Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-03
TYPICAL PRODUCT OF
KINGS OF FINANCE

/
pany popularly known as the sugar
trust'') recently returned by a federal
grand jury in the city of New York.
slight resume of the recent history OF
this, one of the greatest and most in
famous creations of our modern kings
of finance may be interesting.
This corporation, beginning some
years ago under the fostering care OF
its creators, the Havemeyers, became
famous as one Of the most aggressive
successful and ruthless Of that charac-
ter of destructive corporations which
have since become more properly
known as trusts"
Through the influence of a strong
lobby which 1t has maintained I'M
Washington for years it has practical
ly written the sugar schedule in every
tariff bill that has been framed by
congress for the past two decades, and
its servants in Washington, among
whom are numbered many senators
and congressman, have been and are
busy framing the sugar schedule of the
Payne-Aldrich tariff bill now on it's
passage through congress.
Through the ability of men at its
head and by grace of the fostering care
of a paternal government which has
at all times protected it with large
tariff on refined sugars at the expense
of the consumer, this huge project of
the genius Of our "l1ings of finance
has reached a capitalization Of some-
thing like $4,000, 900.
One would suppose that the favors
which it has succeeded in obtaining
from congress by the methods by
which such great aggregations of capi-
tai contrive to command the services
of senators and representatives, would
have satisfied almost any appetite and
should have prevented this great cor
poration from endeavoring to prey upon
the government and the people in any
other way This was not the case,
however, with the sugar trust
It's history shows that it has never
missed any opportunity, great or small,
Of securing any advantage by violating
the laws even to the extent of commit
ting larceny.
A few years ago the Brooklyn city
authorities discovered that by means
of a secret pipe connection between
the trusts Brooklyn refinery and city
water main by which the city's water
was taken into the refinery without
passing through the city meter, thou
sands of dollars worth of city water
hs CT fo, in, ha
OF course, the responsible officials of
the trust denied any knowledge Of this
theft and a few subordinate employees
suffered for 1t.
Later the trust was prosecuted on a
number of counts for violating the in
terstate commerce law by accepting re-
bates and was convicted and fined.
Recently it was discovered that by
means of short weight scales upon
which raw imported sugar was
weighed into its refinery it had cheated
the government out of something like
81, ,OOO, 900 in revenue. When this discov-
cry was made the officials of the trust
came up and settled by paying to the
government the amount that it was
estimated 1t had stolen by these fraud
ulent scales. OF course, the response |
BILE officials of the trust disavowed all
knowledge of the actions on the part
of its employees by which the corpora |
tion had profted to the extent of
something like S2O0O,OOO, and a few
subordinates were arrested and are
being prosecuted for the crime.
1t appears now, however, that the |
principal officials have been caught in
a most gross violation of the Sherman |
antitrust law in their efforts to de- !
stroy a competitor.
This interesting story is so we'll told |
in a recent issue of the New York |
Evening Post as to make it worth |
while to reprint what the Post says |
which is as follows:
Built In 1903 by Adolph Segal, the
Philadelphia real estate operator, the
Pennsylvania sugar refinery was at the |
time of its completion a model refinery, |
up to date in every respect and su-
perior to any plant possessed by the
trust Segal had erected it for the ex-
press purpose of competing with the
trust, and that he was in a position to
do so successfully appears from the
great interest taken by the Havemeyer !
concern in the new rival. Segal him !
self is a remarkable character; a man
who came to this land twenty-five years
ago an almost penniless immigrant, he !
quickly amassed a fortune, and aided |
materially the development of the city
Of Philadelphia by his successful real
estate speculations. In the course OF
time however, Segal became, too much |
involved and came to grief financially |
with the sensational failure in 1906 Of
the Real Estate Trust company of
Philadelphia, now a party to the suit
against the sugar trust, The president
Of the trust company committed sui
eide, and Segal, with two officers Of the
company, was indicted on forty-one
counts for fraud and conspiracy. Not
until two years later was Segal able to
obtain justice and prove that he was
guiltless of any wrongdoing. The re-
ceiver Of the trust company, George H.
Earle, jr, now its president, aided him
to obtain his eXoneration.
1T was at the time that he first
found himself in financial straits and
needed a loan of 81 1,25OO 900 on his new
refinery that Gustav Z. Kissel offered |
to accommodate him. Segal, not being
aware that Mr.. Kissel was an agent Of
i ~,