The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-11
Phillips on Stand


amjned by the defense and later by DIS
trict Attorney o. d. Street.
Phillips on Stand
The first witness yesterday afternoon
was Sam Phillips. a former president Oh
the association. He succeeded j. A. VAN
Hoose as president, while Mr.. Phillips In
turn was succeeded by Mr.. McLaurln,
the present chief executive officer. Mr..
Phillips was asked to tell about con-
stitution that was adopted. He proved 10
| be the most amusing witness on the stand
and kept the court and spectators in an
uproar from time to time.
"When I became president of the as
sociation," the witness testified, Il had
heard about the case against VAN
Hoose in the Alabama courts and one
also in Florida. I Immediately sought
counsel of Gen. Luke Wright and Ca
ruthers Ewing of Memphis. the latter
being my personal counsel. We Went
over the whole proposition together
and threshed out the entire situation
[ was advised that certain things done
by VanHoose were to say the least
inappropriate so l Immediately saw to
it that they were discontinued.
"At this time it was suggested that
inasmuch as the association had no
constitution that 1t would be well to
the laws of Tennessee. Tue associa-
ton, l am informed, was organized
under the laws of Virginia in 1892
However, we organized under the Ten
nessee laws and in our charter the full
meaning and purposes OF the aSsocia-
tion are given. In all my admin1stra-
ton I know of nothing that violated
the letter or spirit of that law. Dur
ing my year as president that was the
principal thing that | recommended. 1t
was in 1910 at Chattanooga when !
was not candidate for reelection
and Mr. McLaurin assumed charge that
the new constitution was adopted
"I let the association drift during
that year. l had heard so much about
suits and the like that / considered II
good policy to be less active until the
constitution was agreed upon by all
the members of the association. That
was adopted when Mr.. McLaurin was
named president and the association
has been operating under that since
1910, as | am informed.
81 followed the advice of counsel IN
every step that was taken while l
was president of the association"
Mr.. Phillips said that 1t was his
opinion that no manufacturer would
enter into a combination with the as
sociation to fix prices or to maintain
prices or to operate in restraint of
business men purchased direct from
such makers as they wanted to and
that the association had absolutely
nothing to do with that proposition
Street Names Defendants
The district attorney yesterday
morning intimated to the court that
something like 35 of the defendants
did not seem to tpe connected with the
alleged contempt of court insofar as
his documentary evidence went and but
for their membership in the alleged
illegal combination and their being Of
ficers and directors he had nothing to
hold them on. That list includes w. T.
Reeves, Tupelo, Miss; Sam Kaufman
Montgomery; ID. d. Adams, Batesville
Ark; Max Mayer, Little Rock, Ark;
Henry Patterson, Searcy, Ark; j. A.
Avant, Pensacola, Fla; A. Ryttenberg.
South Carolina; ]. c. Felsenthal, jack
son, Tenn; |. Sugar, Monroe, La. T. S.
Jackson, Hattiesburg, Miss; r. H.
| Green, Jackson, Miss; L. B. Rogers,
Asheville, n. c.; ]. A. Kelly, Hender-
son, N. c.; j. r. Pennington, Admore
| Okla; C. w. Garrett Greenwood, S.
c.; r. A. Tyler, Gainesville, Tex; ].
M. SPOTS. Staunton. Va; J Ingram,
Opelika; g. w. Rattenbury, Fayette-
vile, Ark; II. S. Mullins, Texarkana,
Ark; b. D. Crane. Fort Smith, Ark; ;
B, d. Hartsfield, Gainesville, Fla; c.
o. Kuestery, Charlotte, N. c.. J. f.