New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-25
Aged Manufacturer, PrOpped Up
on Pillows, an Alert Witness
for Congress ProberS.
DENIES FIXED AGREEMENT
Declares H. o. Havemeyer
Wouldn't Stop at Anything"
Says Rival Interests
Feared Sherman Law.

tltIS Oh tnP congress tO1Ilflllti'' NulNi
was appointed to investigate the So
called Sugar Trust journeyed to-day
from New York to this little village.
which is situated in the picturesque
Waikiki Valley. under the shadows Of
Mount Shawangunk, and took the testi
mony of John Arbuckle, the aged head
OF the Arbuckle Brothers refinery in
Brooklyn
Propped up on his pillows. the old man.
wasted in body. but with an alertness OF
mind which at times baffled the IN
genuity of his younger inquisitOrs,. sub
mitted to a two hours examination this
afternoon at the hands of Representa-
tives Garrett. Of Tennessee. and Madison,
Of Arkansas.
The witness lay in his bed in a small
room at the Tamney House, one of the
typical country hostleries here and Con-
gressmen, lawyers and reporters crowded
around the bedside as ne told his story
and drifted into "reminiscences Of the
sugar war" between the Havemeyers.
Spreckelses and himself-stories which he
told with a zest and seemed 10 enjoy
repeating despite his infirmitics
With the polite suggestion that he
might not appear too egotisticai TO the
Congressman. he said he was willing TO
admit he had acted principally as an
emissary Of peace 10 the warning FAC
tions for many years. and had accom-
Ia CT ipo rafnrnnc In the bllGl-
ness which he characterized as the
worst managed business in the world
He had conferred many times. he sald'
with the late II. O. Havemeyer. former
" president Of the American Sugar Re-
f1ning Company whom he had knoWh
for forty years. and all the other big
refiners. and always sought to bring
about kindlier feeling among the vari-
Gus interests.
This had been accomplished to con-
siderable degree since 1903 when things
first began TO run along little more
smoothly. but he insisted that the fight
was still on. and might break out any
dav. between the American company and
his company. He repeatedly volunteered
the remark in the course Of his testimony
that his missionary work had been ac-
complished with the strict admonition
TO his conferrees on all occasions that
they must not talk about restricting the
output of the refneries or fixing prices.
as that was against the law.
Always Feared Sherman Law.
Mr.. Arbuckle intimated that perhaps
the best reason why the warning sugar
interests did not come to fixed agree
ment for universal peace in the business
was because they always had the fear
of the Sherman antitrust law in their
hearts.
Though the American company inces-
sanity pounded him, after he started his
Brooklyn refinery, and tried to wipe his
business off the earth" az he expressed
IT, he always entertained considerable
admiration for his old friend, II. O.
Havemeyer, who, he said, would not
stop at anything"
Whenever Representative Madison
would shape his questions. by devious
and dexterous ways, To get the witness
10 admit that some sort of an agree
ment between himself and Havemeyer
had been responsible for the cessation OF
hostiiities. or al least a "kndier feel
ing" since 1903. the witness denied 1t in
one form or another.
There never was any agreement" he
burst out petulantly at one time rising
Ia his elbows and striking the bed with
his hand, "and hostilities have never en-
tirely ceased. frankly told the sugar
men that they were the biggest set of
fools in the world to keep up a fight
which meant the loss of great deal of
money. and they naturally got tired Of
losing money and stopped to some ex-
tent"
Did Mr.. Havemeyer offer TO buy 81
pcr cent of your stock" asked Mr.. Car
Tett.
NO. I would not hear to any pro-
posal," he replied. Il told him that not
so long as | lived and had my senses
would he own a dollar in my business.
1 ne NllHtSS StIu lllt buNhI'S N'IlA
into the sugar business because they be
lieved they could put up sugar in pack
ages proftably, as they had been doing
with coffee. The American straightway
bought out their chief competitor in the
coffee business the Woolson Spice Com
pany, Of Toledo, and also started the
American Coffee Company. The Ameri-
can company went out Of the coffee bust
ness a year or so ago. the witness said.
and there had been no agreement
reached IN that matter
Denies American Sets Price.
Mr.. Arbuckle denied that the Ameri-
can company fixed the price of refined
sugar, though he admitted that the COM
Iapy had more power 10 do so than any
one else. lie admitted, also, that the
other companies generally followed the
lead Of the American in prices.
He denied that he had ever asked
Claus A. Spreckels Of the Federal Sugar
Refining Company at Yonkers TO come
into the fold and reduce the output OF
his refinery so they all could make more
money, as Mr.. Spreckels testified at one
of the New York hearings. He wanted
Spreckels To join the trade laboratory
he was establishing. and Spreckels
wouldn't do it because the american
company was in II, the witness said.
William y. Dykeman was present at
the examination as Mr.. Arbuckles coun-
SCI and Joseph w. Goodwin was there
i'm the interests Of the American Sugar