The New era-leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1911-1912, 1911-06-23
CLEANED UP HALF-MiLLloN BY
SELLING CANE PLANT TO
FIRST TRUST
FOUGHT FOR ExISTANCE
Certain Agreement Abolished When.
P~enitentiary Menaced.-WooIen
Trust Is De-
PENDANT.

WdSuluS JOHt IL. AC StOAy IA
the birth of the. beet sugar industry in
America, it's trials and temptations
ever since, and how the .Oxnard Broth
ers were enriched by more than half
q million dollars profit through the
little transaction" of selling their cane
sugar refinery in Brooklyn to the first
sugar trust" in 1887, were the fea-
lures in the testimony that Henry T.
Oxnard gave to the house sugar in
vestigating committee. /
Mr.. Oxnard assigned as his reason
for attempting to introduce the max
ing Of sugar from beets in this coun-
try the sale to the trust" of his re-
fnery at Brooklyn and his belief that
the Introduction of the beet sugar in
dustry would be profitable and patri-
otic." He described the building of
the first factories and then told the
story of the organization Of the Amer
lean Beet Sugar company.
OF that $40, 600. 900 company he said,
the Oxnard Brothers at one time own
ed so per cent, but possess only
three per cent, He would not admit
that this stock was watered, testifying
that the valuation of the property was
about $12, 900, 900 while the preferred
stock today was worth about IS, 000,-
900 and the common about 81, 800, 600.
He was unable to tell why the capital
ization was fixed at $780, 0O, 900, saying
that that was the bankers business"
Admits Sharp Rivalry.
The relations of the beet sugar in
dustry, and particularly the American
Beet Sugar company with the Ameri-
can Sugar Refining company was the
subject of many questions.
Representative Madison asked Mr..
Oxnard IF in reality the American
Sugar Refining company had not tried
to use it's power in 1901 to drive the
beet sugar refiners out of business by
unfair competition, that is, cutting,
prices below cost / n the Missouri riv-
er territory"
At first the answer was indefinite,
but finally the witness said: Il think
it is a fair presumption that 1T was de-
signed to drive us out"
Mr.. Oxnard said that the only time
the American Beet Sugar company had
any agreement with the American Su.
gar Refining company was in 1902,
when the former became the selling
agency" of the latter. That contract
was cancelled, he said, when Wayne
MacVeagh, a lawyer, in 1906, gave an
opinion that 1t would send them to the
penitentiary II they continued it.
He protested against the reduction
Of the tariff on raw sugar but added
that he would leave 1t to the 'refiners'
to fight for the duty on refined sugar.
American Wooden Co. Defended.
Defense Of the American Wooden
company, a resolution for the investi.
cation of which is pending, was made.
in the house by Representative Weeks
of Massachusetts, who declared that
the company could not be considered
a trust under any definition of monop-
oily he had ever heard.
The wooden schedule occupied the
house all day. Representative Weeks
and Longworth were among those
who spoke against the bill, and Rep
resentatives Macon and Oldfeld, both
of Arkansas, and Ayres of New York.
for it.
'The American Wooden company"
said Mr.. Weeks, lin no way controls
more than Is per cent of the indus
try of the country. 1t does not con-
troll the price of wooden products in
this country nor the price of the labor
employed by the industry. 1t has new
pr paid exorbitant profits, is not con
trolled by millionaires and has never
sold it's products abroad cheaper than
at home. The people are getting
the benefit of competition in the wool.
IN industry"
Mr.. Weeks declared that the stock
of the company vas distributed among
1860 holders, the average holding
being only Sc shares.