The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-14

tuuRhd anu tudt ne ud1 DOuBnt Lo DC offered for sale in his business ferti- lizsrs from several companies, all of which had offered the same prices.
 Was offered . Aebntes
 A man by the name of Burrows, MT. Howell said, came to him as a represen- tative of the Royster Fertilizer Com pany of Georgia and offered him a re- bate of .$1.50. He. did not. buy from Burrows. who told him. Mir. Howell said, that six or eight concerns had agreed on price; that the Goulding Fertilizer Company of Pensacola and the vir- ginia.Carolina Chemical Company. were in the combine. and that the. latter company had cut prices on man in Georgia, and the former would not.
 Mr. Howell related that a representa- tive of the Jefferson Fertilizer Com pany had offered cut of e5 cents. which he declined, because he had all the goods he needed. The contract, he explained, was to show the full price and the cut was to be made by another paper.
 win Kessier, a chief officer of the Goulding Fertilizer Company, denied to Mfr. Howell the participation by his company in any agreement. He offered the same delivered prices as Virginia Carolina Clinical Company, and said his prices were fixed by cost of produce tion.
 MT. Howell, concluding, expressed his belief in the existence of a trust. The travelling representatives of the sev- eral companies went out on the same day and seemed to divide the territory.
 w. E. Lacy. another merchant at Wetumpka, member of the firm of Luli and Lacy. testifed that his firm bought about 400 tons of fertilizer. He submitted contract in evidence. He could get no lower prices and no re- bates He heard there was an agree ment.
 Prices Were The same.
 All quotations were the same except that one company, MT. Lacy said, of- Tered rebates of about sixty-five cents. He was not sure which was the com pany. His partner was present and he thought one of his clerks was there, too.
 The impression that an agreement existed was made upon Mir Lacy's mind. He spoke of the Royster Com pany of Savannah, represented by Mir. Burrows. Mir. Burrows told him there was an agreement among companies on prices. Some of the companies. Mr. Lacy said ne was informed, had not lived up to the agreement. rebate was onered to him.
 X At the conclusion of MT. Lacy's tes- timony, the noon recess was taken. '
 John l. Ashcraft, an attorney of Florence. president of the Florence Wagon Works, director and attorney or the Tennessee Valley Fertilizer Com pany, was the first witness fl, the after noon. MT. Ashcraft testified that the reruiizer Company was a Yhnixinx piant' not manufacturer of chemi- calls and fertilizers.
 MT. Ashcraft was directly examined ny senator overton in regard to the territory covered by the compaAy and ss 10 the names of the traveling sales men or the company.
 Aiter laying predicate, Senator Sverton lea to the question, if witness knew the company had sold fertilizers so l.. Lons. of Walker county, who A sa.o m his testimony that Lee sneraIt mad told him of an agree Aneht among manufacturers to fix prices. To this question MT Asn.~a z. replied affirmativeiy.
 u Knew of No Agreement.
 MT. Ashcraft said he knew os s ss cement to fix prices, but he believs eu the trust" which he had under- ssooo was the Virginia Carolina Chem s.a. company controlled the market. and the smaller companies~-could moi compete with it. He compared "roen wac conducted large affairs" to the slsoiators whom the Roman t1eonle compelled to fight, and who. thomrb they may not have formed an associa- tioh, yet learned to reflect one another's- strength. . Questioned by Attorney General Gar per, MT Ashcraft said he had heard of the conversation between Lee Ash craft and Manager Taber of the Vir- Chemical Company. He mad not conferred with his brother about the conversations. He did not know Mir Tabsr.
 Here Senator Overton took the wit ness and questioned closely about his of the relationship of Leo Ashcraft and Mir. Taber. When the fact was adduced that MT. Ashcraft was President of the cotton s.ed oil mill, Attorney Garber asked:S
 Now there was a trust in that, was not there?
 And MT. Ashcraft said he had never heard of 1t. He added that he believed he and his brother had not been indict- ed.
 Mir. Ashcraft testified that his com pany had faid an average price of about $14 ton for cotton seed, the prices from SIS to ST. and that about 775 pounds of meal produced 300 pounds duced from art ton of seed. He sold 775 pounds of meal for about $s.60. Mir. Ashcraft. upon further interroga- tion, spoke of seeing the testimony of T. l., Long in the newspapers. He and his brother, he repeated, had not dis cussed the conversation his brother is reported to have had with Mir. Taber. x ~ Lee Asheraft on the stand. k Lee Ashcraft, the man who was said to have told him of the existence of the combination and to have given him a rebate, was the next witness. Mir. Ashcraft was fn managemsnt of the travelling salesmen, to whom mo printed forms or schedules of prices were given. Prices sometimes. he said, nuc- tuated while the agents were en route and proper notification was made to them. S
 He said the Tennessee Valley Fertili- ger Company had been member of tn Southern. Association of Fertilizer since about October, 1906. He personally was a member. His company, he said, had taken a pol icy with the Colonial Development but was not member of the 
 He said he discussed with his brother his communication with Mir. Taber.
 T was very much bothered by what MT. Long had <said," MT. Ashcraft said on, examination by Attorney General Garber.
 He denied that he asked his brother what course to pursue before the com mittee.
 "I counselled with him, and consid- cred what he said as adviee," he testi- fled.