The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-23
LAY THEIR RUIN TO ROCKEFELLER Standard Oil King to be Called to Explain Merritt Brothers
 Story of Ore Deal GOT $1O,OOO, 900
 COLLATERAL Closed $48O,OO0' Loan, They Charge, on Their Refusing
 Consolidation Pro- pOSal

Washington, Nov. 23-The last day of the Stanley Steel committees hear ings until Congress meets, and the question of authority to proceed with the investigation is thrashed out in the House of Representatives, occurred yesterday. It was a day of dramatic interest
 The story was continued of two lum- berjacks who discovered the immense iron deposits of the Mesaba Range and worked hard to build railroad into the Minnesota wilderness, onIy, as they allege, to have it snatched from them by John D. Rockefeller, aided by Baptist minister and a brother. Members of the. committee who were squarely opposed to continu- ing the investigation became so in- terested they forgot their objections and followed every word of the story.
 Leonidas Merritt, brother of Alfred, who testified, Tuesday, said he was in troduced to MT. Rockefeller by a Bap- tist minister, the Rev. F. D. Gates, who later came to the Merritts and proposed a deal that would ruin other stockholders while the Merritts would remain intrenched with Rockefeller. To this proposal LeOnidas Merritt said he answered:
 "Go back to John D. Rockefeller and tell him that when I steal I will steal for myself.'
 The specific charge which the Mer- ritts make against MT. Rockefeller is that on their rejecting this alleged proposal, the ore president, through Gates, as his agent, took from them in 1893 $10, ,O00 in Mesdba Iron Mine and Duluth, Missabe & Northern Rail- road securities to satisfy call loan of $420, 0,O0O These securities were after cola f< T,;f %nt Corporation, and are today part of that corporations vast holdings.
 One of the strangest features of the story was the disclosure that the two Merritts partly owed their undoing to a brother, Louis T. Merritt, now living on the Pacific coast, and said to be worth s3O, 900, ,000 Louis, they say, went to MT. Rockefeller and told him every detail Of the financial condition of the brothers, and so helped him to know, they say, when to force them to the wall
 MT. Stanley announced that John D.. Rockefeller and the Rev. MT. Gates would be called to testify before the committee. MT. Reid, counsel for the steel company, asked if the commit tee was competent to go into the de- tails of MT. Rockefeller's acquisition of the Minnesota properties, to which Mr. Stanley replied:
 7 Il Ieei l dI1l pofIOrullnS the great est public service I ever did in my life.''
 How? In connection with the in- terstate commerce law?" asked MT. Reid.
 ''To humanity" replied MT. Stanley.
 A strong case was made out in the testimony showing that an ore rate of 80 cents per ton was charged over the Steel Trusts railroad, rate by which, for every ton carried for an independent company, the Steel Cor poration could make enough to carry three tons of it's own ore from the mine to the Lake Superior docks.
 It was the conclusion of members of the committee that a clear case had been made out for prosecution un- der the Interstate commerce act. MT. Stanley did not at any time allow the matter of the authority of the commit tee to come up for further discussion. He had learned that several Demo- cratic members of the committee took the view that the committee was with out jurisdiction now that the govern ment has filed it's bill against the United States Steel Corporation. It is known that Representative Beall of Texas and Judge Bartlett of Georgia take this ground, and it will be impos- sible to proceed further with hearin ys I1nti1 the House acts