The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-25
SUGAR INTERESTS
 FEARED THE LAW
Sherman Law Prevented
 Signing of Agreement
ARBUCKLE TESTIFIES
Propped Up By Pillows in His Bed, Millionaire Coffee and Sugar Magnate Talks of His War
 With Havemeyer

New Paltz, \. Y, July 24.-The one good reason wny the warning sugar interests did not sign an agreement tl end the conflict was fear of the Sher- man anti-truat law. There were minor considerations. Of course but every time the matter was br cached to John Arbuckle. when fne light waxsd warm est, Mir. Arbuckle declined and told his opponents to remember the sherman law.
 Propped up by pillows in his bed, Mr. Arbuckle so les. fled today before a sub -committee of the special congres sonal invest ga ing committee. The congressman had come to MT. Ar buckles bedside because he was un- able to come 10 them and they found him apparently :inreserved in giving the history or his commercial battles Mr Arbuckle said the fight started in 1898, after there mad been a little fric- ton betwe cen his coffee company and the American refinery. The American company retailiated by going into the ever, he said, AIr. Hayemeyer had tried unsuccessfullS, 10 purchase 51 per cent of his uncomr eled refinery. This was in 1897, he sad. when HaTemeyer came to see hi,n about 1t.
 Are you making as much sugar now as you did in days of the war;"
 "Yes. much mo:e e.
 "You made sugar at a loss during the fight
 ,J l,o not ended yet. We are ready to fight in a minute, 1 always said there should be no a8l cement to curtail or reduce production of sugar or control prices, and ther. never will be as long as l am in the sugar business"
 Mir Arbuckle Laid he strongly sus- pected rebate; here being given by refiners to wholesalers, but he said he did not think railroads were involved.
 Knew Hayemeyer Well
 q knew H. o. Havemeyer for 40 years,' he added "He had his good and his bad qualities. He played his violin magnificently. I told him that a man who could make that kind of music was not as bad as people thought him to be-
 MT. Arbuckle said the American com- pany had the ability to, and always did. maintain the price of sugar. Because of it's capacity. it fixes the maximum price, he said, the independents fixing the minimum price.
 But the independents follow the Amer iean prices, do they not?" Yes"
 l Did not time come when there was an armstice between you and the sugar trust?"
 There was never an agreement or an armistice. There's likely to be an out break any time.'
 Did you ever have an interview with C. A. Spreckels, owner of the Federal refinery" asked Representative Madi- son.
 "Yes, l wanted him to join in the trade laboratory l was establishing. He would not I think, because the American com pany was in 1t. 1 told him he was fool ish, that he was losing money and there was no use biting his nose off to spite his face We had all lost money by the | system of sugar polarization. That was all our interview was about" 1 MT. Madison said he read in the min utes of the American company entries showing the trust loaned between s4.000, coo and go. oo0,0o0 to the Noolson coffee plant at Toledo, that the company had cha, ged off s700,000 to profit and loss ac- count, and that the fight against Arbuck e l had cost the trust even more than that 50 the American is still going after trade the way it used to?" he was asked. l Not SO much formerly. When Favemeyer was alive he would not stop at anything. He would use any kind of l weapon that he needed"
 Wasn't the fierceness of the sugar war modified after f303 when the American derided not to lose any more>tnoney in the rontluct or ite coTee bieinase7