Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-08-06
WAsTEFUL METHODS ABOLISHED
Assert New Company Formed is Not
Unlawful Combination.
CONSUMERS SHARE ADVANTAGE
Basic Patents on Binders and Now.
ers Not in Force.
DOES NOT sTIFLE COMPETITION
Merely Affects Economics in Cost of
Production, Lowers Selling Prices
and Raises Wages of
Employees.

ST. PAUL, Aug. 5.-The answer Of the
International Harvester company to the
bill fled by the United States under
the Sherman antitrust law was filed
in the United States district court al
st. Pau today.
The answer denies specifically all
charges OF restraint of trade, monopoly
and unfair business practices. 1t alleges
that prior to the formation Of the CON-
pany in 1902, the harvester business had
been conducted in wasteful manner
detrimental alike to manufacturers. re-
tail dealers and consumers; that only
the two largest manufacturers had profit
able businesses. while the business of
others was decreasing and becoming
hazardous and improbable. The In
ternational Harvester company. it Is
stated, was not an unlawful combination.
but new company formed, with ample
capital. in order to secure large econo-
mics in the agricultural implement busi-
ness by producing more cheaply the raw
materials, by enlarging facilities, and
correcting wasteful methods of distribu-
tion, by expanding the foreign trade and
by better organized experimental and in
spection departments.
The company's commercial power has
been used not only for the benefits of
its stockholders, but also for the benefit
of the farmers and dealers and of its
employees; and the taking on of new
1l OF II In
engines, tractors. auto wagons. farm
wagons, cream separators and manure
spreaders, has resulted in the business
as a whole being conducted more eco
nomically and in fostering instead of
restraining trade, it is asserted
Any monopoly through patents is de-
MED on the ground that the basic pat
ents on binders and mowers expired
prior to 1902
Earnings and Profits.
The detailed statement Of earnings and
profits contained in the answer shows
that during the first eight Years, the
dividends paid averaged only 5.92 per
cent on the fully paid capital stock and
the total earnings only 7,15 per cent
and that the main expansion in the
company's business has been gained in
the new lines Of implements and foreign
trade, which has increased from about
s1C,0Oe,0C0 in 1903 to over S42,00O0OO in 1911.
1t is held that the company has active
and increasing competition, the number
of competitors In binders being eight,
with an aggregate capital of over 800. .0o0-
600, and in other lines the competitors
numbering from fourteen in mowers to ISL
IL gasoline engines.
The answer declares that the prices Of
harvesting machinery have increased
about per cent over 1902, while the
machines have been improved in quality,
and the materials and labor entering
Into their manufacture have increased on
an average Of % per cent
AS to binder twine, the answer as
serts that since the company was
formed, the wholesale price of sisal
twine has fallen from II cents to 6A,
cents pound, and of manila twine,
from 1874 cents to ~ cents a pound;
further that the company has expended
more than a million dollars In the ef-
fort to produce binder twine from Ameri-
can-grown flax, which, If successful,
would have kept within the United
United States s2o,o0o,OOO now expended
annually for imported sisal and manila
fibres.
The wages and conditions Of It's en-
ployes the answer Saws bava haan IN,
proved by the Harvester company to an
extent impossible under trade conditions
existing prior to 1902; wages have been
increased fully q per cent; profit sharing
systems have been established, sanitary
and safety Appliances installed; a liberal
plan of workmens compensation put into
effect. with benefit department provid-
ing sick and death benefits for employees
and generous pension system.