The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1909-06-11
Light THROWN ON
TOBACCO TRUST.
Methods Of Giant Octopus
Are Being Exposed.
Over Twenty Million Dollars
Realized by the Great
Combine in 1906.

Washington, June S.-The secrets
of the organization and methods OF
the tobacco trust will be made pub
! lie in a few days. Presidnet Taft
will submit to the senate these facts
in response to a resolution adopted
by that body some time ago. The
commissioner of corporations has
been gathering material and his re-
port is practically ready. Commits
sioner Smith will state in his report
that the tobacco trust was organ
:zed for the purpose of monopolizing
the cigarette business of the United
States. With the great profits de-
, rived from that source the trust Sc
cured a grip on the plug tobacco in
dustry and ultimately forced the
leading competing manufacturers to
come into the combination. This
resulted in an enormous trust which
dominates the manufacture OF both
plug and smoking tobacco.
1t is started that the tobacco COM
bination controls substantially three
fourths of the business of man
ufacturing tobacco other than cigars
lin the United States. The tables in
t'sluded in the report show the remar-
tnarkable increase of profits to the
concerns in the tobacco combination
/
reason why the American Tobacco
fkompany in early years was able to earn
| liberal dividends on the entire capital
cations the report says, lay in the
monopoly power The profits fell off
somewhat in 1904, but again increas-
ed reaching the maximum in 1906 of
/ s20,641, 7OS
The Smith report will also show how
the trust gobbled un the snuff in
dustry and also the cigar industry.
OF the later it thus far controls
only a limited portion of the bust
ness, but the unfailing successes of the
trust indicates that it is only mat
ter of time before it will control the
cigar business just as thoroughly as
it does the cigarette trade. The
Smith report will show that the Com
bination controls 81 per cent of the
chewing tobacco and 20 per cent of
the smoking tobacco annually con-
sumed in the country. 1t manufac-
lures SO per cent of the snuff and
so per cent of the cigarette output.
The Smith report will state that the
tobacco trust now embraces the
American Tobacco company and its
three powerful subsidiary combina-
tons, the American Snuff company
> the American Cigar company and
the British American company be-
sides eighty-two other subsidiary
concerns doing business in the
United States, Porto Rico and Cuba.
Commissioner Smiths report will
explain how by bit of sharp prac-
tice the trust was enabled to reap
enormous profits at the expense of
the government. This money was
used to further extend it's control
and increase its power. When con
grass imposed the Spanish war tax
on tobacco the trust was permitted
to reduce the size of its tobacco
packages. In 1902 congress reapeal-
ed the war tax but nothing was said
about requiring the trust to increase
its packages to the old size. During
these years it has been selling war
time packages at peace-time prices.
II has been estimated that this
shrewd bit of business has cost the
government $1s4.OOO,OOO and NEEDN'T
ally netted like amount of the trust.
In the brief period of three and a
half years following the organization
/. of the Consolidated Tobacco Company
this concern paid s6.00O,000 in divi-
dends and accumulated a surplus of
, 100000 In order to show that
the tobacco business has been concen-
trated into the hands of few men
Commissioner Smith states that imme
diately after the organization of the
Consolidated more than one-half of 1t
! shares were held by six men-James
B. Duke. A. N. Brady, o. H. Payne,
Thomas, r. Ryan, p. A. b. Widener
and William C. Whitney.
->s---
Franks President Of New Bank