The San Francisco call., 1910-03-23
LABOR ASKS THAT
TRUST Be BROKEN
American Federation Files Com
pIaint Against United States
Steel Corporation

WASHINGTON, March 22.-Sworn
statements and other documentary evil
dence to support the charges against
the United States steel corporation by
the American federation of labor were
presented to Attorney General Wicker
sham today. The evidence follows the
petition of the organization to Presi-
dent Taft, who referred the whole mat
ter to the attorney general Aside from
alleging that the corporation exists in
restraint of commerce and trade, the
federation's chief complaint is that the
corporation has used various means TO
prevent labor organizations working
among its employees.
TOWN RUN AS MONOPOLY
Many charges are brought against
the corporations town of Gary, Ind,
where the statement says that a mo-
nopoly of all necessaries of life is COM
plete and arbitrary prices are charged
for everything.
After outlining the acquisition by the
corporation of the interests of the Ten
nessee coal and iron company, which
Charles NJ. Schwab admitted was of ut
most Importance, and which, it was
claimed, was fully authorized by the
New Jersey charter of the corporate
the complaint to the attorney general
reads:
We assume that the honorable at
torney general will not regard
New Jersey state charter as any
authority whatever for eontraEen-
TO legaiize by state law and state
charter what is criminal and il
legal was clearly exposed and re-
ceived judicial disapprobation in
the Northern Securities company's
case.
The companies out OF which the
corporation was formed were the
main producers, in some instances
the sole producers, of many of the
grades and classes of the commodi
ties provided for in this charter.
with the exception, perhaps, that
the steel corporation assumed the
right TO produce the raw and crude
as well as the finished material.
The tin plate company, for exam
pie, endeavored to secure, prior to
entering the steel trust, a monop
oily or the tin plate manufacture by
absorbing its competitors, and so
with the steel and wire company
of wire goods
In word. the sources of in
formation We have given you. we
think, Justify the conclusion on the
part of your compliments that the
United States steel corporation is
the highest development and the
final produce of a giant trust, alb
sorbing many minor trusts.
In their fourth annual report,
promulgated by the steel trust. the
officials aVow that their intention
is monopolistic inadvertently the
fact is mentioned that this com
bination was formed TO avert
threatened competition which
would have lessened profits in the
prosperous period which was then
opening upon the iron trade and
would have proved destructive to
several OF the companies absorbed
If they had been left to competi-
ton. The admission thus is made
that the aim was to control this in
dustry and prevent competition for
the purpose of aggrandizing the
profits of the stock holders and
bond holders of this new entity. In
another report the trust officials
boast that they are able TO es-
cape the hazards and vicissitudes
OF the trade as 10 the necessities
of suffering under competitive
systems. In other words, they es-
capped control and repealed the
law of supply and demand