The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-21
Stanley Admits Steel Cor poration Is No Coking
  Coal Trust
SMITH REFUSES TO
 GIVE INFORMATION
Commissioner Flatly Tells Commit tee He Will Not Divulge Infor- nation Until Taft Gives
 His Consent


 monopoly of the ores of the American continent and tied up available fields for independent concerns, declared Chairman Stanley of the House steel trust'' in vestigating committee at today's hear ing.
 Mir Stanley made the surprising ad- mission that he had discovered from his own investigation that tiie United States Steel corporation has no monopoly of coking coal and said if he could say the same of the ore and transportation facilities controlled by the trust" he would frankly do so.
 The committee incidentally sought light from Herbert Knox Smith. commissioner of corporations, whose bureau has been Investigating the Steel corporation since 1906 and has made public only part of its report. The commissioner, standing on the Attorney Generals interpretation of the law that no information could be made public without the Presidents au- thorzation, fatly refused to give the committee facts contained in a report not yet completed, relating particularly to cost sheets furnished by the Steel corporation.
 Chairman Stanley read speech of Judge E. H. Gary, chairman of the board of directors of the Steel corporation, made to the board at meeting in 1906. relating to the governments investiga- ton. In this Mir Gary says:
 i"Our finance committee has been in close touch with this matter all the time. We have been in frequent and almost constant communication with Commis- sioner Garfield and more or less with the President himself concerning these matters. Up to date they have made no complaint of us whatever, but I do not know any better than you do what may be the future. We are trying to be frank, accommodating to the department. and we suppose we have an understanding that we will not be unnecessarily in iured and that we will not wrongfully be charged without having an opportun- ity to show the facts sszss ss
 Smith Ignorant of Matter
 Mir. Smith said he knew nothing about this matter Representative Gard ner of Massachusetts, republican, asked if MT. Stanley meant to imply that President Roosevelt and Commissioner Garfield had been in collusion with steel trust officials Mr. Stanley replied that he meant to imply "unseemly ac- tivity' of the steel trust"
 Discussing the steel trusts" con- trol of tl.e coking coal, MT. stanley said:
 q have found on personal investi- gation, that the firm of Jones & tralc orl1 a n the colSing coal In the connelsviile district as the steel trust does. I am also informed that M V. Thompson owns a greater acreage of that coal than does the Steel corporation and that he holds 1t for sale to independ- ents as well as to the trust.
 My investigation does not lead me to believe that the United States Steel corporation has a monopoly of coking, but am inclined to agree with the conclusion of the bureau of corpora tons that the corporation has a prac- tical monopoly of the ores of this country"
 MT. stanley referred to what he termed the "act of Cod to relieve the independents in the discovery of self fuXing ores in the south which de- veloped the open hearth system and opened the way for competition with the Bessemer ores of the superior re-
 
 said so per cent of the open hearth ores were controlled by the Tennes see Coal and Iron company
 Were you ever directed by the Pres tdent?'' Chairman Stanley asked Com missioner Smith, ito investigate par ticularly the Tennessee Coal and Iron conpany at the time the Steel cor poration sought to get control of the non Bessemer ores of the south, before Ai3ey did. obtain them?'
 NO. we did not investigate that mat ter at that time" sa
 Did you ever advise the President about the discovery of the onen hearth process and the control of non Bessemef ores by the Tennessee company
 II don't think we ever talked to the President about it."
 "Did the President ever ask the depart ment Of commerce and labor to advise him as to the nature of the proposed merger between the Steel corporation and the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company?'
 Not to my knowledge"
 ''Is it not true that when the United States Steel corporation absorbed the Tennessee company. the latter controlled the only ores that could enter into com petition. with Bessemer .ores?'
 Controlled Ores
 Tt controlled the most important bed Of the southern ores.'
 "If the Steel corporation had monop- oly 1t practically cinched it through the absorption of the Tennessee company Is th not true?'
 Commissioner Smith said he did not want to commit himself and that all the facts in the bureaus possession would be submitted in due time. The commit tee will resume hearings next Monday.
 Efforts of the committee 70 get from Commissioner Smith facts relating to his Investigation of the United States Steel corporation not yet published were blocked by MT. Smiths emphatic refusal 10 answer all such questions, saying the law forbade such disclosures except upon the Presidents authority. MT. smith agreed to take the matter up Nith Presi- dent Taft
 The steel Investigation was resumed to- day after nearly a months respite and Commissioner Smith was the first wit ness.
 Upon statements made by Commissioners Smith that the bureau permitted the Steel corporation to furnish it with information at its own expense Representative Lit tleton of New York in question inn piled that perhaps the Steel corporation had been allowed to. investigate itself.
 T protest jstrenuously against the s--~-->~~ --.~-~-S ~>-->->-~-sis
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