Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-02-07
81 Defendants, 1t Is
Said, Controlled
Whole Product.
LOCAL CONCERN MEMBER
OF ALLEGED COMBINATION
Prices of Unpatented Articles,
1t Was Charged, Were
Fixed by Agreement.

LIE MI L hiGn. ftDt . 1 AiS
boot and shoe last trust" fixing it is
alleged. the price of practically every
last sold in the United States. was
dissolved here today by the federal
government in quick time
Immediately following the filing OF
a civil antitrust suit against the
Krentler- Arnold Hinge Last Com
pany and numerous other last manu-
facturers with whom it was allied by
agreements. United States. District
Attorney Arthur J. Tutt:e entered an
agreed decree terminating license
agreements insofar as they fixed the
price of unpatented lasts and dissolV-
ing club through which the alleged
Violate of the Sherman law was ac-
complished.
The decree, in effect. lays down the
broad principle that it is unlawful to
tie together patented and unpatented
articles so as to fix the price of un-
patented commodity. Neither the
government petition nor the decree
questions the right of a patentee to
fix the price of a patented last.
Defendants to the suit were named
as follows:
The Defendants.
Krentler-Arnold Hinge Last Com
pany, Detroit; Krentler Bros. Com
pany, Detroit; Crawford, McGregor
Candy Company, Dayton, O.. Rebhun
Company, Cincinnati; st. Louis Last
Company, st. Louis; Chicago Last and
Die Company; Boston Last Company;
Rochester Last Works; Woodward &
Wright Last Company, Campello,
Mass; George E. .Belcher Last Com
pany, Stoughton, Mass; Mawhinny
Last Company, Brockton, Mass; Col
bert Last Company, Worcester, Mass;
Marlboro Last Company, Marlboro,
| Mass..:s~eSew- York Last Company;
John Pell & Sons, Newark. n. j.;
Stewart & Potter Company. New
York; R. S. McNeill Company, Brook
lyn, N. Y; Philadelphia Last and
Pattern Company; Vulcan Box Toe
Process Company. Portsmouth, o.:
Nathaniel E. Arnold and George F.
Atwood North Abingdon, Mass;
Thomas w. Gardner. Fl. X. Gardner
and H. L. Wood, Lynn, Mass; Fred
erick Drew and Augustus A. Delano,
Brockton, Mass: George H. Van Pelt,
Chicago; F. w. Stuart Beverly.
Mass; w. E. Bigelow. Worcester,
Mass; C. C. Kempton, S. S. Redifer.
4
Philadelphia: L. c. Wadleigh and J.
H. Hovey, Haverhill. Mass: Edwin o.
Krentler, Detroit; William II. Craw-
ford, Dayton, O.; Charles S. Dennis,
Chicago, and Fred Drew, Brockton,
Mass.
The defendants manufacture, it is
declared, IS to so per cent. of all
shoes and boot lasts in the United
States and thus dominate and con-
troll, SO far as price is concerned, the
entire interstate commerce.
Fix All Last Prices.
Instead of manufacturing its pat
ented lasts and their parts exclusive
ly, Krentler- Arnold Hinge Last Com
pany issued license agreements to
other manufacturers in which the
latter agreed, it is said. to maintain
the prices of all lasts in accordance
with a schedule of prices furnished
by the former. The purpose of these
agreements, it is charged, was to fix
arbitrarily and unfairly high the
price of both patented and unpat
ented lasts. the latter forming about
so per cent. of the business, SO as to
enable the Hinge Last Company to
exact an abnormal price for its
patented lasts.
Prices are fixed. and unreasonaoly
high profits obtained. it is declared,
largely through an organization
known as the Cary Club. composed
entirely of the licensees of the
Krentler- Arnold Hinge Company.
By the agreed decree, in which the
defendants disclaim all intention of
violating the Sherman law. they are
restrained from continuing the al
legged unlawful features of their
agreements, and from further main
tanning the Cary Club
The governments petition, signed
by General Wickersham,
James A. Fowler, assistant to the at
torney- general, and Malcolm A.
Coles. special assistant, was filed by
United States Attorney Clyde I.
Webster.