Arizona republican., 1911-12-27
MERGER WAS
 HUGE AFFAIR
Interesting Facts Brought Out in the Trial of
 Meat Packers
FORMER ATTORNEY
 GAVE DETAILS
lSPccidi COrcSbondcnccl

NA1ICAbO, Dec. Zb.-DetdllS of the
 plan for the five hundred million dol
 lar merger of the Armour, Swift and Morris interests in 1902. by which the ] government contends it sought to con- trol the meat industry of the country. were revealed today in the trial of
 the ten indicted Chicago packers in
 Judge Carpenters federal court The | contract. dated May 21. 1902. was read { to the jury and offered in evidence 1 by the government
 | Albert H. Veeder attorney for i Swift, was called by the government ] as us flrst witness. He produced the 1 original contract Veeder testified [ that plans for the merger were aban- 1 doned, and in March, 1908. the Ma l tional Packing company was organ 1 ized to operate certain independent packing companies. purchased with T view of including them in the big company. Under the terms of the : agreement three big packing concerns. their subsidiaries and recently ac- quired companies were to be merged | into one giant concern, Armour. Swift i and Morris to receive the bonds and preferred stock of the new company for the value of their tangible prop erty. In addition to this the pro- moters were to receive twenty-five millions of the new cOmpany's stock 1 for intangible property and d large block of common stock for the good will, this amount to be fixed by the earnings of the different plants dur ing the first year of the merger
 The promoters planned to borrow ninety million dollars to finance the giant corporation. The appraised val uation of Armour. Swift Morris and their subsidiaries was given as $780, 100000. Each of these promoters de- posted ten million dollars with Chicago bank as an evidence of good faith. but they were compelled to drop the plan because of the failure of certain New York capitalists to- furnish the money needed. Veeder was on the witness stand all day and will continue tomorrow.
 Previous to calling Veeder to the stand, the defense made an unsuc- cessful attempt to have excluded from the governments case all transac- tions before 1905. on the ground the immunity plea which freed the pack CTS when they were indicted seven years ago should apply to that pe- riod. Counsel for the packers put the motion in writing. but Judge Car penter, while reserving his decision in order to give the government time to answer, indicated he might deny it.
 Veeder admitted the packers had an organization which met every Tuesday afternoon in a room near his law office and that his son Harry Needer acted as secretary in 19O0 1901 and 1902. He did not know the name of the association. nor what business it transacted. and never at tended a meeting. Records of the meetings were kept but he did not know where.
 The government contends It was at these meetings the price of meat was fixed and plans consummated for the suppression of competition. The wit ness said that he had heard at pool meetings the different companies and the territory allotted to them were designated by letters. He said terri tory A was north of the Ohio river and east of the Missouri river. He said Armour was known as "A among the companies. He did not know the letters used to designate the other companies or the balance oi the territory He said the associa- ton of packers dissolved in 1905. and his son was taken into his law otflce as a partner
 The witness said he first became counsel for Gustavus F. Swift Tn 1885. and at many different tunes acted as director in Swift X Co.