The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-06
STEAMSHIP TRUST
 SUIT IS FRIENDLY
Case Is Made to Define Rights
 of Companies
EXPLANATION IS MADE
CT Lines Asked the Federal Att torney to Bring an Action
 in Court

New York, January 5.-"In a reply to the complaint filed yesterday by the fed eral government against 13 of the princi- pal transatlantic steamship lines and 12 of their officers, Vice President P. A. & Franklin of the International Mercantile Marine company, one of the defendants, intimated that the suit was a friendly one, in the nature of an action in equity and brought to determine what rights the companies had in cooperating to regulate their business.
 "The suit speaks for itself," said Dis trict Attorney Wise tonight, when shown MT. Franklins reply, and was brought by the government in all seriousness to obtain the relief asked for in the peti- tion."
 In this petition the government seeks an order from the United States circuit court of. appeals restraining the defend- ants from entering at or clearing their vessels from any American port while they continue to remain in an alleged ille- gal agreement to restrain trade known as the Atlantic conference, and entered into at London February g., 1908.
 MT. Franklin's statement follows in part:
 Last spring the government began an investigation. The lines informed the United States attorney that if any of the practices were illegal they were perfect ly willing to discontinue them. The mat ter, we believe, was referred to the At torney General, and it being thought that there was doubt as to the legality of cer- tain ways in which the steamship lines were doing business 1t was determined to bring an equity action which would raise the whole question of the legality of the practices, and we understood that this suit is the result.
 ''Of course, as to the legal and technical points involved, we are not sufficiently fa- rniliar with the law to pass upon these But looking at the matter as practical business men, it seems to us that ocean carriers can never have monopoly or their business, because the ocean is free and any person with capital can enter into the business with ease. The railroad has a comparative monopoly of the territory it serves. while in the case of ocean car riers all the territory is competitive
 "The steerage business is very peculiar one and must be handled py the united action of all lines In order that serious abuses may not enter into 1t and to properly protect the inter ests of the immigrants. Passengers for ocean steamers come from parts or the country far removed from the point of their embarkation and the steam ship lines must have thousands or agents all over the various countries. These agents, of course. cannot be paid salaries, but have to be remunerated by the means of commissions. In the connection for business many of the agents were sitting their commissions and so some of the passengers were getting a rebate or in other words there was the same 1ndlscrlillhalloi in the steamship business as there was in the railroad business before the ln- testate commerce law was passed.
 .eThe lines have felt and still reel that all they have been doing and that is being done is entirely legal and Is in reality for the best interests of the steerage passengers, but if it is oe- termined in this suit that any or the ora ctices are in violation of the law in any way they shall be only too glad to cease such practices.