Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-06-21
ALLEGE VIOLATION
OF ANTITRUST LAW
SUPREME COURT ASKED TO FOR
FEIT LICENSES OF CORPORA
TONS AND coNFiscATE THEIR
PROPERTY OR FINE THEM.

ney General Elliott M. Major began
custer proceedings against FIVE meat
packing companies today by filing quo
warranto informations in the supreme
court. The companies attacked are
Armour Packing company, Morris and
company. Swift and company, Ham.
mond Packing company and St. Louis
Dressed Beef and Provision company.
The Armour, Swift and Morris com.
panies are charged with violating the
antitrust law and conspiracy and the
Hammond and st. Louis Dressed Beef
and Provision companies, as subsid.
1ary companies Of the National
Packing company with conspiracy to
control the business in Missouri.
The five companies are named In
two petitions which ask that the cor
| porations be excluded from all cor
porate rights, that their licenses he
forfeited and that all or such portion
Of their property as the court may
/ deem proper be confscated or IN tiep
thereof fine be imposed.
| Conspiracy Is Charged.
Armour, Swift and Morris ara
charged with having entered into
conspiracy in 1909 to control the
prices to be paid by dealers in live
stock, poultry, butter, eggs, dairy and
agricultural products, to control the
prices to be paid by retail and whole.
sale dealers for dressed meats and
to control the prices to be paid by
all retail and wholesale dealers for
| butter, eggs, poultry, game, dairy and
agricultural products and by-products
| from the business of slaughtering live
stock.
These companies the petition
says, entered into trust to unlaw.
fully regulate, fix and control the
prices at which others should sell aud
offer to sell to the consumer and 9TH
ers all dressed meats and eggs, poul-
try and other products and to control
the prices to be paid for such arti.
cles, when SO regulated, and to unlaw-
fully limit the trade In all products
with a view to lessen, restrict, limit
and destroy trade and full competition
in the purchase and sale OF these pro.
ducts, poultry, butter and eggs.
That in pursuance OF an unlawful
agreed upon and fixed from week to
week and day to day. an agreed price
paid and to be paid by all persons for
live stock and products which should
be purchased, sold or offered for
sale in Missouri; that the prices at
which the products were to be sold
were unlawfully fixed by means OF
which competition in the purchase
and sale Of meat products has been
lessened, restricted and destroyed"
Second Count Of Petition.
The second count OF the petition
charges that the three packing COM
panies conspired to restrain trade and
destroy competition in the purchase
and SAFE OF meat products, live stock
poultry, butter and eggs by fixing a
price to be paid by all
the membes Of the alleged ageement
and conspiring to control the business
of buying, selling and dealing in pack.
ing house products.
Continuing the petition says:
Through these agreements trade,
commerce and competition in the pur-
chase and sale Of packing house pro
ducts have been restrained and the
companies have obtained control OF
and monopolized, to the exclusion OF
all others, the business Of buying, sell
ing and dealing In OF commodities,
products of packing houses
The alleged absorption Of the Ham
mond and st. Louis Dressed Beef pro-
vision companies by the National
Packing company Ia said in the petit
ton Of the attorney general to have
taken place In September 1902. The
Hammond and st. Louis companies
are charged with having entered into
an unlawful agreement with others en-
gagged in meat packing for the purpose
Of restricting competition and pre-
vent lawful trade.
Bad Faith is Alleged.
The National Packing company. the
information filed in the court today
alleges. was chartered in New Jersey
in 1902 with capital stock Of $15,-
100000 to engage in meat packing and
selling and to hold stock of any other
oo,Noration.