The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-10-09
MUST OBEY ORDER
OF SUPREME court
Independents in Tobacco Insist
Upon Unrestricted Com
petition.

New York. October s.The indepcn-
dent tobacco interests OF the country
are preparing to meet any emergency
that the fling OF the reorganization
plan OF the American Tobacco Com
pany may demand, as viewed from the
necessity to sooure conditions of unre-
stricted competition. The position of
the National Cigar Leaf Tobacco AS
ISOLATION was made clear Saturday by
a director OF the organization, on be-
'half, OF a. b. Hess. OF Lancaster, Pa,
the president of the association.
III the American Tobacco Company,
the director said. docs not file a plan
that Will comply strictly with the man
date OF the Supreme Court and restore
competition. in the sense of tho high
est court we may be able 10 show
them IL plan that will achieve this.
No plan that contemplates con-
tinuation of the present control OF the
industry by half dozen individuals
can be accepted by use as dissolution
of the monopoly found illegal by the
supreme Court IL the plan Is salts
ibSNoiS lnCSc IGSpcSlS, we WON'T say
word. We don't want tho security
holders of the American Tobacco Com
pany to be punished by the dIminu-
ton OF the value OF their holdings,
and we believe that plan can be de-
vised by which the decree OF the SUI
preme Court can be obeyed to the
letter, and yet Will not endanger pri-
vate or public interests"
what the plan would be, the spokes-
man for MIR. Hess refused to discuss at
the time. He said that when the first
rumors about tho contemplated plan
of Rue American Tobacco Company
started. many of the Independents real
lied that they should como forward
and combine In an effort to guard
their own interests, which, 1t seemed
to them. could be irreparably hurt.
1t was decided to lay the matter be-
fore the National Cigar Leaf Tobacco
Ass ociation. with request for imme-
date action.
The association has been In exist
ence twelve years. and has gained n
powerful membership In all tho great
tobacco cities of tho country The
local representation in each city rests
with the Cigar Leaf Tobacco Board of
Trade, and 1t was this organization In
New York that took the Initiative
The outcome of the movement was
4 meeting OF the board of directors,
at which 1t was decided to retain Louis
ID. Brandeis. OF Boston. and Felix II.
Levy, former Assistant Attorney Cen
eral, to act as the legal representa-
tives of the association. Mr.. Brandeis
came to New York to confer with the
members OF tho association, and
though he returned to Boston on Fri
day. h5 Is expected to como to New
York again as soon as the plan of the
American Tobacco Company is filed
Members, OF the association were en-
phatic yesterday IN their assurances
that they we're not swayed by vlndic-
tiveness. and that all they wanted was
to gain actually the rights that have
been pronounced as theirs by the de-
cision of the Supreme Court. They
said that they did not ask for anv-
thing but restoration OF competitive
conditions. and that 1t was simply
their desire to present to Attorney
General Wickersham the Views OF TIL o
independents as to whet her or not
the plan to be submitted to the court
would really restore such conditions
from tho point of view OF the trade
The alliance OF these large indepen-
dent interests has brought into tho
situation q fourth possibility OF an APP
peal to the Supreme Court from any
decision that the lower court might
make as to tho plan. If either the
government. the American Tobacco
Company or r. p. Richardson, Jr., s.
Co.. as parties to the suit. should be
unwilling to appeal the case. these in
dependents may petition the Supreme
Court for hearing and ask for re-
View Of the case.