New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-23
TRUST ATTACK RENEWED
Size Makes Shoe Machinery Co.
Illegal, u. S. Argues.
80 PER CENT TOO GREAT
Legal Line Passed by This
Measure of Capitalization,
Supreme Court Is Told.

Washireton. Dec 22.--In view Of re-
cent antitrust decisions by the Supreme
Court. Solicitor General Bullitt, in the
governments brief, made public to-day.
asks the court TO reverse the action Of the
Massachusetts, Federal Court in annulling
Indictments against officials Of the United
Shoe Machinery Company, which charged
violations Of the sherman law. The brief
marks the opening Of the final fight
against the officials The case will be
argued orally about January {.
The defendants are charged with yiolat-
ing the law by combining into one cor
poration, the United Shoe Machinery COM
many, the three groups of Shoe machinery
manufacturers-nam the Consolidated
and Mckay Lasting Machine Company
manufacturing 90 per cent of the lasting
machines in use: the Mckay Shoe Ma
chinery Company, manufacturing 20 per
cent of all heeling machines and 80 per
cent Of all metallic fastening machines.
and the Goodyear Shoe Machinery Com
pany. manufacturing 50 per cent u all the
welt sewing and outsole stitching ma
chimes and 10 per cent Of all the lasting
machines.
The further charge is made that the Of
dcials violated the law by leasing their
patented machines on condition that all
their machines would be withdrawn II the
shoemakers patronlzed to any extent in
dependent manufacturers OF machines.
With the exception OF a small trade IN
lasting machines, the companies whose
business was taken over by the United
Shoe Machinery Company were not com
peti,ors. and so Judge Putnam, OF the
Massachusetts Federal Court. held that
the organization of the company was cnly
in normal compliance with modern
trade progress" which demanded an op-
portunity to buy all the machinery re-
mired In a factory Of one company. So
licitor General Bullitt, in his brief, asserts
that this is not true when an unreason-
able proportion OF the trade is combined.
and takes the advanced position that
mere size may make d combination IL
legal He says:
Without attempting now to determinate
exactly at what percentage Of trade con
troll a corporation passes into the 'egloh
Of Illegal restraint certainly WheN tle
combination acquires ~ per cent OK the
Illegal nominations has been passed. We
Insist that the consolidation INTO on
hand OF about SO per Ceut OF the trade
in shoe machinery IL In and OF Itself A
combination in restraint Of trade and IL
legal.
The Solicitor General declares that the
recent mlmeograph case is no authority
for the action OF the officials licensing
their machines so as to require manu-
facturers Of shoes TO buy all their ma
chinery of them lie says that DE inter-
prets the. nirueograph case To- mean that
the court would uphold a lceus, Iestfi'-
ton on the use of patented machine
only when the restriction deals with SUP
plies necessary for the use OF the ma
chine. coutending:
The Consolidated and Mckay LASTING
machine was used for years In making
shoes without the least connection be-
tween il and the metallic fastening MAJ
chine The lasting machine bear D."
relation 10 whether the metallic fasteh-
ings i'm shoes are inserted by the NJ .Na!
machine or by hand. or by one OF On"
numerous independent metallic fastening
machines.
Even II the licensing of itself was valid
the Solicitor General claims that by an
thority Of the bathtub case and the hafd
coal case it would come within the pro-
hibitions Of the law because part oi
one general scheme OF combination.