New-York tribune., 1910-02-05
BLOW TO UNIONS
BE1TEN IN D4NBURT
HIT CASE.
Manufacturer Recouers Verdict
of S222, 2,OOO-Boycott Brought
. Under Sherman Lac.

Liclo- NpiIAi-, ti- - 49,
laration of independence is what pan
iel Davenport, of counsel for the PLAIN
tiffs, calls the verdict of S222,oop rem
dered to-day in the United States Court
by the jury in the suit of D. F. Loe"e
&, Co, of Danbury, against two hundred
members of the hatters union of TINS
state. After being out a little more than
two hours the jury ordered actual dam
ages of $4,000 to the plaintiff, but as
the suit was brought under the Sherman
antitrust law, the damages are auto
matically tripled.
There was a remarkable scene in the
courtroom when the verdict was an
ncunced The defendants in attendance
were stunned, and groups dejectedly dis
cussed the significance OF the blow.
4 conference with the court followed,
at which it was decided to give the at
torneys for the defence hearing on
March 4, when motion to set aside the
verdict as excessive Will be argued. The
assessment of cost and the fees of the
counsel will also be determined.
1t is estimated that the costs will
amount to at least $1,000, and these.
with counsel fees, may bring the bill
against the United Hatters of North
America to fully a quarter of a million
dollars.
Asked regarding the moral significance
of the verdict, which is the most i'm
portant of it's kind ever rendered In this
country, Mr.. Davenport said:
First, it means that individual mem
of IaL hound hy the
actions of their officers. and they cannot
allow them to do as they please. Sec
ondly it means that the Sherman anti
trust law protects manufacturers and
merchants from boycott attacks. In
substance, it is a new declaration of in
dependence"
The plaintiff, D. z. Loewe, was sur
rounded by his friends in the courtroom
and congratulated upon the outcome Of
the case. He said that had he not won
the suit he would have had to go out of
business.
The judge in his charge practically in
structed the jury to bring in a verdict
for the plaintiff. He said the only ques-
tion for it to decide was one of damages,
and these were to be based upon the
losses sustained by the plaintiff between
July. 1902. and September, 1903, the
period during which the boycott against
the Loewe factory was maintained A
bill OF exceptions viii be filed by the de-
fence and the case viii be carried to the
Circuit Court of Appeals. and. if neces-
sary, to the United states Supreme
Court.
The union boycott against d. f.
LoeWe & Co. was. begun about eight
years ago. Difficulties between the COM
pany and the local hatters' union of
Danbury, Conn, brought on the strug-
gle. Affiliations with the United Hat
ters of North America, in turn supported
by Samuel GOmpers and the American
Federation of Labor, produced crisis
spiracy. existence of which is held by
the court to have been proved was so
successful that the company's annual
profit of S24 900 was not only wiped out
hut deficit of $1,000 was faced, a loss
in one year of S41 900 The loss of busi-
ness was particularly heavy in San
Francisco and on the Pacific Coast.
Matters came to such a pass in 1908
that the company engaged Daniel Dav-
export, of Bridgeport, Conn, and Walter
K Merritt OF New York, as counsel and
instituted a suit against the United Hat
ters of North America to recover $50 600
damages. naming Martin LaUlor, who
directed the affairs of the Danbury local
union. and 90 others as defendants
Some of these defendants are now dead
After two years in the United States
Circuit Court in Connecticut the case
reached the United States Supreme
Court, which refused, by unanimous
decision, TO sustain the demurrer filed by
the defendants. II was held that if the
allegations were true the Sherman anti
trust law applied and had been violated,
and that Judge Plat had jurisdiction.
The American Federation of Labor
stands ready to tax every union man in
the country 10 cents In order to pay the
DANA Ees. Samuel Compers figured In
the deposition as the editor of THE
tanned many bitter attacks against D. Z
Loewe & Co.
Washington Feb. 4.-Samuel Gompers.
president OF the American Federation OF
Labor. and Frank Morrison, secretary.
when told of the decision against the
bod