The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-14
REID PROVES VERY POOR WITNESSFOR THE GOVERNMENT Judge Dickinson Exasper- ated at His Faulty
 Memory TELLS OF MERGER
 OF TIN PLATE FIRMS Denies That the Organizers Had Any Idea of Monopoly, But Might Have Had Regulation of
 Prices in Mind


 NewsYork. May 1s.-Daniel c. Reid. the railroad hnancler and former "tin rlate king a director and member of the finance committee of the United States Steel corporation. was called as witness today at the hearing of the government suit to dissolve the cor poration, to tell how the American Tin Plate company was organized.
 First of the many prominent defend- ants in the suit to appear on the stand, AIr. Reid proved a poor witness for the government. and time and again his an- swers to questions regarding financial phases of the tin plate eompany's form ation was T do not remember" or T do not reeollect"
 Dickinson Exasperated
 His poor memory appeared to ex- asperate Judge Jacob M. Dickinson. chief counsel for the government, and prompted him to remark;
 You can bring a horse to water but you can't make him drink You can subpoena a witness but it seems that you can't mako him remember"
 The government contends that the American Tin Plate company which be- came a part ofs the United states Steel corporation. was in itself a combina- tion in restraint of trade and that it's stock was watered. MT. Reid told how in 1898 he and Judge William II. Moore had welded the company together out of about 35 tin plate concerns represent- ing at that time some 90 per cent of the industry but upon the question as to what the properties were worth, Mir. Reid's memory was frally He said sto.- 000,000 in stock went to the under writing syndicate which financed tho company, over and above $36,000,o00 preferred and common stock issued in exchange for stock of the various plants taken over. He was unable to recall. however, how much of this $l0,00o.0oO he received himself as a member of the syndicate or whether cash was raid for any of ahe plants instead of stock
 Dickinson's Efforts Futile
 All efforts of Judge Dickinson to re- fresh the witness memory by reading extracts from testimony MT. Reid gave before the industrial commission In 1899, proved futile. Judge Dickinson pressed the witness with equal lack or success for information concerning al- loRed contracts Dy WHICH tue AAttAitftA Tin Plate company Is said to have pre- vented machinery for the manufacture of tin plate from being used by con- petitors.
 MY mind is q perfect blank on that subject" declared the witness.
 Mr Reid admitted that there was com- petition among the various constituent plants before he and Judge Moore brought them together, but denied that there was any intention to menopolze the industry or that there had been any efforts to suppress competition.
 Competition was fair and open,' he asserted.
 At the present time Mr. Reid said. read- ing from statistics which he explained were compiled in the office of the Steel corporation, competition had grown to such an extent that the annual capacity of the corporations tin plate plants was only 539 per cent of the countrys total I've figured that by combination we could buy supplies cheaper, reduce over head charges and make the business moro proftable," explained MT. Reid, but per- sistent questioning by Judge Dickinson ellcited the admission that he might have had the regulation of prices in mind"
 Prices Advanced
 Prices of tin plate advanced after the organization of the company, but this was due, he eXplainen 10 auNdnce5 in the prices of crude steel and pig tin over which the tin plate company had no con trol. Moreover. he said, prices of tn plate were much higher in the years previous to 1898 than after Judge Dick inson brought out rom the witness fin this connection that the National Steel company, a manufacturer of crude steel. was controlled by practically the same interests" that controlled the tin plate company.
 This company, the American Sheet Steel company and the American Steel Hoop company were organized as customers of the National Steel company, MT. Reid stated, and Judge Moore. chief organizer of all four, negotiated their sale to the United States Steel corporation through J. r. Morgan x Co. The Steel corpora ton only wanted the tin plate company, he said, but it was 'ali or none.'
 Mir Reid flatly. declined 10 tell the amount of Steel corporation stock he re- ceived for his holdings in the American Tin Plate company
 Jacob Meurer. an important tin plato manufacturer. who was the only other witness today. told of his inability to buy black plate from constituent companies of the American Tin Plate company after 1t was organized As result he was obliged to import his black plate from abroad, he said. and the high tariff caused him serious losses.