Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1911-07-31
OLD BAY STATE TRUST BUSTING.

What looks very much like a race between
the federal authorities and the state of Massa-
chusetts to start in systematic campaign
of trust busting" there, beginning with an
overhauling of the United Shoe Machinery com
pany, has been brought sharply to pull at
tenton by special message sent to tn. lcgsla-
ture by Governor Foss For some tima past
shoe manufacturers in that state have been
given to understand that agents of the depart
ment of justice Of The bureau of corp ,rati ms
or bOth-would visit Il TN with Il 'cW to
discovering whether or not any monDuoliStic
interests are operating in restraint of trade in
the boot and shoe industry Following the
r,mors set aAoat in this connection Governor
Foss about two weeks ago asked his attorney
general for his opinion as to whether the United
Shoe Machinery company is monopoly in re-
Strant of trade in Massachusetts,; the attorney
general replied that it was no part of his duty
to proceed in such matter the strength of
mere rumors and intimaed that it was some
thing for the legislature to take up Thereupon
the governor transmitted to the legislature
special message to the law-making body noting
current complaint that the company in question
has impaired the prosperity of the shoe industry
in Massachusetts and is further menacng it,
ana ne urged immediate actlOn IN the matter.
This message says III part
1t seems to be fact that practically
all the machinery used in the manufacture
Of shoes belongs to corporation or
gained under the laws of another state
but operating principally in Massachusetts
BY its ownership of these machines and
refusal to sell them this corporation has
not only been enabled to maintain an al
most absolute monopoly of the shoe-ma-
chlnery business but control in LARGE
measure the shoe manufacturing industry
itself. 1t must be considered that if one
important industry Of the commonwealth
can thus be dominated by "A monopoly
there is to believe that other in
dustries are similarly in jeopardy This
situation calls upon us to determine
whether and relief can be afforded under
the present law and, if not, what legisa-
ton may be enacted to meet the situation
Possibly, there may be connection between
the rumors of contemplated federal Crust
busting" and Governor Foss' anxiety and action
along the same line-but one seems to have fol
lowed the other logically An amusing feature
Of the situation is that when the special mes
sage had reached the senate and had been
referred to its committee on rules that com
mittee Endorsed it emo legislation necessary be-
cause of the passage Of the Hisgen anti-monop-
oily bill on May 27' and promptly sent it abcl
to the senate. Meantime no federal agents have |
put in an appearance in any of the Massachusetts
shoe towns Governor Foss may or may not |
have been msled by the rumors about them
hut he is obviously yearnng to 'get after the
shoe machinery company and other monopoly |
in sight; his attorney general has apparently
no desire to tackle the iob-would prefer to
have the legislature put it; and the legis-
lature tells the governor that there is law
enough for trust busting" already-although
neither the chief executive nor the attorney gen
eral appears to have known it or if Knowing
had forgotten it.
The only really party at interest
seems to be the United Shoe Machinery com
pany-it is saving wood and saying nothing
without any apprehension as to speedily forth
coming busting" by anybody or anything to
say law, belongs to its regular customers? There
can be but one answer to the queston-and that
an emphatic negative. And yet the great bur
den of the complaint 50 far against this al
legedly stony hearted trust is that it has re-
fused to sell lee to its retail competitors when
the mere ury hugging the one-hundred
degrees line and their supplies of the product
had become exhausted:
Again, to the price of ice The Knick
booker company has kept the price reasonable.
although there have been days since July 2
when 1t could have gotten almost any price
that it might have demanded Under an nm
usual demand for any commodity the price in