Middletown transcript., 1906-06-23
WAShINGTONLETTER

tnie week telling Chairman w adSWoTtii O
the Agricultural Committee Just what tiie
President thought Of the substitute for the
Beyeridge Amendment proposed By the
majority of the committee. The letter
goes over the situation in detail shows
that the House substitute for the inepee-
ton Law is about as bad as it could be.
It appears to have been drawn by tile
counsel for the packers and if it had been,
as it probably was. it could not more
nearly meet the requirements OF the Beef
Trust. The President says that he may
sign It, bIr that If he does it viii be with
pIaihfy written reservations. 1t is more
probable that the measure will nos be
passed at all at this session and thai the
whole matter will be allowed to go over.
This wonld snit the wishes of the Beef
Trust and OF all their friends of whom
they have many in the House.
Second only to fhe interest IN the meat
inspection bin is that aroused this week
by the Department Of Justice in finding
indictments against the Fertilizer Trust.
This trust is Of more interest TO the south
than to the north as il has operated most
largely in the states OF Tennessee, Ala
baina, Arkansas, Mississippi, florida,
Georgia and North and South Carolina.
The indictments found against 1t are six
IN number and charge violation of the
Sherman law and conspiracy in restraint
of trade. 1t is said that in the states
where the trust has operated, it has been
able to put up the price of fertilizer from
$3.50 to $4 a ton above what it would
have been under free competition. The
price has already dropped an average of
50. 90 per ton since the prosecutions have
been impending. One of the neat tricks
of the trade that this investigation has
uneartiled has been the fact that the trust
was practically engineered from Canada
There was a company ofganiaed up there
under the laws of Ontario known as the
Colonial Development Company and sup
posed 10 have nothing to de with the fer
tilizer business in the States. But as a
matter Of fact ii was acting as the con-
trolling Company for all OF twenty7si
supposedly independent companies in the
United States and was adjusting territory,
regulating sales and distributing profits.
Now all of these United States companies
have been drawn into the cases as defen-
dants. Among others it will be noticed
that Armour, Swift and some others of
the big meat companies with whom fer
tilizer Is an important by product have
been caughtin the net and will have to
answer for their participation in this as
for number OF their other sins.
IT took the Interstate Commerce Com
mission good while to get busy III the
coal and d-oil investigation under the Titi=
man-G Gillespie resolution. It will be re-
membered that the first reply sent-to
Congress by the Commission was no reply
at all and was indignantly returned by
the authors Of the resolution with the or
der to get to work. Well, the Commission
has been working and has already turned
a good deal Of interesting material in the
way Of graft and corruption. But this
week Il sent out a circular letter to all of
the railroads in the country that will fur
nish material for at least one volume of
its prospective report It wants to know
the relation of all the roads to the coal
and oilcompanies along their routes. OF
course this viii not touch all Of the roads,
because many of them have no coal and
oil lands along their routes. But there
are few questions that nearly all of the
roads will have to, answer and one that
all Of them will be in on. 1t is the ques.
ton Of where they get their lubricating
oil. bow much they pay for it, who the
officials are who buy if, who the agents
are yhokell it.and. a lot Of other things,aIl
palpably against the Standard0il |
Company which is generally understood
to control the output of lubricating oil just
as thoroughly as it does the market for gas
oline and coal oil. It is question whether
anyone will ever read the commits.
sion's report through. 1t ought to contain
almost as many volumes as the War De-
partment's famous work "The Records of |
the Rebellion" But the series will have
! whole les OF sensational matterin il and /
ought to be valuable though cumber-
some library of reference on the coal and
oil business,
It bas been announced from the Patent /
Office that Commissioner Allen. in re-
spohse to unite | protest from the inyen-
tors Of the country, has decided to give
up his summer vacation and will hear
cases all through the hot season in hopes
81 catching up With. the work Of the Office
This is a great concession. The Commits.
sioner announced some time ago that all /
the other courts took q recess during the
summer and that he considered himself
! court and that he would do likewise.
The work Of his Office is lamentably be-
hind, so much SO in fact that IL takes two
years in some cases to get q patent through /
The Office. The matter was fought bit
Eerly with the attorneys on one side and /
lhe commissioner on the other but the
bureau Of circumlocution lost for once and
the work will be pushed all through the
hot months though with small chance Of
getting up to date on the mass OF cases
that have been piled ap. The real rem
sdy will be found in making the entire
patent Office force work ten hours per day
instead Of seven until they catch up with
their work. G. A. Snow & Co., Patent
Solicitors aag that this remedy has been
applied in years past with fine effect.
Tie extra hour imposition will make
real work during the day aud in tlfee
months the unnecessary and disgracefnl
ba sbwardness in the Patent Office will
cease oexist.
II son are looking for tie best general {
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