Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-23
VIEW OF SHOE TRUST
Supreme Court Asked to Re-
verse Lower Tribunal.
OBJECT OF BRIEF FILED
Charged in Massachusetts With Vic.
lating Sherman Law Prohibiting
Restraint Of Trade.

The Supreme Court OF the United States
| is asked to reverse the acton of the
Massachusetts federal court to annulling
indictments against officials of the United
States Shoe Company, which charge
violations of the Sherman antitrust law.
In the governments brief, prepared by
Solicitor General Bullitt, and made public
Yesterday. attention is called to recent
antitrust decisions by the Supreme
Court.
Oral argument will be made before the
Supreme Court about January 6. The
brief marks the opening of the final fight
against the officials.
1t is in part as follows:
The officials are charged with violat-
Ing the law in combining into one corpo-
ration, the United Shoe Machinery Com
pany, the four groups Of shoe machinery
manufacturers-namely. the Consolidated
and Mckay Lasting Machine Company,
manufacturing 60 per cent of the lasting
machines In use; the Mckay Shoe Ma
chinery Company, manufacturing 20 per
cent of all heeling machines and so per
cent of all metallic fastening machines,
and the Goodyear Shoe Machinery Com
pany. manufacturing so per cent of all
the welt-sewing and out-sole stitching
ing machines They are charged further
with violating the law by leasing their
patented machines on condition that all
their machines would be withdrawn if
independent manufacturers of ma
chimes.
Solicitor Generals View.
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
petitors. and so Judge Putnam of the
Massachusetts, federal court held that
the organization of the company was only
in normal compliance with modern trade
progress, which demanded an opportuni-
ty to buy all the machinery required in
factory of one company. Solicitor Gen.
eral Bullitt in his brief asserts that this
Is not true when an unreasonable pro-
portion of the trade is combined and
takes the advanced position that mere
size may make a combination Illegal.
Without attempting now to determine
exactly at what percentage of trade con-
troll corporation passes into the region
Of illegal restraint" the solicitor general
says certainly when the combination
acquires so per cent of the total trade
nations has passed. We insist that the
consolidation into one hand of about 50
per cent of the trade in shoe machinery
is in and of itself combination in re
straint of trade and Illegal
The solicitor general declares that the
recent Monograph 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. He says he interprets
the mimeograph case to mean that the
court would uphold license restriction
on the use of a patented machine only
when the restriction deals with supplies
necessary for the use of the machine.
Operated Separately.
'The Consolidated and Mckay lasting
machine was used for years in making
shoes without the least connection be-
tween it and the metallic fastening ma
chine contends the solicitor general.
THE lasting machine bears no re,ation
to whether the metallic fastenings in
shoes are inserted by the Mckay ma