The sun., 1904-12-28
SUES WESTERN PAPER TRUST.
GOVERNMENT TO BRING A NEW
SHERMAN Law ACTION.


SHERMAN Law ACTION.
Petition 10 BE Filed In Minnesota Against
the General Paper Company and Its
Action Taken on }. NJ. Beck's Advice.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 27.-The recent in
quiry into the operations OF the Paper
Trust has satisfied the President and the
Attorney General that the General Paper
Company is monopoly in restraint OF
interstate commerce and should be prose.
cuted. Official announcement that a suit
is about to be brought against this trust
was made by Attorney General Moody to-
night
The action has already taken form in a
petition addressed to the Judges Of the
United States Circuit Court for the District
Of Minnesota. The petition will be filed
as soon as the other necessary papers in
the case can be prepared.
The Federal action against the Northern
Railway merger was brought In the same
court. As was the case in the merger suit,
to-day's action came entirely without warn
ing. The following official statement was
given out from Attorney-Ge General Moody's
Office tonight:
'On the complaint OF many newspaper
publishers last spring that combination
in restraint of commerce existed among
manufacturers Of paper to control the
distribution and sale Of their products
among the States Of the Union the Depart
ment Of Justice began an investigation OF
that subject; and, to further aid the Depart
ment in that respect the Attorney General
appointed Frank B. Kellogg Of the st.
Paul, Mimi, bar and James M. Beck Of
the New York bar as special attorneys
to collect the evidence and make a report
thereon. These gentlemen, after an e1-
haustive examination OF the matter stimuli
taneously with that conducted blythe De-
partment Of Justice, have reported to the
Attorney-Genera that in their opinion the
facts asoertained support the complaint and
justify. in the public interests, the fling
OF petition to enjoin the operations Of
the General Paper Company, a corpora ton
OF Wisconsin. which is the instrumentality
through which the alleged combination to
control the prices and distribution Of those
products in the Western States is oon-
Quoted. In this opinion the Department
Of Justice concurs.
The Attorney General to-day directed
that petition be filed against the General
Paper Company and the twenty-four paper
manufacturing companies located in the
States Of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michi-
gan, which it represents, to have such COM
bination declared to be an unlawful restraint
upon interstate commerce and monopoly.
The petition will be filed in the United States
Circuit Court for the District Of Minnesota
as soon as the necessary papers can be pre-
pared"
The petition to be filed by the Govern
ment declares that all these corporations
are engaged In manufacturing news, print,
manila, fibre and other papers and in sell
ing and shipping the products aforesaid to
dealers and owners and managers Of news
papers and other consumers in this and
other States, to wit, the States Of Illinois,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana. Utah, Colorado.
Kansas Nebraska, Missouri and other
States west Of the Mississippi River"
The way in which the alleged conspiracy
was brought about is thus described in
the Governments petition to the Circuit
Court:
'On or about the 2eth Of May, 1900, the
defendants last above named caused to
be organized under the laws OF the State
of Wisconsin a corporation styled the
General Paper Company. with a capital
stock Of slOO, 900, divided into 1000 shares,
which were distributed among and are
now owned and held by the said last named
defendants and the defendants that SUBJ
sequently joined in the aforesaid COM
bination and conspiracy, as hereinafter
set forth, in proportions based, as your
petitioner is informed, on the average
daily output Of the mills OF each defendant,
which corporation by it's articles OF in
corporation is authorized to become, as
its principal business, the sales agent for
any and all kinds Of paper and paper prod
ucts and any and all merchandise manu-
factured from paper or paper pro iucts
by mills in the State OF Wisconsin or else
where; and thereupon, in pursuance OF a
common plan and understanding, each and
all Of the aforesaid defendants entered
into a contract and agreement with the
said General Paper Company, making it
the exclusive selling agent for their papers
and paper products and oonferring upon
it absolute power to control and restrict
the output Of their mills, fix the price Of
all papers sold throughout the States afore-
said and determine to whom and the terms
and conditions upon which paper shall be
sold and into what States and places it
shall be shipped and what publishers and
other consumers each mill shall supply
The investigation showed that each OF
the companies now made defendant pays
to the General Paper Company for acting
as its selling agent q certain percentage
Of all sales Of paper. The petition further
recites that the Manufacturers Paper
Company, organized under the laws Of
New York, but doing business in Chicago,
Is a party to the combination and con-
spiracy. The Government. in concluding
Its petition, prays the court that 'the de-
PENDANTS and each and every one Of them
and their officers. directors, stockholders
agents and servants, and each and every
one OF them, be perpetually enjoined from
doing any act In pursuance Of or for the
purpose Of carrying out the same, and In
addition thereto that the several defendants
be respectively enjoined as follows:
First. That the defendant, the General
Paper Company. be enjoined from acting
as the sales agent and fixing the price at
which the news, print. manila, fibre and
other paper Of the various defendant oorpo-