New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-10-24
TOBACCO PROTESTS FILED
attorneys General Say Plan
Changes Bookkeeping Only
PRESENT STATUS IS BETTER
"ryust Would Garry the Law as
Asset Instead of Liability
Dix Urged 30 Act.

-r,o formal protest against the reoisain-
-, ,lan Of the American Tobacco Com
80 6led yesterday by Attorneys General
,,,1 X. Williams. of Virginia; j. w.
49,, If North Carolina. and j. Frayser
- = South Carolina, condemned the
-, az not having the merit of even look
,;ro dissolution of the combination
destruction Of the monopoly.
r.. southern attorneys general protested
.,a nlan did not contribute anything
..a.srs restoration OF competition, as de
- bv the supreme Court, and that 1t
..,sa loose no asset and no agency by
s,.,.b the Tobacco Trust now maintained
80, absolute dominion over tho tobacco
tr1de s...
toprteen working organizations, they
.,..risd. each and every one Of them
.,,,.tad and controlled by the present
-, stockholders Of the American To
80 company. will effect a change in the
..,pod Of bookkeeping. and nothing more.
oneness Of ownership necessarily means
...,sss Of control and the plan submitted
e.,.airs the same dismembermeat that
80 rIa-e when the hand divides into
49,. 4nqsrs. We submit that II the evidence
-, i'm this cause had disclosed the pre-
-. condition which the Tobacco COM
Inv nroposes now 10 create. the findings
- ,te court would have been in no way
5iearer- The combination would have
han as effective. the monopoly as complete
ard tha violation or the law as clear as
under a single organization.
The Basis Of the Protest.
The axiom that business moved along
lines ~ self-interest and that no real com
r.,,tiou could exist between persons or cor
uorations unless their interests were an
,sgoristtc. was made the basis OF the pro-
Test The plan, the attorneys general said,
maintained a community Of interests be
,oeen all Of the proposed companies that
,ssa real competition impossible, and the
srly manner in which the decree Of the
t9prenie Court could be complied with was
70 create diversity Of control
I'd would cause no alarm 10 stockholders
in corporations that were doing legitimate
business. they added, 70 require these vlo-
Iators OF the law 10 disband and 10 forbid
them 70 perpetuate the monopoly they had
created through oneness Of ownership.
we Furthermore submit that there are
r9lrsurmountable difficulties In the way OF
an actual division Of the assets OF the
American Tobacco Company. and the for
nation Of new corporations having no con-
rection with each other either in owner
snip or control" they continued The
genius that could triumph over bitter .
valHes. over international pride and preju-
dee. and reduce a thousand warning ele-
rents 10 2 compact and harmonious unit
would find 1t easy 10 accomplish an equita-
Bile partition Of it would concentrate its
energies upon that task.
As TO Equitable Partition.
The difficulty Of an equitable partition
les not so much in the inability as IN the
unvllingness 10 make one. In its petition
fled herein the American Tobacco Com
Ieny saws. upon oath that the assets Of
Inc company can be fairly distributed
among fourteen companies. This is a com
plste answer 10 the suggestion that an
s....al equitable partition Is impracticsble.
rGive TO the fourteen companies pro-
posed the elements OF complete indepen-
d-uca: forbid :aa stockholders in any Of
these compau5g- from owning stock IN any
OF the others, a.l peIpetually enJoln them
from acquiring such stock, ana q conoltlon
Will be created in compliance with the
Judgment Of the court.
The present status is more toierable
than the plan proposed by the trust for II
this plan shall receive judicial sanction
henceforvard the trust will carry the law
a. an asset instead Of q liability; hence
forward the trust will do in the name OF
TIE law what it has heretofore done in its
fear"
The action Of the Southern attorneys
general brought cut yesterday desire on
the part OF the small independent tobacco
dealers to secure a similsr energetic sup
port OF their cause from Attorney General
laImoLy
Murray BuXtaum, president OF the Asso-
citation Of Independent Retail TooaccomstS.
wrote 10 Governor Dix requesting that the
Attorney General Of the state be directed
10 study the plan md 10 take steps 10 on
pose II. MI Buxo2Ym IN appealing TO the
Governor. pointed cut that there were from
800 20 gcV independent tobacco dealers
in the state vino had neither the means
nor the organization TO protect their imer-
ests effectively without the aid Of the state.