The New era-leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1911-1912, 1911-12-15
TAFT is FOR TRUST LAWS

TAFT is FOR TRUST LAWS
and that EhiS lad been done 81 g.
binations made with Z purpose an1
ef1eCt 10 ot1no competition, control
prioes, and establish . monopoly. NOT
only IN tho manufacture Of tobacco
but also Of tin-foil ana llcorice used
In it, manufacture and Of its products
lof cigars. cigarettes. and snufs The
tobacco suit presented q far more
complicated and difncult case than
the Standard Oh suit for q decree
which would effectuate the will or the
court and end the violation Of the
statute There was here no single
holding company AZ IN the case al
the Standard Oil trust. The main
company was the American Tobacco
company. a manufacturing, selling,
and holding company. The plan
adopted to destroy the combination
and restore competition involved the
redivision of the capital and plants
Of the whole trust between some Of
the companies constituting the trust
and new companies organized for the
purposes Of the decree and made
parties to It, and numbering, new and
old, fourteen.
Situation After Readjustment.
The American Tobacco. company
| (old) radjusted capital. 500, 600, 900;
the Liggett and Meyers Tobacco com
pany (new) capital. $67. O00, 900; the
p. Lorillard company (new) capital
$47, 100000. and the R. J. Reynolds
Tobacco company (old) capital. 81.
625. 200. are chiefly engaged In the
manufacture and sale of chewing and
smoking tobacco and cigars. The
former one tin-foil company is d.
vided into two, one of $685., 900 cap
ttal and the other of $500. 900. The
dine snuff company Is divided into
three companies, n with q capital
of SIS, 00O. 900; another with a cap
ital Of $4,000, 900; and a third with a
capital of $4,000, 000. The licorice
companies are two, one with a cap
ital Of $5.75S.00 and another with a
capital of $4,000, 900. There is, also,
the British-American Tobacco COM
pany. a British corporation. doing
business abroad with a capital Of
2 1000. 900. the Porto Rican Tobac-
co company with a capital of
81. 5000 and the corporation Of
United Cigar Stores, with a capital
of $4,000. 900. Under this arrange
ment each Of the different kinds of
business will be distributed between
two or more companies. with a d.
vision of the prominent brands in the
same tobacco products, SO as to make
competition not only possible but
necessary. Thus the smoking tobac-
CO business OF the country is divided
so that the present independent COM
panies have 21.39 per cent, while the
American Tobacco company will have
33.OS per cent, the Liggett and
Meyers 20.05 per cent, the Lorillard
company 1882 per cent, and the
Reynolds company 2.66 per cent. The
stock Of the other thirteen companies.
both preferred and common, has been
taken from the defendant American
Tobacco company and has been dis
tributed among its stockholders. All
covenants restricting competition have
baen declared null and further per.
formance Of them has been enjoined.
The preferred stock of the different
companies has now been given vot-
Ing power which was denied 1t under
the old organization. The ratio of
the preferred stock to the common
vas as rs to 40. This constitutes a
very decided change in the character
0 I the ownership and control Of
each company.
In the original suit there were TWEEN
ty-nine defendants who were charged
with being the conspirators through
whom the illegal combination acquired
and exercised its unlawful dominion.
Under the decree these defendants
will hold amounts of stock In the va
rious Distribute companies renging
from Al per cent. as a maximum to
2Sh per cent. as q minimum, except
In the case of one small company, the
Porto Rican Tobacco company. In
which they will hold As per cent. The
tw~enty-nine individual defendants are
enjoined for three years from buying
any stock except from each other.
and the group Is thus prevented from
extending its control during that pc
Rod. All parties to the suit, and the
new companies who are made parties.
are enjoined perpetually from in any
wat efecting any combination b.
tween any Of the companies In viola
ton Of the statute by way OF resump.
ton Of the old trust Each Of the
fourteen companies Ii enjoined from
acquiring stock In any Of the others.
All these companies are enjoined from
having common directors or officers.
or common buying or selling agents,
or common Offices. or lending money
to each other.