The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-12-02
AF TER SUGAR MEN
Government Would Dissolve
Trust; Files Bill
NAMES HEAD OF M0RMONS.
Havemeyer Executors Also Charged
With Participating In Gigantic
Monopoly In Restraint of Trade.
How Business Was Controlled.

New York. Nov. 29.--United States
Attorney Wise has filed the long ex-
pected bill of complaint in the gov
ernments suit to dissolve the sugar
trust under the Sherman antitrust law.
In the suit, like that against the Stand
ard Oil. the government asks the court
to declare that a combination and CON
spiracy exists for the monopoly of the
sugar business and to restrain the
American Sugar Refining company, the
National Sugar Refining company and
the Western Sugar Refining company
from engaging in interstate commerce
in sugar and TO restrain any one from
voting on the stock of the companies
named in the bill.
The bill was drawn by Mr.. Wise un-
der the direction of Attorney General
Wickersham and names as defendants
thirty sugar companies alleged to be
part of the trust, together with their
officers, and also the executors of the
will of IL. o. Havemeyer, head of the
American Sugar Refining company, un.
der whose direction the alleged monOp-
oily was formed.
Among the individual defendants
named are Washington B. Thomas,
Charles II. Foster, former assistant sec
retary of the treasury, and elected
treasurer of the trust; John ID. Spreck-
els, Adolph b. Spreckels and John ID.
Sprcckels, Jr., and Joseph +. Smith of
Utah. head of the Mormon church.
The bill recites the history of the
companies beginning at the original
trust agreement of 1887, when seven
teen of the twenty-three existing sugar
companies entered into a combination
under the name of the Sugar Refineries
company, controlling 80 per cent of the
industry. Within the next two years.
it is alleged. twelve of the refineries
then combined were closed up. and
the remainder were combined into four
large retineries.
These consolidated refineries-name-
ly, the one in Williamsburg, the Stand
ard at Boston, the Matthiessen at Jer-
sey City and the Louisiana at New Or
leans-were taken over by the Ameri-
can Sugar Refining Company of New
Jersey, "Since which time" says the
synopsis of the bill given out by Mr..
Wise "the company has uniformly pur-
sued the policy of absorbing competi-
tors whenever it could and when sue
cessful sometimes operating their re-
fineries and in other cases closing them
down to prevent an increase in the
amount of sugar produced"
In 1892 the American controlled 9S
nf oil -, a.;
country, says the bill.
From 1892 to 1900" says Mr.. Wise's
statement. "many other refineries
started up and others tried to- or
these company in Baltimore built
refinery, but before it could operate
the American Sugar Refining company
bought its capital stock and never al
lowed it to open"
The bill alleges that since 1900 Have
meyer and his family and the sugar
company have controlled the National
Sugar Refining company and restrained
competition with it and that the Ma
tlonal company in turn has restrained
competition with the McCahan compa-
ny.
In addition to giving a summary of
the customs frauds and the rebate cases
as evidence of the means employed to
crush rivals the bill says:
''In order further to cripple competi-
tors, destroy competition and strength
en- the monopoly the defendants, act
ing in combination, have long sought
unduly to control the avenues through
which sugar is distributed as part OF
interstate and foreign trade and com
merce. BY using their great power
they have demanded that brokers and
other Intermediates should handle their
products unfairly and unlawfully, and
for a long time they wrongfully in
duced members of various wholesale
grOcers' associations throughout the
country to purchase and handle their
sugars exclusively and to sell the same
at uniform prices without competition
among themselves and thereby have
greatly damnified their competitors,
other manufacturers and dealers, as
well as the public"
In order TO acquire the he-t sugar
companies the American, the bill re-
cites, sent out large quantities of sugar
TO the middle west on which il obtain
ed rebates and free storage, then drop
ped the price below cost, and when
this had weakened these companies it
began to acquire them. 1t is alleged
that II purchased one-half of the com
mon stock of the American Beet Sugar
company and put it under contract not
to compete and exacted one-quarter of
a cent per pound for all sugar sold by
that company.