Bisbee daily review., 1911-06-17

this association and the various Iuu,- Der companies, and that 1t will moi be necessary to show more conrlr- slNe evidence in any court upoD which to base a case of unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade
 Formed at 5snquets.
 The formation of the lumber trust began number of years ago in the northwest. out in Minnesota ne home Of Lumber King" Wever' bauser. swell banGuets and socisi satherings marked the conciayas of the timber millionaires. Newspanerg ana society journals published tba happenings, deyoting a great deal of space to them. Nowhere were tba,- heralded as business conventions. ne one Idea gathered seemed onIy |" express that they were uurel,. social functions. The plan. ro tbc outsider suggested. the same tbing put at the same time great things were happening, as a result th., people Of the country finally came to Iedii1e that these conventions were productive Of things vitaI to Inc Iumbermen. The government sleutbs found in some way that these con Ventlons were held for the purposa or plugging up price lists. diyidipg 'tIfl'of3, arranging automatic schenles for maintaining prices, cut tng out competition and "skinping-- me ultimate consumer. Some of tbc government fnYestigators believe that the whole thing is arranee,l From the top. that the miIIionaires Of those days have now become great money barons. and cinch their hold On their accumulated wealth by controlling plans engineered in The days of the alleged bacchanaHan conventions.
 The whole scheme of monoDoIv works something in this fashion. ae cofding 10 one Of thc government inspectors:
 When the retail association black lists particular dealer for cuttfna prices. and demands that be be cut off from obtaining supplies there is nothing that the big man uiacturers can do or the owners Of timber land, but 10 cut the deal CT orr l. is fact that the man who does cut prices is cut of from obtaining supplies. but whether or not the retail association is the responsible party is not vet dis closed.
 Another phase Of the situation. which works as we'll in the large cities as in the country towns is like this, according to the inspectors In Q country town there are two supposedly competing lumber yards Each yard has two price lists, all patrons are divided between the two Yard No. 1 gets all the customers whose names begin with A. c. E. G. and so on alternating through the alphabet. while Yard No. ?. those vbose names begin with the other letters.
 Example Given.
 If customer named Andrews came to Yard No. 1 to buy lumber. he was given a standard price. Sup posing he could do better by going to the other yard he goes there and asks for prices on the same ma teTial He is given a higher bid. His initial visit made him the avowed GUS toner of Yart No. l. Yard No. 2 under the agreement between the two deal CTS, is in honor bound to give him a higher bid If he wished to buy from Yard No 2. notwithstanding the higher price. this was not to be taken as a violation of the agree ment.
 The same method, inspectors say exists in all large cities, and is due to nothing else but a concerted controlling the price Of lumber fixed by the organization which. in turn is dominated by the owners of vast timber tracts through the medium of m Intelligence agency.
 That the monopoly has just been oUched by the governments brief IS believed and it is reported here that other suits will be begun soon.