The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1915-04-29
HARVESTER CO.
WOULD CONTROL
THEY ARE ENDEAVoRINe TO
CORNER" sIsAL CROP.
USING U. S. NAME AS THREAT
Representing They are Supported by
This Government. Operation to
Detriment Of Producers and
Independent Purchasers.

Washington, April 2S.-Sensational
charges OF trying to secure control of
all sisal are made against the Inter-
national Harvester Company in al
Legations submitted to the State De.
partment on behalf OF the Carranza
government through Senior Eliseo Ar.
redondo, special agent of General Car
rama in Washington. The Carranza
agents appeal for an inquiry by the
State Department
The charges are that the Harvest.
er Company is endeavoring to monop-
Ollie the Yucatan sisal hemp crop for
use in manufacturing American bind
er twine and that the agents OF the
harvester company are endeavoring
to export sisal from Yucatan on their
own terms and for their own use, rep
resenting that they are supported by
4, the governments of the United States.
| 1t is alleged that this is operating to
the, detriment of producers of the
hemp and to independent American
purchasers who need it for binder
twine
| The allegations were made in cable
grams from Senior Luis Cabrera at
Merida, Yucatan, and from Subsecre-
tary Nieto in charge of the Carranza
department of the treasury at Vera
Cruz.
In his cablegrams Cabrera says, in
part:
| The International Harvester Com
pany is apparently cooperating with
the government of Yucatan relative
to the prompt expectation of the sisal
fiber, but the company is doing every
thing possible to see that expectation
proceeds only in its own way.
The Harvester Company is determ-
ined to use Washington's good Offices
for its own benefit. II is proper that
the Department of State should be
lapprised of Avelino Monies efforts to
force his conditions in the negotia-
ttions between producers AMI consum-
,ers. and to this end he is using the
departments name freely
Monies is described as the Mexican
representative of the Harvester Trust
in charge OF the sisal fight.
I'VE would like to avoid the eXtor-
lions of the Harvester Company, bas.
ed on the departments alleged sup
port, with regard to prices and sort of
money with which they wish to pay
for the fiber The United States people
pay Monies in gold and he wishes to
force on the producers the acceptance
of money which is entirely false"
Independent Co. Indicted.
Chicago, April %. - Indictments
were returned last evening by feder-
al grand jury before Judge X. M. Ian
dis against nine former officials and
Of hn IpInnnnhnnt IarUnQtnr
Co. The true bills charge the use of
the United States mails for the fur
therance of a scheme to defraud.
The Independent Harvester Com
pany, a $IU,000,000 corporation, with
headquarters at Plano, Ill, was hailed
at the time of its organization in 1907
las the nemesis OF the harvester
trust" and as an organization that
would save the farmers of the country
millions of dollars.
1t is set forth that during the re-
gime of the defendants the capital
stock of the company was increased
from $l,000,000 to $10,000,000, Of
which $7,00O,00O, consisting of 10000
shares of the per value of 500 each,
was designated as preferred machin-
cry" stock 1t is charged that the pre-
ferrC> machinery" stock was disposed
of by the defendants at prices ranging
from 500 to S125 share. although its
real value at the time did not exceed
one-haR of such prices.
The government asserts that the
statements made to the farming COM
munities-that the company was own
ed ana controlled by farmers-were
false. 1t is declared that the defend
ants were operating the company be-
tween the years of 1907 and 1913, not
for the purpose of having it to do a
legitimate business in the manufac-
ture and sale of farming machinery,
but were only making a pretense OF
carrying on the business for the pur'
pose of disposing of the $7,OOO.OOO oil
preferred machinery stock to the
public. The aggregate amount of stock
disposed of, II is claimed, was between
Yo,U00,000 and $4,000,000. ...