Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1913-03-07
HARVESTER TRUSTS
SECRET OF POWER.
Commissioner Of Corporations De.
eIares It Lies In Monopollstle Po-
sltion and Great Command
Of Capital.

pany-the so-called Harvester trust
which the federal government is seek
Ing to dissolve under the Sherman
law, lies in its monopolistic position,
Its superior command of capital, in
GLIDING its connections with ]. P.
Morgan and company and John D.
Rockefeller, and certain Objectionable
competitive methods, according to LIZ.
Their Conant, Jr., commissioner Of cor.
porations, in his report on the opera
tons Of the giant corporation, sub
mitted to President Taft today.
The chief feature of the Interna-
tional Harvester company's opera.
tions," says Mr.. Conant, ARE the
substantial maintenance of its mon
opolistic position in the harvesting
machine business, originally acquired
through combination and its extern
sion on a large scale into new lines
of the farm machinery industry. The
company has been able to do this in
some part through the acquisition of
some Of its chief rivals in the harvest
Ing machine business; in part by u.s.
ing its monopolistic advantage in
thesd harvesting machine lines to
force the sale Of its new lines; in
part by certain Objectionable COMPETE
tive methods; and especially through
its exceptional command of capital,
itself the result Of combinations.
The harvester investigation was
made in response to a senate resolu-
ton passed several years ago. Re-
Gently a request was made by repre-
seatatives of the company that the
report be withheld pending the out
come of the antitrust suit, but Presi-
dent Taft decided to make it public.
Trust Formed in 1902.
The combination, the report declar-
es was arranged in 1902 by the for
iner owners of five leading compel
ing concerns and was not, "as fire.
queatly asserted" mere sale of
their properties to the new interests.
On this point Mr.. Conant says:
1t has been represented in formal
testimony by officers of the company
and its financial promoter, G. w. Per.
kins, then of the firm of ]. P. Nor
gan & Co., that its organization was
not the result of concerted action by
the former competing owners, but
merely of the purchase of their prop
critics by new and outside interests.
Documentary evidence gathered by
the bureau completely disposes of
his contention and shows that the
principal competing interests consid-
cred and discussed among themselves
the formation of this combination
and were active in bringing it about
Great resources came to the com
pany, 1t is asserted, through the CON-
binaton, the financial support of ].
P. Morgan & Company, its fiscal
agents, and large loans secured from
John D. Rockefeller, father-in-law of
a member of the Mccormick family
which owns large portion Of the to-
tai stock Of the corporation.
These exceptional resources. Mr..
Conant maintains, not only enable tn
harvester company to secure the
economies of large-scale operations.
which, as rule, give 1t marked ad.
in manufacturing costs, but
also enable it to maintain a very
elaborate selling organization, by vir-
tue of the variety and extent of its
business. Furthermore, they give
it a great advantage in extending
credits to purchasers, an exceeding
ly important feature of the farm ma
industry"
Worked BY Secret Methods.
Between 1903 and 1904 the COM
pany is declared by the commissioner
to have acquired, secretly, control of
D. NJ. Osborne e Co., its chief CONT
the Minnie Harvester COM
pany, the Aultman-Miller company,
and the Keystone company. These
are referred to as bogus indepen-
DENTS" The secret control Of the
Osborne company, the report says,
was maintained for nearly two years,
while it was being advertised as an
Independent concern. These repre-
sensations, it is alleged, were sup
ported by its managers in sworn
statements that it was an indepen-
dent company. Two of the chief
stockholders Of the Osborne company,
Mr.. Conant adds, agreed to refrain
from engaging independently in the
same lines of business for ten years.
The report says that the harvester
company's claim that the ownership
was concealed in some cases merely