The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-07-09
SUGAR LEADERSHIP
IS NERVE.RACkING
TRAGIC FEATURES OF THE Eff
FORT TO ORGANIZE AGAINST
ALL COMPETITION.
Head of New York Board, Typical
Reformer, Now Under Indict-
ment.
Head of New York Board, Typical

NEW YORK, July 9.-Were Henry |
c. Havemeyer alive the indictment of
him upon a charge of criminal con-
spiracy would, of course, be the con-
spicuous feature of the criminal pros
ecution begun by the government
against the officers and directors of
the so-called sugar trust. Mr.. Have
meyer was sometimes called the
greatest of American merchants or
the ablest, since he was both manu-
facturer and a wholesaler and retail
er Of the product he manufactured,
and had in this work created one of
the gigantic corporations of the world.
But there was always a disposition
| to speak of the sugar trust methods
with some reservation, some hint of
suspicion, even on the part of the great
| financiers who knew something of its
| methods. And it was not infrequent-
" said that this corporation to a far
greaer extent than did the Standard
Oil Corporation illustrated many of
its alleged evils of corporate growth
and management. So, too, was al
ways said that the generalship which
inspired and the strategy which con-
summated the various activities which
perfected the sugar trust were, for the
| most part, the work of Henry o.
Havemeyer.
Mr.. Havemeyer, however, has passed
away.
Next in prominence to Mr.. Have
meyer himself was John E. Parsons,
and there is now to be the spectacle
of the appearance under indictment
to plead and to give bail of this dis
tinguished and now venerable lawyer,
one of the leaders of the American
bar, prominent in reform movements
and in church work in New York
city and the Berksbires.
Mr.. Parsons cannot escape this hui
initiation, even though upon trial NJ is
acquitted of the criminal charge. He
probably never dreamed that he would
be compelled to stand where some If
his clients have stood, facing a Grim
inal indictment, pleading to it and
signing his name to a bail bond
Technical Pleas.
None of the other indicted direc
tors of the so-called sugar trust is,
by name, SO we'll known to the public,
Mr.. Thomas, who succeeded Henry
o. Havemeyer as president of the
trust var ago, had gained high rep
utation for able direction of the bus
mess Of the sugar company that was
concentrated in Boston.
1t is now apparent thta there will
be no verdict in these cases until eff
ter prolonged preliminary proceedings.
The accused directors are to be rep
resented by counsel who, as whole,
reflect the highest attachments of the
American bar. William D. Guthrie
stands unsurpassed for legal ability,
profmdity of learning. as well as for
the highest integrity of professional
conduct. John NJ Bowers, who is the
immediate counsel of John K. Par
sons, has so practiced his profession
in New York that his name has now
become symbolic for the highest ideals
of professional practice.
Mr.. Bowers was also recently &C
knowledged by Edward NJ. Shepard
in open court to be the ablest cross
examiner at the bar of New York
stae, and unsurpassed as a cross eX-
aminer by any lawyer in the United
States.
The lawyers are evidently relying
upon the statue of limitations to free
the accused directors from this prose-
cution. And If the statute OF liIlita-
tions operates exclusively as from
the year of 1908, when the proceed
ings complained of were committed,
then undoubtedly the accused directors
are immune.
Not Morally Immune.
Yet a plea of this kind will be sure
to be regarded by the public as sort
of half confession of the truth of the
charges set forth in the Indictment.
For it will be said that if no guilty
act was committed why should these
men, who have been proud of their
high standing before the community,
now seek protection through the oper-
alton of a statute which limits the
institution of criminal proceedings to
three years after the alleged criminal
acts were committed.
This question of the operation of the
statue of limitations will undoubtedly
be relied upon to prolong the prose