The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-11-17
MR., W|CkERSHAM
!. LIKES TIE PLAN
Points Out Advantages of
Courts Disintegration
of Tobacco Trust
BIG COMPANIES GIVE
STRONG COMPETITOR
Many of the New Companies
VIII Be Much Larger
Than Any of the
Independents

WASHINGTON. Nov. 16.--"The At
torney General believes that this
plan. with the restrictive provisions
embodied in the decree, witt accom-
plish a recreation of lawful condi-
tons, anu being so convinced, he has
opposed the efforts OF outsiders to
inject themselves into the situation,
and to delay or prevent the carry
ing out OF the plan"
With this statement Attorney Gem
eral Wtckersham tonight gave his
endorsement to the tobacco trust re-
organization plan as approved by the
Circuit Court, and announced the
government would not appeal to the
supreme Court.
Mr.. Wickersham. after pointing out
the plan, distributes the business Of
the trust among fourteen separate
corporations. no one of which will
acquire more than one-third of the
business OF the country IN any line
in which II Is 20 deal. and that the
court perpetually enjoins all OF the
defendants and new corporations cre-
ated from such conduct IN the future
as In the past resulted In unlawful
conditions. states:
The decree thus embodies sub
stantially all of the requests made by
the government, except the enforced
sale and distribution to outsiders OF
the United Cigar Stores Company and
an authorization to the government
at any time within FIVE years to ap-
ply to the court for relief based upon
showing that competitive conditions
have not actually resulted from the
operations Of the plan.
VIII Terminate Monopoly.
1T is the opinion OF the Attorney
General that the 1Aecutton OF this
plan will necessarily result in a ter
mination OF the monopolistic condi-
tons created by the unlaw fui cem-
bination. and in substituting actual
competitive conditions instead. The
principal objections made ~ the 60
called independents TO the plan
were based first on the Fact that the
stocks OF the respective distributes
companies are to be distributed to
and among the stockholders of the
American Tobacco Company. so that
the same body OF shareholders will
Substantially control each OF the dis
tributee companies.
The objections to this necessary
consequence Of any plan of disin-
tegration with could possibly be work
ed out within the period allowed by
the Supreme Court are met first by
COuI6ETInA EOtlUH Ii6ukS, "ht now
are vested In the common stock alone
to the preferred stockholders also:
secondly, by the restrictions upon the
actions of the respective corporations
embodied In the injunctive features of
the decree"
The next objection made was that
the size OF some OF the corporations
were greater than that OF any of the
existing independents. Nothing In the
H. ksN L. ~
attorney general would justify the
government in taking the position that
to reduce a monopolistic combination
to legal size, no ono OF the distributee
concerns should be larger than the
largest existing Independent concern.
Public 70 Benefit.
THE public at large will be more
apt to benefit from competition be-
tween a number Of large solvent we'll
organized companies In strong hands.
than from the general decentralization
of business which would ensue were
the business to be distributed between
a large number OF small. weak or
CARNATIONS with insufficient capital to
maintain themselves In active competf-
ton. Some OF the representatives OF
the so-called Independent Retailers
Associations urged the distribution Of
the business among seventy corpora
tons instead OF fourteen. The sug-
gestion might as we'll have been fifty
or two hundred For the government
CONTINUED on Second Page)