The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1912-10-15
HARVESTER TRUST
RCDS FARMERS
lntlmldates Dealers and Is Pro-
tected BY Government.
STOCK WAS HEAVILY VATEREO

- s~SN s''sy VV'VpSstD w wv"
lars Of Property and, Presto Change,
the Harvester Trust Was Formed
With q capitalization Of St2o, o,ooo. 900
and the American Farmer 10 Rob-
bed to Pay Dividends On Ninety
Millions Of Watsrsd stock.
W. H. Green Of Creighton, Neb,
has told, In the Commoner, q very in
teresting story about how the great
Harvester Trust intimidates and brow.
beats implement dealers and robs the
farmer Of many thousands Of dollars
each year by manipulating markets
and raising prices abnormally.
This n q greedy trust. which was
formed by George w. Perkins, who
took property and old notes not worth
$S0,000,000 and coined them into $780,.
100000 worth Of property, on all Of
which the American farmer pays big
dividends to the magnates.
Green was for several years q pet
agent Of the different farm implement
companies before the trust was form.
ed, and then he began to hammer the
combine. A well-groomed gentleman
called upon him in the early part Of
1905 and told him that he would have
to keep still. when he refused the
trust transferred the lines of imple-
ments that he had been handling to
his competitors, who had been meek.
Green was left without any goods Co
sell. His Ire aroused, Green con.
tracted for an independent line of
harvesters, and then began an adver-
tising campaign to sell his goods.
II was swelled like a mushroom"
said Green, until one day collector
for the International Harvester com.
pany presented me with bill for the
Independent line had been handling,
and derisively informed me that the
trust had owned the independents all
the time and had carried on the cam.
paign for the purpose Of batting suck
ers like myself out on the limb and
then saving the limb of behind
them"
The Harvester Trust then took tho
Independent line away from Green.
Since that hour the contest between
the Harvester Trust and Green has
been guerilla warfare. Green bought
a newspaper after he had been closed
out and trained his batteries on the
trust. He furnished the evidence and
ex-senator w. v. Allen drew the
pleadlngs for an custer proceeding
against the Harvester Trust In Knox
county, Neb., six years ago. Then
Green learned how we'll the govern
ment, during a Republican admins
tration, protected this big trust He
could never get his case brought TO
trial. The trust attorneys would be
absent In Europe one term Of court,
the next their wives would be sick,
and finally suit was dismissed bo.
tween terms without his knowledge or
consent
A year ago. when the federal depart.
ment Of justice decided to prosecute
the Harvester Trust, Green was called
upon to provide data for use In the
prosecution. The minute he arrived
In Washington pack Of the trust
lobbyists swooped down upon him ami
attempted to persuade him to refuse
the documents to the department OF
justice. A hearing was held before
the committee on rules, and three
days later George w. Perkins gave
the Washington papers an interview
In which no said that President Taft
haA
Trust should have all OF tho time
needed for reorganization and that
the plans for reorganization were mu-
tnal,
II was commissioned by the Ma
tional Antitrust lengue to cali upon
the department Of Justice and inform
them that II they started reorgani
cation scheme for the Harvester trust
such as they had perfected for the
tobacco interests. that impeachment
proceedings against Mr. Wickersham
would be started In the house NJ rep
resentatives within "a hours" says
Green. Il was shown into Mr. FOw.
ler's private Office and that eminent
prosecutor nearly took my head OF
with the challenge: DO you come
here to intlmidate this department" /"
I answered. No. sir. even one-horse
newspaper man from Nebraska knows
better than that. I came down simply
to tell YOU Mr. Wickersham's first
assistant then wanted to know the oh.
1sNtions to the tobacco reorganization,
aud told him that dividing an illegal
corporation into parts, with the same
men owning and controlling the dit.
ferent divisions. looked to me liks
apprehending a band of horse thieves
who had stolen several thousand
horses. and tho decree OF the court
being that u large band OF horses was
Sniniicai to the welfare vt society.
therefore the horses must he divided
into small bands. and each thief TO
| got his pro rata
"The fact that the farmer must pay
20 per cent more for his harvesting
machinery than he paid before tho
formation OF the trust; the fact that
thousands OF travelling men who had
! nut tlpr hest days with tho ho rva al a 4.