Omaha daily bee., 1912-01-02
AMERICAN CONSUMERS PROFIT
Independent Mines Agree that They
Will Re-enter the Syndicate.
MONOPOLY STILL Is MAINTAINED
United States Interests Welcome
Peace at ANY Price.
vGRIGNAL PRICES WILL RULE
New Contracts Covering Full Amer
lean Requirements Made ht Quo
tatiOns Practically Same as
Before Dispute Arose.

NEW YORK, Jan. 1-Terms Of final
settlement of the potash controversy
between German and American interests
were announced tonight by the Interna-
tional Agricultural corporation, which is
the owner OF the Sollstedt mine, over
which the dispute has largely been wsged.
The announcement declares the only
foundation for previous reports that the
differences had been settled was that a
basis OF compromise had been tentatively
agreed upon,
Adjustments have now been made and
confirmed by exchange of cables with
Berlin" 1t IS stated. These adjustments
provide for the withdrawal OF all suits
in our courts involving liability for pay
ment of the potash tax levied by Ger
many; for the assignment to the syndi-
cate of American contracts with the in
dependent mines; for new contracts with
the syndicate covering full American pot
ash requirements on a price basis pIac-
ticaly the same as that prevailing before
the low price contracts were obtained
from the independent mines, and for the
re-entry of the independent mines into
the syndicate"
The statement continues:
"As the owner of the Sollstedt mine
! the International Agricultural corporation
has exhausted every possible means to
protect it's low price contracts with Amer
lean consumers. The corporation and
those who shared with it the difficulties
of its position have agreed to the present
settlement because, after the Americans
who held contracts with the Sollstedt and
Aschersieben mines negotiated the later
Hamburg contracts with the syndicate, 1t
became impossible for the United States
government to obtain any relief for Amer
lean consumers.
Former Compromise Refused.
1T is to be regretted that Americans
failed to accept a former compromise OBJ
tained for them by the international, the
teI,ms of winch were far more favorable
than those now agreed to. Too much
blame. however, should not be imposed
for these failures, for the reason that the
l.Americans could not believe at that time
that the energetic efforts of their goV-
ernment would be ineffective to protect
contracts against the operation of the
German tax law"
The series of controversies between the
German potash syndicate and the Amerl-
can buyers has been a matter of diplo-
matte intercourse for a long period.
1t was said tonight that while many
Americans interested in the potash world
feel that Germany has been able to main
tain"its monopoly, they feel it is a good
thing to have the controversy over with
to let peace come in business that has
long known war.
VIII Save Millions.
WASHINGTON, Jan. Assistant Sec
retary of State Huntington Wilson ex-
pressed the qualification of the State de-
partment tonight over the result of the
negotiation between American buyers
and the German potash syndicate, which,
It is said, will save the American potash
consumers about sS,5OOOOO annually. The
offices of the department were employed
10 bring about an adjustment OF differ
ences between the buyers and the sellers
without resort to a tariff war between
this country and Germany, which for a
time was threatened.
The independent potash mines, which
have now re-entered the syndicate, for
merly gave American buyers a price of
D $50 a ton, while the syndicate price was
$3.50. Under the new arrangement II
is understood the syndicate will enter on
five-year contracts with American buyers
at $3.50 per ton.