Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1911-08-02
HARVESTER TRUST
PUT UNDER FIRE
House Committee Gets Data
Ignored by Bonaparte.
WICKERsHAM ON THE STAND
Charges Barred to House Committee
by Investigators Report Declare
That Steel and Reaper In
terests Are United.

ington.-Charging that Charles
J. Bonaparte, while attorney gen
eral in the Roosevelt administra-
ton, failed to prosecute the Interna-
tional Harvester company for viola
ton of the Sherman antitrust law,
although having complete proof Chair
man Stanley of the steel trust inves-
tigating committee produced report
on the harvester trust made in 1908
by Burdett c. Townsend, a special
agent OF the department of justice.
The report showed that the United
States Steel corporation allowed re-
bates of three dollars a ton to the
harvester company, and Mr.. Stanley
declared that 1t indicated that the
giant steel corporation and the har-
vester trust were practically one.
In describing the organization of
the group of larger companies in the
Harvester combine the McCormicks,
Deering. Plano, Wardner, Bushnell
Glessner and the Milwaukee Harves
ter companies, Mr.. Townsend reported
to Mr.. Bonaparte:
1T appears that there was an I'M
usual concentration of the capital
stock of these five companies 1t
was all owned and controlled by four
families, the McCormicks. the Deer
ings, the Jonses and the Glessners.
The pooling of their holdings was all
that was necessary to create trust.
All these people lived in Chicago
Another fact is interesting. Har-
old Mccormick Zone of the heaviest
stockholders of the Mccormick COM
pany), is a son-in-law of John D.
Rockefeller. The Mccormick COM
pany was therefore already distantly
related by marriage to the great Amer
lean family of trusts. ]. Pierpont
Morgan is the trust architect usually
employed by the Rockefeller inter-
ests.
He is good builder and receives
fabulous fees for his work. George
W. Perkins is his associate"
Attorney General Wickersham, sum-
moned as witness, testified that he
had never seen the Townsend report
before. He promised that Townsend
would testify later He did not know
why the harvester case was not
pressed in 10000 Il surmised," he
added that the case was held up
pending the Supreme court decisions
in the tobacco and Standard Oil cases
involving the same points,"
Mr.. Stanley announced that a sub
poena had been issued for Mr. Bona
parte, who is now in Canada, and that
an effort would be made to ascertain
from him and from other government
officials why there had not been a
prosecution of the International Har-
vester company upon Townend's
charges. Mr.. Stanley also announced
his intention of endeavoring to show
a close connection between the United
States Steel corporation and the In
ternational Harvester company
Mr.. Townsend in his report particu-
larly referred to the price paid to j.
yester deal, declaring that "$5,000,000
is very high price for the simple
service of suggesting to persons how
they can agree in legitimate trans
action 1t is not unusual" he said,
''in illegal transactions, such as Great
ing a trust, which can evade the
laws. Doubtless, if proceedings were
instituted against the International
Harverter company, the manner of it's
defense will demonstrate that the fee
was earned"