The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-02-05

the dealers.
1t dazed even the Osborne general
agents, honorable men, who had been
used to execute this wholesale fraud
upon the trade. They had been given
the most solemn assurances, written
and verbal, that the Osborne was an
independent company and to find them
selves duped was hard blow. The
inside facts as to the manner in which
the Osborne company was pressed to
the wall, how the head of the Osborne
family spent days of humiliation des-
perately begging for loans from all
street capitalists and New York banks,
how relentlessly the pressure was
brought to bear, and how the order for
the final turn of the screws flashed
over the wires would form a chapter
of financial piracy worthy of a promi-
nent place in the story of Wall street
wrecking expeditions.
Another instance where the Harvest
er Trust used dummy competition in
manner smacking strongly of the
Standard Oil flavor came to light
when it was discovered that the trust
owned the Keystone company located
at Sterling, Illinois. The Keystone Co.
under the management of E. X. But
Ter, formerly McCormick's right hand
men, Il giant in the harvesting ma
chine business, had begun the manu.
facture of harvesters and were making
quite 4 stir in the western trade, es-
pecially as they were assailing the
Harvester Trust in their full page ad-
vertisements much after the manner
of the Osburne company 1t proved
to be the Osborne deal over again and
the disclosure was another shock to
the trade.
1t would take many pages to tell of
the many typical Standard Oil tricks
of which the Harvester Trust has been
guilty; how it announced a selling
arrangement with the Weber Wagon
company which it had in reality
bought outright; how it has lobbied
with state legislatures; how it has
cajoled officials and committees repre-
senting dealers associations; how it
has handled Encouragement and
county attorneys; how it has been re-
primanded for attempting to trick an
Ohio court; how it fought in vain
against Attorney General Rogers of
Arkansas; how it spread broadcast its
false statements denying that it had
been ousted from Arkansas; how it
has tried to undermine the independ-
ent harvesting machine companies by
claiming to own them, how it has war;
red on dealers who have asserted their
independence; how it has threatened
and bulldozed the dealers; how it has
held up the dealers on freight rates
and how it has helped up the railroads
on rebates; how it is monopolizing
the Irvine trade; how, in fact, it has
ever been ready to use any tactics,
however INSCRIPTIONS, to avoid fair
competition and force trade its way
regardless of the merits of its goods.
This is, subject worthy of investi-
cation at the hands Of the government
at Washington. Then it will be
known to all men that the farmers of
this country need have no fear of lack
of competition among dealers in farm
machinery but that the Harvester
Trust is levying tribute not only upon
the dealers and farmers but, If allow
ed to accomplish its purposes, will lay
it's tax upon all of the consumers of
our agricultural products. This
brings the question home to every in
dividual and family.
Yours very truly,
"A. G. Wilkinson.