Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-02-20
GOVERNMENT SUES
REGISTER TRUST
Bribery, Spying and Other I'm
lawful Acts Charged Against
McCaskey Company.
STOLE PATENTS RIGHT AND
Left COMPLAINT SAYS
Copied Rivals Articles and Sold
Them FOR Nothing" to
Kill Competition.

CLEN ELAND. O. Feb 20.-Sensa-
tional charges Of violations OF the
Sherman antitrust law are levelled
at the McCaskey Register Company
in a civil suit filed here today by or
der OF Attorney General Wickersham.
TO acquire a monopoly OF the inter
state aud foreign commerce IN The
sale OF account registers, appliances
and systems for keeping credit &C
counts, the company, its officers and
agents, It is charged, wrongfully and
fraudulently have INSTRUCTED and
suppressed the business of COMPETE
tors, bribed their employees, employed
agents TO spy upon their business,
have waged an unfair campaign of
patent suits and threatened suits and
OF other unlawful methods to stife
competition.
The Federal District Court here
was asked to restrain the following
named defendants from further mo-
nopoly and TO prohibit a series of
alleged unlawful and unfair prac-
tises,
The Defendants.
The MeCaskey Register Company
Alfred G. Ryley Stewart S. Kurtz,
Samuel G. Zimmerman. Edward A.
Langenbach and Austin Lynch. OF
Canton, o.; Henry f. Pollock. Theo-
dore G. uran. George c. Russell, Will
Jam G. Farnum, Milton Bejoh and
Grant kizer of Alliance. o.. Josiah
w. Phipps, Boston; Charles T. Bax-
ter, New York; David C. Bower,
Pittsburgh: Harry NJ Rowley, Chi
cago; William p. Hughes San Fran
cisco; John II. Jones, Kansas City,
Mo-; Fred Schneider, Seattle: George
P. Hayes. Memphis. Tenn; Leslie G.
Solar, Atlanta, and Edward T. Bing-
ham. Washington, ID. c.
The defendant company is said to
own exclusively the Dominion Regis
ter Company, limited, of Toronto,
Canada, which also maintains an
agency in London.
The bill, filed by United States At
torney Denman, is signed by Attor-
ney- General Wickersham, James A.
Fowler, his assistant, and Malcolm
a. Coles. his special assistant.
A campaign of fierce and unfair
competition" has been planned or
consented to by officers of the COM
pany, the government alleges A force
of special men. sometimes called the
flying squadron, or Knockout
men," was employed, it is declared, to
impart TO statesmen and. agents in
structions to destroy. the business of
competitors and for the purpose of in
terfering with the negotiations and
inducing the cancellation by Gus
toners of their contracts of sale with
Competitors.
Spies Employed.
Agents also We're employed, it is
charged, TO spy upon the business of
competitors and fraudulently obtain
information as to their sales and
shipments and the addresses of their
customers or prospective customers.
Defendants are declared to have in
structed agents to procure Informal
ton from employees of railroads, ex-
press companies, hotel companies and
others as to plans and shipments of
competitors.
A multiplicity OF suits and threat
ened suits have been brought, it is
charged, against competitors for the
alleged infringement of patent rights
in a systematic campaign of harrass-
ment.
Some of the defendants are alleged
to have studiously copied and simu-
lated advantageous features of COM
petitors' products and attached them
to the McCaskey account register
They are declared to have built
registers known as knockers re-
sembling the machines of COM
petitors. and sold them without re-
gard TO cost to ruin rivals.