The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-03-29
Some Mighty Interesting Reading
About Some Rather Shady Things
That Have Been Happening.
A HISTORY OF THE FORMATION OF
THE AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY
The State Constitution Vests in the General AS
sembIy Alone the Power to Repeal the
Charter Of Private Business Corpora
ton and to Provide For the Man
ner in Which its Business
houId be Wound Up.

The answer of Major VIM. y. Guth-
Pie in the BlacLwel1's Durham Tobac-
co Company suit was filed here yes
terday in the office of the clerk of the
United States Circuit court.
This is a suit, it will be remember
ed, brought by officers, directors ana
employees of the American Tobacco
Company. who are also large stock
holders in the Blackwell Company, to
have a receiver appointed for the
Blackwell Company and close up its
business.
The suit is brought against Black
wells Durham Tobacco Company and
the minority stockholders in it, and is
based on an interview with Maj. VIM.
= A. Guthrie, one of the minority stock
holders. published in the News and
Observer some months ago. In this
interview Major Guthrie declared his
intention to ask the Legislature TO re-
peal the charter of the Blackwell
Company on the ground that it was a
trust.
As soon as the interview appeared
the president, vice-president, secreta-
ry, treasurer and several directors and
employees of the American Tobacco
Company went before Judge Simonton
at Charleston and asked that a re-
ceiver be appointed. The petition was
granted and p. S. Hill, secretary of
the American Tobacco Company, was
named as temporary receiver, and
April nth at Charleston was fiXct;
as the time for hearing argument as
to whether the appointment of the re-
ceiver should be made permanent.
In the papers filed yesterday Major
Guthrie makes answer only for him
self and bases his defense on the fol-
lowing grounds:
/. That the court has no jurisdic-
ton
2.sThat if it had jurisdiction it ought
not to grant the relief for the reason
that the plaintiffs have come into court
actuated by an improper and illegal
purpose on their part: To merge the
Blackwell Durham Tobacco Company
with the American Tobacco Company
in order to create a monopoly in the
smoking tobacco business, in violation
of the constitution OF NOrUn Cdroilna
and contrary to the genius of free
State"
3. That Blacllwell's Durham Tobac
co Company being solvent going
corporation, chartered under the laws
of North Carolina, the only competent
authority to repeal the charter, dis
solve the corporation and wind up Its
affairs is vested in the General As
sembly of North Carolina under Arti
Gle VIII, section /, of the State Con
Stitution.
In the answer these contentious are
enlarged on at length, and to then
is added history of the formation Of
the American Tobacco Company
showing how it was originally organ
lied in 1890 under the corporation
laws of New Jersey and how it has
since that time combined, consolidat
ed and merged into the American To
bacco Company about thirty other cor
porations, partnerships and individual
concerns engaged in the manufacture
of cigarettes, smoking tobacco, plug
tobacco and cheroots, thereby monop
olizing the manufacture of tobacco
fixing arbitrarily the prices of tn