Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-21
BEEF TRUST FIGHT BEGINS
First Real Hearing of the Case Takes Place
in Chicago Court.
JUDGE WILL LET THE INJUNCTION STANr
Gives II Out, However, that the order
Against Packers to Become PERM
anent, Must BE Changed
in Form.

CHICAGO, May 20.-The temporary in
junction issued by the United States court
against the packers will be permanently
-ued by the court. but not in the form
which the attorney general asked for II.
The packers made no defense to the
main issue when II was brought today be-
fore Judge Grosscup, although objection
was made to cover three details of the
order referring to agreements for regulat-
ing credits and sales to delinquent dealers.
On these points the contention Of the
packers was sustained, and Judge Grosscup
said he would draw up a new order after
his own ideas on the subject. This will be
issued shortly.
Attorney Bethea had with him Assistant
Attorney General W. a. Day. Solicitor Gen
eral ]. X. Richards, United States District
Attorney Worthington of Springfield. ILL.,,
and United States District Attorney Jo-
seph Heating of Indianapolis. On the other
side were arrayed the attorneys for the
packers, headed by John s. Miller, and COM
prising Thomas A. Moran, Louis c.
Krauthoff, James F. Meanher, A. H. Veeder
and Henry NJ. Wolf.
Betkea f. Heard.
AS soon as court was reconvened after the
noon recess Attorney Bethea was given
recognition. He asked the privilege Of call
ing the attention of the court to the case of
the United States OF America against Swift
and Company and others, for such is the
legal title of the now famous suit involving
the existence Of the alleged Beef trust He
read selections from the bill pray
ing for temporary restraining
order, and to sustain the petition he sub
mitted a great bundle Of afhdavits. All
~
meat trade, which have been named in the
bill already published, each taking up some
particular phase OF the allegations. The
general purpose of their presentation was
to make out before the court prima facie
case of disobedience and defiance Of the So
called Sherman antitrust law.
Mr.. Bethea then gave way to Assistant
United States Attorney Worthington who
made a brief argument for the evidence in
favor Of granting the temporary order.
When Mr.. Bethea had stated his case At
torney John s. Miller, for the defendant
packers read a brief reply In which he
said the packers in question do only 40 per
cent Of the packing business Of the country
and that this portion could not control the
entire business.
Says Prices Are Down.
meats were relatively less today than they
packers, he said, was to have full and
impassioned trial, and IL objection were
made at this time to the filing Of the pc
tition and It were tried on ex-parte afidav-
its this would not be obtained. He was
not prepared to say whether the defense
would be by demurrer or by answer, but
he objected to two terms of the order:
zone preventing the packers from en-
tering into an agreement respecting uni
form credits and another referring to
agreements for refusing to sell to delin-
quent dealers or dealers on 1.-The blacklist" :"
These provisions, he maintained were not
within the province Of the court or con-
trary to the provisions of the Sherman
antitrust law Of 1890.
Solicitor General Richards replied to At
torney Miller contending that the two OBJ
iections made to the order related to two
powerful weapons of the combination or
conspiracy of dressed meat Dealers
Judge Makes n Speech.
He wished to read afidavits to support
the contention. Assistant United States at
torney Day spoke to the same effect.
Judge Grosscup spoke at length before
giving his decision. He said that the court
would act no differently because the govern
ment is on the one side and vast business
interests on the other. 1t would move
slowly and deliberately
The allegations of the bill were reviewed
at length, and then the objections raised
by Attorney Miller were then referred to.
The court was Of the opinion that the con-
tention was we'll grounded. for any arrange
ment that tended 10 defeat the dead beat"
was for the advancement of trade. In con-
! cluding he said he did not like the sorm
of the order Of Injunction submitted by the
district attorney and that while he would
have to issue 1t. since no objection was
raised by the defendants against it's issue,
he would draft new order for the injunc-
tion.
Order Asked by Government.
The restraining order asked for was sub
stantially as follows:
| The government asked that Temporary
| order issue from this court restraining
until final hearing or until further order
OF this court, the defendants, the Cudahy
Packing company. Armour & Co., the Ar
nour Packing company. the G. H. Hammond
company, the Schwarzchild & Sulzberger
company (corporation), Nelson Morris and
Edward Morris and Ira N. Morris (copart-
| ners as Nelson Morris & Coz, J. Ogden
Armour, Patrick A. Valentine, Calvin NJ.
Favorite, Arthur Meeker. Thomas ]. Con-
nors, Charles F. LAngdon. Michael Cudahy,
Edward Cudahy. Patrick Cudahy, Albert F.
Borchert. Gustavis F. Swift, Louis f.
Swift. Lawrence T. Corton, Edwin Hartwell.
Jesse P. Lyman, Frank E. Vogel, Louis
Pfaelser. William Russell, Albert II. Wee
der Henry Veeder, Edward c. Swift, Fer
dinand Sulsberger, and w. II. Noyes, citi-
gems of Illinois, Massachusetts and New
York, their agents and attorneys, and all
other persons acting or claiming to act for
them, from violating the provisions Of the
act Of congress. entitled as act to protect
trade and commerce against unlawful re-
straints and monopolies. and TO restrain
the packers from engaging or continuing
In any combination or conspiracy as to
trade and commerce in fresh meats"
The order then goes on to ask that the
packers be restrained from the various
overt acts charged in the bill at the "sev-
eral stock yards and open and competitive
markets in Chicago, Omaha, Sioux City, St
Joseph, Mo-, Kansas City, East 81. Louis
St. Paul aud any other place in the United
States where they customarily purchase
live stock coming from those markets"