and Parsons & Shep
ard, counsel for Secretary Searles of the
American Sugar Refinery Company. held.
consultation lasting about ten minutes.
At its conclusion, it was learned that the
lawyers had promised that Mr.. Searles
would be on hand Monday.
1t was 11:30 O'Clock VIXEN Mr.. Lexow
raped for order. He directed the SER
geanl-at-arms TO call the name of John E.
Searles. There was no response. Lawyer
Parsons said Mr.. Searles was compelled to
take train for Washington when he was
served with the subpoena. He stated that
MIR. Searies would appear before the COM
mittee on Monday next and bring the re-
Quired data.
I'VE will consider your explanation,
MIR. Parsons, in executive session ana will
determine whether We will hold Mr..
Searles in contempt or allow HIM to purge
himself by appearing on Monday before
the committee" said Mr.. Le1ow.
John Arbuckle was then recalled to the
stand. He informed the committee that
he wished to make statement. He told
the committee that the profit in coffee in
1896 was only "a of a cent per pound; in
1895 little less than Clio OF a cent; in
1894 6-i0 of cent and in 1893 little less
than 6-10 of a cent.
There is no profit in the coffee business
for US now and l should say the Have
meyers must be losing from $500 to
$1,000 a day in the business" said Mr..
Arbuckle. The witness also said that he
believed that if his company stopped buy
ing sCgar refineries the Havemeyers would
get out of the coffee business tomorrow.
James n. Jarvie, the partner of Ar
buckle, was also recalled. He testi-
fed that there was no profit in the coffee
business for the past two years There
was indirect contradiction of the state
ment of H. o. Havemeyer, who testified
that the coffee business presented a most
alIur1ng field for speculation and gave
magnificent returns for any investment.
Mr.. Jarvie said there were about 10000
coffee-roasting firms in the United States.
The three leading firms are the Arbuckle's
Company, the Mclaughlin Company OF
Chicago and the Woolson Spice Company.
Senator Lexow then went into an ex-
haustive inquiry about the coffee trade,
and the witness explained all about the
prices. Mr.. Lexow announced a recess
until o'clock, and said that in the mean
time the committee would hold an execu-
tive session.
The executive session lasted about ten
minutes. At its conclusion Chairman
Lexow announced that the committee had
deferred action In the Searles matter until
| 10 o'clock Monday next when it was ex-
pected he would be present.
H. o. Havemever was Oh hand when the
committee reassembled. He was recalled,
! and in reply to a question denied that
there were any sugar retineries closed after
! the consolidation of 1891. MIR. Havemeyer
! gave lot OF figures showing that the price
| of sugar was reduced 10 cents per 100
pounds since the formation of the trust.
John Bergen testified that he was en-
| ployed as foreman of the American Sugar
Refinery Company up to 1892, and was
discharged with 600 or 700 others The
witness said that at the time of organiza-
! ton OF the trust in 1887 5000 or 1000 men
were DISCHARGED.
Mr.. Havemeyer, who was sitting near
the reporters table, smiled at this state
| ment and said: "That man is bigger liar
! than he looks"
The witness said that the men were not
re-empIoyed and had to scatter all over
the country in search of employment. He
| further said that he understood one of the
retineries that closed was being turned
into coffee mill. Eight retineries were
closed since the formation of the trust,
and there was only one running now.
John Arbuckle again took the stand
| He wanted to explain that the price of
| coffee was very variable and that he be-
lieved it to be the most speculative busi-
ness in the world. He said his firm con-
| trolled about one-fourth OF the coffee trade
| of the United States and was handling
about 100000 bags annually. He said
there was no agreement between his firm
and other big firms TO fix prices.
| The witness, however. admitted that the
| price fixed by his firm was pretty gener-
ally followed by other firms.
Occasionally the price falls under
ours" explained Mr.. Arbuckle.
At this luncture Chairman Lexow an
| nounced adjournment until Monday.