Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-03-10
'iR. CoR1ELYoU DEF|ED
hundreds of Illegal Trusts Laugh
at the New Bureau.
LAUNT THEMSELVES IN IT'S FACE

lureau of Industries Has Slept One
Year-No Sign of Life Yet-Plenty
of Trusts. but No Publicity In Sight.
where to Find the Trusts - Iron
Age Full of Them.
The bureau of industries of the new
department. of commerce, which was
.ormed last year by the Republicans to
iemolish the trusts by publishing the
.acts about them, has slept nearly one
year, and there are no surface indica
lions that it's Rip Van Winkle slumbers
ire nearing an end. The little informa-
ton about this bureau published in the
annual report of the department of
commerce indicates that there will be
no publicity of trust transactions until
after the presidential election
But the trusts are not asleep. They
are having Il riotous time around this
sleeping, doing bureau. Hundreds of
them are openly and daily punderins
the public i'll defiance Of all law. Pick
up almost any trade paper. and you
are Illegal both in the eyes of the Sher-
man antitrust act and of the common
law The steel, coal, tobacco and scores
of other great trusts are most certainly
illegal, but the trust attorney general
refuses to act upon the facts put into
his hands more than year ago about
lawyers declare that these facts estab-
lish the illegality of these trusts. Per
haps the bureau of industries recog-
niZes that it is useless to obtain facts
that the attorney general does not want
and would not use if he had them.
To show how easy it is to find trusts,
unless you are as blind as Il bat at mid
day, the following extracts are quoted
from an article in the Iron Age of Jan.
Z, entitled The Pittsburg Iron Trade
In 1903"
Price Agreemcnts.--In 1908 there
were in existence price agreements of
four of the principal fixed lines of iron
anu SlCcI, lucSt UclIS plates,
material, steel bars and shafting. In
addition the rail pool was maintained
all through the year. and the billet pool
was revived in July. During the entire
year the price of beams was main
tanned steadily on the basis of LEO
cents up to Is inch, and plates We're the
same price.
hn y,v.iI,n of c{nn
tanned steadily at LEO cents. Pittsburg,
until November, when. owing to the
lower prices on pig iron and steel and a
very light demand. it was deemed ad-
vlsabie 10y the Steel Bar association to
reduce prices, and accordingly a cut of
VT was made. the price being reduced
from go to 1.30 cents At the same
time and for practically the same rea-
sons the Slafting association made a
reduction OF about 70 per cent in price
of shafting
These price agreements have been
renewed for 1901 and will continue in
force all through the year unless some
unexpected conditions come up which
would make it advisable to terminate
~N-~N-N' '''' 'Ai-'' ~ 'ittiNiN ilNtiN
''The Steel Rail association has main
tanned the price of standard sections
all through the year at sos at mill, and
in spite of general expectations of a re-
ducton we understand that the mills
nave again renewed the price of sos for
1904 delivery
Owing to depression in the steel
trade. which started in the summer
months, the price of steel hillets stead.
lily deel:nPd and the trade became de
moraliZed. some large salos having
been made to leading consumers at
very ioW dguves. CW.ng to These, runl.-
tons thc b.t?et manufacturers deemed
II atTiHa}.e 20 revive tEc billet pool for
the purpose of Stoadying the mayket.
ana this WAS done in July. The price
or Hessemer billets WAS fixed at So
and open hearth a SIS It was very
soon demonstrated, however. that the
trace would not take hold at these
prices. and AZ Il meeting OF the b;l,et
pool IN November n cut of 81 was made,
IN H@ssomer and 81 in oncn Near:l, the
price of ReSseiner and omen hearth bill
lets being put at $23. Fittsburg. On Dec
Is a meeting Of the hiliet pool WAS held
In New York. anl this price was re-
newed fer all of 1914. ="
W nat fun the trusts are having. What
picnic the peol,le would have if the
bureau of industries would wake up
and get busy" Will it and the nttor-
ney generals Office ever be run in the
interest OF the people and against the
trusts? BYRON w uoJr