The Washington times., 1916-02-03
Enemies Make Common Cause.


Enemies Make Common Cause.
Not less anomalous is the strange ar
raw OF bedfellowships BROUGHT about by
the flght on the sisal interest Just a
few years ago the so-csllcd Cordage
trust was quite the most ardentiy hated
concern OF its sort in the country. so
far as the farmers were concerned
Since the regime OF the International
Harvester Compan% became more or
less dominant in the realm of things
agricultural. there has been less disaf-
fectiOn: the farmers have become pretty
well convinced that they We're getting
reasonable prices and god service.
But there was a time when the Cord
age trust WAS hated with all fervpr. and
in that epoch some of the States estab-
lished their binder twine factories in
the penitentiaries 1t provided q wav to
keep the cOnvicts at work. Their prod
ucts, OF course. competed with the prod
ucts of free labor: but II was the output
OF a trust. and the theory was that
anything was justifinble so long as a
trust was being opposed.
Now, however. all these former enc
mics are making common cause against
the slsRl combination. which is accused
OF reaching out around all Of them
undermining them by seiZlng their sup
plies OF materials. IT seems that back
in the months when the CaranZa au-
thoTlty in Mexico WAS struggling for
existence and hoping that II might Olti-
mhtely succeed in gaining the approval
of the Washington Government: II got
very hard ZIP. and that provided the
opportunity for the sisal usuTpers. They
made some sort OF dicker with the Car
rama regime, which was entirely ascen-
dant in Yucatan. and got control of the
marketing privileges dominating the
na lNa mt nf
sion Is not very cellar. but its results
have been eNceedinGlv obvious
Backed By CarranZa.
Last year." explained Mr.. FronS-
dorf. the price OF bisal was about q
Ter cent above normal. That was nre-
sumed to be u natural result of tUrbY-
lent conditions In Mexico. But this sea
soli there is a huge advance over lasI
years prices. and every indication that
the Increase will continue
Down 10 last autumn there was com,
Petition and an open market Then the
Commission Reguladora del Mercad
de Henequen, OF Merida. Yucatan. Jpen.
ell offices in New York. at 81 Wall
street. and established itself qs the
sole buyers of sisal in Yucatan, and
the sole sellers az 1t IN the United
States. This commission is under
stood to have brought. great quantities
of sisal to this country and stored il in
warehouses I'm Galveston, Mobile, New
York and New Orleans, They are of.
fering 1t Ia American manufactures Bt
from to 2ls. cents a pound advance
over last years uIices. Nobody else is
offering. nobody else can get any OF The
fiber TIE CarTanEa government We
understand, is standing firTnly hack OF
the combination, and will brook no in-
reference with the monopoly"
How to get at this combination is a
new question. Tho finer is brought tc
the United States and stored. and Of
fered for sale from warehouses here
This is urged rs a reason why the com.
binatton must be amCnahle TO American
antitrust law. But the ownership Ci
the property is alleged 10 be Mexican
So the question is whether a Mexican
combination can be punished for per,
forming some oC its operations or
American soil.
May Sacrifice Wheat Crop.
That same issue was raised IN the
Coffee trust case, in which the Rra.
lillian government financially backed a
combination to control the worlds cof-
fee business. There was an American
agency of the combination. and tho
Washington Government took the DO,
sition that the people and property
that were physically within the juris-
diction Of the United States could be
attacked, and they were. In the end
the affair was settled without a court
determination; the Brazilian and Wash.
ington foreign offices got together
pressure was eXeTted upon our Depart.
mPnt Of Justice, and Attorney General
McReynolds was induced TO let the
matter he settled by the discontinuancC
Of the Objectionable practices of the
combinat tion. No precedent was estab,
iished for the present case; but the
cOftee combine was regarded as lucky
TO get or 40 easily
The greatest difficulty about the slsa
situation h that tho great advance "
T'fccS since last wear hps caused Tho
manufactures ~ peBtpoBS makinI