New-York tribune., 1911-10-31
ANSWERS TOBACCO PLAN
Continued from first page.

| sulting frequently with their lawyers
The task of presenting the opening ar
gument in support Of the plan ieli 10
Lewis Cass Ledyard special counsei ior
the American Tobacco Company De-
Lancey Nicoll. w. w. Fuller and Junlus
Parker, who assisted him In the prepa-
ration OF the plan. were also present.
Mr.. I,edyard said that the plan offered
was one of sane and reasonable reao-
iustment. II dissolution could not DC
achieved in this manner, he said, II couiu
not he done in any and the Sherman
act would become an engine OF uestru0-
tion instead of one of protection.
To mt a business like the American
Tobacco Company into the hands OF
rooo,ver would mean confiscation OF
nronertv. Mr.. Ledysrd added, and IL
never vet has been held that property
copld be confscated He said that the
trust had gone further than the decree
Of tho SuDreme Court demanded, though
q vas not necessary to do so; that the
nIap was drastic. and that 1t would re-
store competition.
"rbe plan as 1t stands to-day had the
beneGt Of suggestions from the court
and of the insistence Of the Attorney
General" Mr.. Ledyard said. I'VE do
MT complain about the Attorney Cen
eral. but his views were beyond those
required by the decision of the Supreme
Court. The conditions insisted upon ~
the Attorney General were impossible,
were too drastic yet we tried TO comply
with them and we succeeded in comply
| ing with them"
Among the demands made by Mr..
Wickersham, fair territorial distribution.
fair assignment Of brands and products
AMI distribution in the purchase Of the
five types OF tobacco were mentioned by
| MIR Ledyard, as well as an objection 80
the size Of the new American Tobacco
! Company as proposed at first and the
ownership of stock in the British -Ameri-
cal Tobacco Company. In this last case
NJ Wickersham insisted that the stock
should be distributed.
| The Attorney General assented to the
question put to him In each instance by
Mr. Ledyard as TO whether he had ex-
pressed such insistence at the confer
ences, but Mr.. Wickersham did not show
whether his views had been met When
asked about it after the hearing the At
torney General said that this was a
matter for argument to-day, and that
he would take ii up then.
Morgan J. O'Brien and Joseph II
Choate appeared I'm support Of the plan
| on behalf Of the six per cent. and the
four per cent. bondholders' committees,
respectively. Mr.. Choate said that the
that whoever had been guilty. they We're
not, and were therefore entitled TO the
consideration of the court. He appealed
10 the court TO approve the plan sub
stantially as it was, though it might be
open to reasonable amendments.
Adrian II. Larkin, for the preferred
stockholders committee, and Sol NJ.
Stroock. for the United Cigar Stores
Company, asked for the approval Of the
plan on behalf of their clients and Will
nam D. IlOl lDONtI DICStlJNNu Nllt Nd6t
of the Imperial Tobacco Company and
the RritishrAmerican Tobacco Company
srandes Discusses Objections.
The chief argument in opposition to
the plan was made by Louis d. Bran
deis, OF Boston, who with Felix II. Levy
represented Independent tobacco manu-
facturers and dealers. Mr.. Brandes
elucidated the five objections he filed
b. With the court, and he concentrated his
efforts particularly upon attempting to
show that the ownership Of at least a
third of common stock in each Of the
large new companies by the twenty mine
individual defendants would mean a con-
. tinuance Of domination and monopoly
2 In the trade. He also assailed the pro-
, posed assignment Of brands to the three
leading companies as devised to give
! each an exclusive territory, as well as tC
e free them from the necessity Of competi
i ton by making each dependent upon raw
material that the other did not need.
+ Felix H. Levy, Henry H. Hunter anC
George w. Yerkes presented argumen
q to the same effect. Samuel W. VIII
( Jams. Attorney General for Virginia
e who appeared for himself and the At
. torneys General for North and Soutl
. Carolina. said that the court had hearC
, from the Stock Exchange and from
trade rivals, but his efforts were on he
| half OF the tobacco growers whose in
: terests had no other protection. Deput!
: Attorney General McQuade offered e
: the court the arguments Of Attorney
General Carmody against the plan.
The securities of the American To
ilacco Company showed little prc
change yesterday. The common stock
dealt in on the curb, opened . point
down from Saturday at $50, advanced
TO 400, and closed with a net gain Of Z
lpoints at 3sS. Sales were 1Oj shares.
The preferred advanced X point Sales
Of the per cent bonds aggregated
S2SS. 900 par value, the price ranging
from 111% at the opening to 11O1s, anc
the close, 111l4, being i point lower
than the final figure of Saturday.
Transactions in the rs were S3O2Wt
par value, and the dealings were within
a narrow price range, the bonds closing
at 905s, against 81 on the last preced-
ling business day.
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AUGUSTUS THOMAS SAYS NO