The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-02
indictments Returned in Fa- nous Beef Trust Gases
 4
STYLE ILL COMPETITION
Technical Charge Against Them Is Violation of What Is Known as the Sherman Anti.
 Trust Law.

Chicago, July 1.-After an investigation which has lasted something over three months and during which more than 100 witnesses were examined, the federal grand jury this afternoon handed down it's report. Seventeen men prominent in the packing industries of the country were indicted for violation of the Sher- man antitrust law and four officials of the Switzerland & Sulzberger company were indicted for alleged illegal rebat- ing to the railroads. Besides these indi- vidual indictments, bills were voted against five corporations, Armour and company, Swift and company, Nelson, Morris and company. Cudahy Packing company and the Fairbank Canning com pany.
 The men indicted for alleged conspiracy - in restraint of trade which constitutes violation of the sherman act are: J. Og- den Armour, president of Armour and company; Charles Armour, of Armour and company, Arthur Meeker, general manager of Armour and company, T. J. Conner secretary Armour and company F. A. Valentine. treasurer Armour and company; Louis F. Swift. president of
 
 Swift and company, Lawrence A. Kaston treasurer of Swift and company. Ar thur r. Evans attorney for Swift and company. R. c. McManus. attorney for Swift and company Edward Cudahy of lCudahy and company, D. c. Hartwell, Isecretary of Swift and company; Edward F. Swift, vice president of Swift and company; Edward Morris, secretary of Nelson, Morris and company, and Ira w. Morris of Nelson, Morris and company. \ The four employees of the Schwarzchild land Sulzberger company who were in dicted for alleged rebating with the rail- J roads are all connected with the traffic \department of the corporation.
 Their names are, Samuel Well, B. s. jCusey, c. E. Todd, V. D. Skipworth.
 indictments Are Identical.
 The indictments voted for alleged viola ton of the antitrust law were identical in each instance. The indictments con tained each eight counts, which were spread over sxty-three typewriter pages.
 The first and second counts in the in- dictments pertained only to beef sold in the domestic trade. The third count charges conspiracy in restraint of trade and commerce between the states and with foreign nations in fresh, dried, smok- od cured canned and pickled meats and in certain bi-products of the packing n- dustry, viz: sausage castings, sausage containers, oleo stock. stearine and oils and also in butter, eggs and poul,ry. This count charges that the trade which the defendants were carrying on in the aDoye named commodities was to be re- strained in several ways:
 No Bidding Against Each Other.
 1. Competition in the buying of cat tie at the stock yards in different cities was to be prevented and destroyeu by the defendants who required their purchasing agents to refrain from bidding against each other
 2. Competition as to trade of the above commodities in foreign and domestic markets was to be prevented and destroy ed by the defendants fixing non-competi- tive and unreasonable prices for such commodities and requiring their agents in different markets to fix prices by agree inent from day to day according to what the market would stand.
 8. The supply of the above commodities was to be curtailed and restricted when ever necessary to maintain the prices so fixed.
 4 The United States was divided up into territories between the defendants and each was to keep its own territory without interference by others.
 5. There was division as to the volume or trade allowed to each defendant in a given market; if one packer sold more than his percentage during given week he was obliged to pay an ante" of so much per hundred weight according to the territory in which the matter occur red, into a pool to cover the excess of sales and this fund was divided among the packers who fell short in their sales.
 Appointed Exclusive Agents.
 s. Certain corporations, namely, the Aetna Trading company. and the Oppen- heimer Manufacturing company were to be appointed exclusive agents of the de- fendants to handle the sausage castings and containers and those companies were to make arrangements with the several concerns which had been handling such merchandise in the markets of the world for working in harmony and controlling the output and price of the merchandise. This scheme involved the destruction or ''tanking' of large quantities of castings whenever the supply was too great
 The Kenwood company, another corpor- ation. was to handle oleo oils and pro- ducts on substantially the same lines, ex- eepting that there was to be no destruc- ton of these commodities. These agents of the packers were also 10 make con- tracts with small packing concerns throughout the country for taking their output of casings and these castings were to be destroyed or handled in connection with the goods of packers.
 The fourth count charges that the same matters mentioned in the third count as being in restraint of trade and commerce constituted an offense on the part of the packers to monopolize such trade and commerce.
 The fifth count specially covers the handling of the bi-products. casings and containers. oleo stocks. stearine and oils, and describes a conspiracy in restraint of trade to be effected in the same as set forth in the third count
 The sixth count charges the castings conspiracy to be an attempt to monopolize trade and commerce in that commodity in the United States and in foreign coun- tries
 The seventh count sets forth the par ticuIaFD concerning the organization of
 
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