The Washington times., 1913-04-19

Congress probably will be asked TO
call on the State Department and me
Department of Justice 10 explain WHY
the Coffee trust" suit was dismissed.
Senator Norris OF Nebraska, who. two
years ago. introduced the resolution
| that initiated the suit, wants 10 know
| why il was dismissed He is not sat-
isfied and has very frankly said so.
The government of Brazil, through
diploma tic representations induced this
Government 70 bring the suit to an end.
Senator Norris Wants 10 know whether
the coffee combination is going to be
good In the future. After making n
long study of the combine and intro
ducins his resolution for its inves:iga-
tion he learned that it was doubtful
whether the statutes would sustain an
action: so he got the law amended in
order to remove this obstacle. After
all this. and after the Wickersham :td-
ministration had brought the prosecu-
ton to the point where ii looked as II
the extreme penalties of the antitrust
act might be invoked the administration
changed hands, and instead OF going
ahead with the effort to lock up male
factor or two. the new Administra tion
calmly dismissed the whole proccedinS
, That is why the Nebraska Senator Is
wroth.
Inc IOH Se trust. oTSdUtLeu
of years ago. was backed by the gov
.rnmcnt of Brazil, the government OF
tire BIaz z'lian state of Sac Paulo, and Il
hrse bankers syndicate, composed oil
English. German. Dutch. French. and
Americans Most of the worlds coffee
is grown in Brazil. and the project con-
t,mplatcd limitation of the production.
together with the establishment OF
world wide corner" that would be pow
eTful enough TO hold back supplies and
hoist the price.
Enter the Norris Resolution.
This pleasant project worked so well
that American coffee topers. who tope
something ike half the worlds coffee
each year. presently found the price
OF their breakfast beverage soaring
skyward. in the face of the fact that
Brazilian planters had been producing
unprecedented quantities of the berry.
Complaints were voiced from all direc-
t'ons, but the retailers referred trebI
to TIE wholesalers. and the wholesalers
explained that they didn't do IL; The
price 10 them had been pushed up. ana
they must pay IT or do without the
coffee
Then Mr.. Norris came in with his
resolution. asking whit the Government
knew about The combine.
At first the Department of Justice,
under Mr.. Wickersham. didn't get en-
dDout lnt buI dt
length it set a special agent on the trail
of the trust. and as he developed more
and more amazing facts, the Depart
mentsat up and took observations. At
length suit was brought. The United
States VS.. Herman Sielcken." Sielcken
being the American agent of the COM
bination- At the same time the Govern
ment attached 10000 bags of coffee that
was warehoused in New York. owned
by the combine. and held of the mar
l. o. ~ iran Gfr lie
: were held at commercial centers in
Europe, in order to sustain the high
prices.
While the Department of Justice. dur
ing the last three or four months OF
the Taft Administration. was vigorously
pressing its effort to seize this coffee,
Sielcken was summoned before the Pujo
Money trust committee and asked
about the combination. His testimony
there is described by Senator Norris as
amazing and was so considered by
a good many other people. Anyhow,
the law authorities of the Government
had become thoroughly convinced that
they had fine case: but they could not
get it finally acted upon before the
change of Administration.
Norris Skeptical About Case.
Exactly what happened after that
change, is what Senator Norris wants
to know. The Department of Justice.
on ApTll 10. lSsutO q Ntis iidi
ment. saying that these 100000 bags of
coffee were part of the security for a
loan which the banking syndicate had
made to the state of Sac Paulo. guar
anteed by the Brazilian government.
Negotiations through the state Depart
ment brought on an understanding that
if the coffee in New York were disposed
of to bona fide purchasers by April l.
the suit would be dismissed. The state
ment proceeds:
Good faith assurances have been pre-
scented by the Brazilian government
that the understanding was fulfilled in
letter and spirit, andsthe entire amount
of coffee disposed of to eighty dealers
in thirty-three cities of twenty States.
These assurances are accepted. and the
suit will be dismissed accordingly. -
The department. asked whether any
further steps are contemplated, declined
TO say.
Senator Norris wants to know who
those eighty dealers in thirty-three
cities of twenty States are. He doesn't
feel as certain as he would like to he,
that the combination has dealt i'm entire
good faith in the matter.