The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-03-13

on ......... S4s s5's s'a So. ss5's
nd Power 49, -. VI
urer OF the sugar trust. and Georss IL.
Frazier. another relic of the have
meyer regime.
Heiks Looks On.
Removed from them in a dark corner
of the room sat Charles X. Helke.
who're faithful service to the trust for
two decades as It's secretary resulted
IN his being indicted separately. triso
and convicted. Ee is now awaiting the
outcome of second appeal from
decree Of court sentencing him 10
prison term Whether or not He'ke,
old and bent and broken, will be USED
as witness by the government
against his former associates. mas not
vet developed. Ear back among the
spectators in the crowded couTt room.
listening intenlly to every excori3tinS
word employed by District Attorney
Wise, was Oliver Splitter. who was
pardoned from the Federal prison al
Atlanta hy~~FtesideBt Taft - fiar-~ae
had served q few months of his sth-
tencc fnr participating in the gigantic
uncierweighirE frauds. Spit@e.' fo:
many years buc been superintendent
of docks at the Williamsburgh re-
fnery OF the trust. The district at
torney declines to say whether or not
1t is his purpose to use splitter as
witness.
FROM Joseph e. Freeman. who sue
ceeded Heike as secretary OF the
trust. tho district attorney, aided by
Assistant Grim. obtained copies OF
letters from the files of the company
pertaining to the transaction between
the combine and its indicted officials
with Adolph Segal, whose refinery IN
Philadelphia WAS wrested from him
by the American Sugar Company, the
Indictment charges, and never per-
mitted to operate. 1t is this deal
which the government contends con-
stitutes a violation OF the criminal
clause OF the sherman ANTITRUST law.
Nearly a hundred letters and other
similar documents were thus pro-
duced and marked for identification.
Later they will be presented to the
jury as evidence.
Letters Tel Story.
From Thorne Kissel. son and exec
utor Of Gustaye e. kissel, were OBJ
ta.nea an even larger number OF let
| ters ana other bits OF evidence bear
ing similarly upon the case. 1t was
the witness father who was charged
Segal to accept a loan OF $l.zou,ouu
from him on such hard conditions as
| to enable the sugar trust to gopble
up Segars just completed refinery IN
Philadelphia. Harneos part is al
| leged to be that he acted as attor-
ney in this transaction.
| The production OF this sort OF EVIL
dence will be continued several days
| by the government. 1t will not be
made public until it Is presented to
/, the jury by the prosecution. Not even
Delaney Nicoll and the other law
yers for the defense were permitted
to see much of 1t today.
| The issue at stake in this case, "
said District Attorney Wise. in pre-
! senting the governments side to the
! jury. sis simple and old as Chris
! tianity itself. 1t Is the Tenth Com
mandment. Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbours house. That Is the main
| issue, and 1t will have to be upheld
| for us for the safety of future gen
erations. For twenty years these men
! were Identified with the American
! Sugar Refining Company. a concern
| which controlled rs per cent. OF the
| manufacture and sale OF sugar in the
| United States. They were enabled to
do this by their monopolistic tactics. 81
Mr.. Wise then declared that he
would produce abundant evidence how
the new. magnificent plant Of the
: Pennsylvania SuxaERefiaing- Conn.,
| pany, had been closed by the Ameri.
| can Sugar Refining Company" through
tbs conspiracy charged. Persons in
| several cities, he said. had invested In
this new company, and when the de-
PENDANTS closed IL up It not only de-
nrived the investors of their profits,
but also restrained trade and COM
| rnerce.
Conspiracy Starts in Building.
During the course OF construction
Of this refinery In Philadelphia" the
district attorney went on. these men.
sneaking down to Philadelphia from
New York. watching every brick. every
Dit OF machinery that went into that
refinery, and then, coming back, the
sneaks went to the board of the Ameri-
can Sugar Refining Company. and re-
ported to Mr.. Haveneyer. This was
as early as 1909. though the conspir-
| acy was not actually accomplished till
| the latter part OF December, 1908.
Henry Q. Havemeyer. Washington B.
Thomas. and others. sat together and
schemed how they could knock the
rrops out from under the refinery 1t
the right time. They wanted to wait
! uhStt Sc6d1 '9du put du tuo u1Oucy
he could get into the refinery, and
they planned then to wrest the stock
from him by loaning him money. get
ting the stock OF the concern as secur-
| ity. They watched that refinery like
a cat watches a mouse. and when the
right time came jumped on the poor
little mouse and gobbled 1t up.
| Il am not here to protect the out.
ragged Segal. ! am here to protect
| the people of the United States OF
| America against such deeds as this,
which interfere with our trade with
| foreign countries and also choke or
our own citizens In their fight to make
! q living
| In closing his presentation, Mr.. Wise
said he would show not 30 much by
outside witnesses as by the defen-
dants themselves, thar they were
! guilty OF deliberate conspiracy TO
restrain trade.
They had great power" he ds.
clared. "and tor years they used that
power to crush smaller rivals from
coast to coast Every mothers ron
Of them. up TO the very day this In
dictment was found. did everything
! In his power to control this crushing
process. When have finished with
NV case and yn1y IN ~.C,sv aut~ -