The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-17
SUGAR TRUST
 TRIAL OPENS Chargedt tith Accepting
 < Rebates. 0ucTIoN OF SIX CENTS
Freight Was Shipped at Rate Be-
 low Published Tariff.
American Refining Company Under Prosecution for Accepting s2s,- coo, for Giving which Raar-
 roah has Been Convicted.

New York, Nov. 1e.--The trial of the American Sugar Refining Company. charged by indictment with having violated the Eikins act in the accept ance of rebates from the New York Central Railroad in the spring of 1908. amounting to s26.0OO, was begun today before Judge Holt in the United Estates Circuit Court.
 For the granting and giving of the Irebatss. the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company was yesterday convicted in the same court.
 Although the Central Railroad has lnow been twice convicted of relating, land fined in the first instance s1os,00o. and number of indictments for vio- ilations of the same act have been re- turned against both the American su- gar Refining Company of New Jersey. this is the first trial Of the so-called l sugar trust"
 The present indictment against the sugar company Is believed to be the least important of several It charged that the defendant accepted s2e,OoO in | EFGDaL&9 a LoW lIDnAuH 1NDSSQNSktb " l the passage of the Elkins act, the shipments having been made, however, several months prior to the enactment of the law.
 The sugar company, was represented by Joseph H. Choate, Alton B. Parker, l John F. Parsons and Tomkins K Mc- f Ilvaine; the government by United States Attorney Stfmson and hls as- sistant, Henry A. Wise.
 l Fred E. Hearst. who was employed 1 in the safes department of the sugar company in 1909 and 1908, said that I the rating of aii sugar shipments was under the direction of Lowell K. lPalmer, head of the sugar companys ttrafKic department. All sugars were so billed that the conslgnees paid the l freight upon receipt Of the goods. I When Assistant Auditor George F. lft8Berfa Of the sugar company, was lnal1ed to show what The Scheduled lrates for sugar from New York to .I IGIeveland was in 1902. there came a storm of objection from Messrs Par ker and McIlvaine. The objections 1 were overruled. however, and the wit ness testified that the rate in the years referred to was 21 cents per hundred pounds.
 | The defense took exception to Judge Hoit's ruling on all the objections. lTanring the examination of witnesses it came out that the agreed statement of facts conceded by the defense was I inc same as the adaptations made be- | tween the government and the New York Central in yesterdays trial
 Lowell M. Palmer, who was Tor many years the head of the sugar com panv's traffic department, was the next Government witness. He told first that | aIl matters pertaining to routing, claims. ratesssshortages, etc, were ad- justed through his department. He l said he had been connected With the Broolxivn cooperage Company, which made -.fbe barrels for the sugar conn tnanv and the Brooklyn Transportation Tompany, which did the trucking for the sugar company Tn 1901, during the absence of II. O. Havemeyer m Furope he had acted us the ehief eX- eeutive of the defendant corporation MT Palmer said.
 freuuently interrupted by the oblec- tions of Judge Parker and Mr. Me- TlvaIne MT Palmer testified that he rent separate bank account for the trafic department. but he was not per mitted to explain how the clerks m his department were paid, the court Sustaining Judge Parker's objection on that point,
 Mir Palmer said he had consulted with General Traffic Manager Pomer- nv. of the New York Central, anI vice. e-President Nathan Gullford, Of the same road. concerning rates for sugar shipments to the West.
 The agreement made by the witness and General Traffic Manager Pomeroy, of the New York Central, introduced in yesterdays trial against the Cen- tral was put in evidence. Under It. the rate between Brooklyn and Cleve- land was reduced six cents from the published tarlf rate of twenty-one cents. to fifteen cents. A letter writ fen bv Mir Palmer to Nathan R. Gull ford, the traffic manager of the Gen. tral showed that the reductions on re- bates were allowed with the knowl' edge of Vice-President Guilford, then traffic manager of the Central
 way bill was introduced to show that sugar had been shipped to Cleve- land. A claim showing rebate. of six cents was allowed on all goods con signed to points west of Cleveland ana four cents per hundred on all goods consigned to Cleveland proper and not rsshipped was placed in evil
 Following this a letter from c. R. F4eieke. then secretary of the Ameri- can Sugar Refining Company, was read. This was read in reply to one asking where and how the six cents 70 be returned as an overcharge was
 
 MT. Heicke's letter said the money would be paid into the defendants commission account, and finally to the credit of the Brooklyn Transportation Company
 bank in Buffalo, and paid to Mir Palmer, representing the alleged re- bates. was introduced in evidence de- spite Mir. McIlvaine's attempt to pre- vent It's reading by admitting It's ex' istence.
 On cross examination. Mir Palme' said he had been engaged In the Iighterage business in Brooklyn al Palmer's docks. independently Of thu sugar trust business. since 1874. He handled all manner of business then he said, in addition to sugar
 What did you understand by tn. law?" asked the defense's lawyer.
 T did not understand any restric
 tions were placed upon the shipper bN the interstate commerce act. and also under certain recent decisions, pn lderstOod that railway had the rikhi