New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-01
SAY TRUST CONTINUES
Jobbers AIIege Tobacco SubsId-
iarieS Violate Court Decree.
MANAGEMENT NOT CHANGED
Four Companies Now Fight from
All Sides, Petition in United
States Court Asserts.

John A. Locker and E1ina Locker, inde-
pendent tobacco jobbers, under the firm
name of +. Locker & Co, applied yester-
day to Judge Noyes in the United states
District Court for leave to join the LigSett
& Myers Tobacco Company ana the r
Lorillard Company as parties defendant IN
the suit brought by the Lockers two years
ago against the American Tobacco COM
pany. In that action F.. Locker d Co Ge-
manded $500 900 as treble damages for IN
| iuries done TO their business through mo-
| nopolistic practices exercised by the To-
bacco trust over independent dealers
| Although the suit has been set for tr1ai
| severaI times n has not been decided Is
yet. and the complainants made this mo-
ton to bring before the court condition
which they assert amounts to nothing less
than a continuation of the trust that has
been decreed dissolved by the federal
| courts.
In the moving papers Charles Dushhlnu'
! attorney for T.. Locker & Co, cohtehueo
| that Notwithstanding the provisions Oh '"e
decree which dissolved the ola American
| Tobacco Company, there was practcaiiy
| no change in the situation, except that
where formerly the, independent concerns
were hammered at by one trust they are
noN being attacked simultaneously by the
several companies created out or the trust
| And 50 the Sc new companies are sui con-
tinuing the monopoly and contro' Oh ire
! jobbing business IN greater New YORK anu
other places that has been built up ny the
American Tobacco Company
The petitioners then cite letter written
by them on April 5. 1912. to the American
/ Tobacco. the Liggett & Myers. the Wey-
| man Bruton and the American Snun ccin-
! panies I'm which they made inquiry whe'ner
/ under the changed conditions as a result
| OF the court decree these companies "oulu
| now be- permitted 20 sell their goods I'D r.
! Locker a Co directly. recognize them as
| jobbers and deal with them upon that OASIS
! From each of these concerns. the pc
tition said, 1--WE received separate reply
refusing 10 supply us with goods eaca
! company giving different reason for con-
tinuing the monopoly OF the jobbing busi-
ness through the Metropolitan Tobacco
Company.
| These proposed new defendants now APP
near TO be a part and parcel OF the same
old tobacco trust their methods Of doing
| business arc the same as those employed o.
I
employment Of the same agency for the
distribution OF their products. as Is the
case with the Metropolitan Tobacco Com
pany. is. as am advised. a fragrant viola
ton of the decree OF the Circuit Court"
! II was further charged In the petition
that while the twenty nine individual de-
PENDANTS in the dissolution suit were e.
| joyed by the decree from continuing ther
monopoly. the record showed small group
OF individuals holding hundreds OF thou
sands OF shares OF the American Tobacco
Company who were rot parties TO the go'-
.rnments suit. so that neither OF them was
bound by the decree OF the court except In
go far as the corporations were affected
/ by II.
The active management Of all OF the
| cop,nauies into " hich the trust has been dis
! solved has gone into the hands OF en-
plnyes and officers Of the old trust the pc
I titlon charged. and these represented the
interests Cf the group that controlled the
/ trust.
The pcttion then became sarcastic and
said that one OF the means employed by
! these men. in their earnest efforts to re-
store so-called comp. titiOn. was for four OF
the big companies 10 come into territory
apparently TO compete with one another. but
I'm reality to attack the independent manu-
facturers simultaneously from all sides.
! As a result of this. the compla inants saic,
there have been more failures OF indepen-
dent tobacco jobbers in this city within the
last few months than there have been N
50 many years before.
Judge Noycs set June for hearing ot
argument on the motion.