Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-21
ATTORNEY GENERALS REPLY
HIS ANSWER TO JOINT COMMITTEES
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION.
Denies Any Knowledge or Possession
of Agreements as to Steel Trust
Mr.. Martins Statement.

District Assembly GO. Knights of Labor, In
| reply to one from the committee requesting
information from Mr.. Knox regarding the
United States Steel Corporations:
WASHINGTON, d. c.. August 20. 1901.
''Mr. H. B. Martin, Chairman Joint Com
mittee OF American Antitrust League.
| ETC.. City: -5
| "Sir-I have the honor to acknowledge
| the receipt of your letter of August 49, 1901.
In which you request me to obtain for you
| certain information with reference to GER
] tain alleged agreement or agreements
made between the constituent companies
| and individuals who organized the United
| States Steel Corporation You ask me to
afford you all the information that l may
| possess or can obtain and you specifically
refer to an alleged trust or syndicate
| agreement. which. You state. the president
| Of the United States Steel Corporation. Mr.
| c. M. Schwab. refused TO furnish to the
| United States Industrial commission when
| on the witness stand before that body and
| you further state that your request for in
formation is to be understood as covering
any other contracts Of a similar kind with
which You are acquainted or which you can
| obtain for u.s.
You also state that your request for in
| formation Is founded upon informat ton and
| belief that at the time this contract or
| these contracts, was or We're made that
was in some way officially connected with
the Carnegie Steel Company and you
|
which you request must be In my possess
| sion or conveniently at hand l am there
| fore, requested to give you the substance
| or. II possible. copy thereof.
Primarily, permit me to say that your
| requests are founded upon an erroneous as
sumption. 1 do not know who the individ-
uals are who organized the United States
| Steel Corporation. If they are the persons
| usually named In the newspapers as the
promoters of that organization. with the
single exception of Mr.. c. N. Schwab. do
not know. never saw and was never in any
way connected with any one of them. 1
| never heard Of any agreement between
i them and the constituent members Of the
| Steel Corporation.
| the United States Steel Corporation nor
at any time was 1 officially connected with
| the Carnegie Steel Company. l was for
merly one of its legal advisers in the con-
| duct OF Its manufacturing business, but
| was never consulted with reference to the
| formation or the United States Steel Com
pany. nor in relation to the sale TO that
company OF the shares Of stock held by the
| stockholders Of the Carnegie company
| Il have never seen the papers or agree
ment to which you refer. nor have 1 been
| knowledge whatever OF their existence
terms or scope. 1 am thus specific. as 1
| desire to cover both the spirit and the let
| ter Of your inquiry.
| Il may say moreover, that have no ar
cess TO the agreement or papers to which
| you refer / know nothing of the one to
| which you especially refer, and do not even
know that such agreement Is in exist
ence. The Information which you request
therefore, Is not in my possession or con-
| venfently at hand, you assume and 1t
Is therefore impossible for me to comply
with any Of the requests set forth in your
| letter. All this Information you could at
any time have acquired through the usual
method OF direct personal inquiry. thereby
| avoiding the doubtful prOpriety Of address,
| ing me through the medium of an open let
| ter, which you concurrently delivered to
the press.
whether. IL such papers were accessible
| to me. it would be my duty to obtain them
and furnish them for use In legal pro-
| ceedings to which you are a party and the
nature OF which you do not explain is a
| question which / do not care at this time
| to discuss.
IF may regard the letter as addressed
to me officially will say:
IF this department is under obligation to
| furnish information to prospective nti-
| giants in undisclosed proceedings it's re-
| sponsibilities and labors are necessarily
greater than they have ever been imagined
| from the time of its formation. Indeed as
there are generally two parties to every
controversy, 1t would be difficult to dis
| charge such alleged duty to both parties.
in view Of conflicting interests This de-
| partment was not called into being to fur
nish information II private ltigants. It's
duty and it's objects are to enforce the fed
| eral statutes as Interpreted by the courts
wherever there Is probable cause for be-
| lieving that they have been violated.
"(Signed) p. c. KNOX,
Attorney General
Mr.. Martins Statement.
After receiving the answer Of the Attor-
| ney General Mr.. Martin last night made
| the following statement:
The letter addressed to me as chairman
| OF the joint committee Of the American
| Antitrust League and District Assembly
| 60, Knights Of Labor. by Attorney Gen
| eral P c. Knox today In reply to our
! letter Of August 10 asking him for copies
| Of certain discriminating documents affect
| ing the steel trust. which we believed were
| in the possession Of or accessible to the
| Attorney General, and which he denies
| possessing. and which he intimates that
| he might not allow to be used in a civil
| or criminal prosecution against the steel
| trust even IL he had them In his possess
sion. certainly raises some very important
questions
AFTER making his denial of being in
possession Of the evidence which we were
| seeking the Attorney General makes this
complaint, which seems to indicate that
the publicity Of our action was Irritating
to him. He says: All this information
you could at any time have acquired
through the usual method OF direct per-
sonal inquiry, thereby avoiding the doubt
full propriety Of addressing me through
the medium of an open letter, which you
concurrently delivered to the press
1--WE were not aware that there was any
improperly in a citizen or body Of citi-
ZenS puDncly ADDRESSING the chfef prose-
cutting officer of the United States in ref
erence to grave violations of law that were
being committed, to the great injury Of
the people OF the United States. --
Such a matter Is in no sense a private
matter. to be settled by personal and pri-
vate interviews or conferences between the
Attorney General and q eitizen;, but it Is
a public matter. in which all the people Of
the United States have right to the full
est and freest knowledge Of all action tina:
is taken.
Attorney General Knox says: Neither
at the time Of the formation Of the United
States Steel Corporation nor at any time
was I officially connected with the Car
negie Steel Company This looks like a
very sweeping denial on the part of the
Attorney General as to the many charges
that have been made in the public press
to the effect that he was formerly con-
nected with the Carnegie company or the
steel trust. But the force and effect of
this denial are entirely destroyed by the
remarkable admission which the Attorney
General makes In the next sentence when
he says: I was formerly one of its legal
advisers in the conduct of Its manufacture
ing business. This language OF the At
torney General certainly looks eyasive in