Republican farmer., 1919-06-27

A similar cause has restricted the development of local artificial produc- ton. The constant threat of paraliz- Ing competition with natural ice, has prevented those already in the bus mess from enlarging the capacity of their plants while the solitary ven ture ip the direction of new artificial Tlants succumbeL to a systemati,- un- dersellfng designed to force it out of business. All said and done your committee believes in spite of the vii cissitudes of its somewhat novel plan that if the Centerfreze enterprise had been let alone, it would have wealth cred its difficulties and would now be reliable and substantial source of ice supply to the city, and in local hands. Proof of this lies in the fact that it's present shrewd management will not consider any sort of offer of sale.
 Beyond any doubt, the ruthless methods of the sinister and powerful natural ice combine in this state made the harried local dealers glad to get out of the business altogether. On the other hand, the impressive list of it's victims has made new ventures in the ice trade too precarious to be at tractive to those having capital to in vest. The net result is that with IS'DhiludIlL IOtdI waters upon WnlCn could be harvested the highest grade of natural ice and this stored against unfavorable seasons, and with a fine field for the development of artificial | ice production, we face a serious To- 1 cal shortage about once in each four years.
 Within the bounds of judicious | language. your Committee finds it diff | ficult to adequately describe the con | duct of those primarily responsible | for present conditions. The Berk-
 shire Ice Company is a foreign cor poration. Its principal Connecticut office is at Number 427 Housatonic
 Avenue, Bridgeport. Connecticut. Its | President is a residen. of the State | of New Jersey and it's stockholders | are residents both of New Jersey and | Connecticut. A large amount of its stock is held by the President and | General Manager of the Mountain Ice | Company, so-called, of New Jersey,
 which is a strong and powerful con- 1 cern operating principally in New | Jersey and New Yrk. The majority l of the stock of the Berkshire Ice | Company is owned by one Harry w. | Walker of Bridgeport, Connecticut
 and his immediate family. MT. Walk | CT is the General Manager and quite | evidently has been given CARTE | BLANCHE by the directorate. This | latter conclusion is forced upon any
 one reading his testimony before the | Committee. His statements and ex- | plantations found in the record in | variably give the impression that he
 ewes accountability for his conduct
 of the Berkshire Ice Company, to 1 himself alone.
 | MT. Walker and his family have | acquired in this State many other | large ice plants and concerns in one | way and another. Sometimes these l properties have been bought outright; l sometimes they have been acquired | by purchase of outstanding indebted 1 ness against them. and not infre
 quently owners have been forced to
 sell. Always the manifes. purpose has been to secure Berkshire Ice 1 Company domination of important | territory. Wherever the whims of the l management dispose them not to | take the actual title of a dealer who | is inconveniently in tho way, a defi- | mite tonnage of Berkshire Ice is allot-
 ed to his normal supply, as the price l of continued existence. A threat of
 ruthless underseIling and the power to indefinitely continue the same, are | the form of durcss to which the vic | tims have no choice but to yield. Sucn l practices which might be detailed
 far beyond the appropriate volume of
 this Report, have resulted in the
 complete domination of the Connecti-
 cut Ice Market by a combine com
 posed of Berkshire Ice Company and
 it's affiliated and subsidiary concerns.
 including the properties owned by
 Mir Walker and his family. New Ha-
 ven is chief among its victims. More
 over, it's conSi derable foreign direc-
 tcrate and the freedom from invasion
 by the other large ice combinations
 warrant the suspicion, at least, that
 Southern New England is allotted ter ritory to the Walker interests.
 Available Ice Supply.
 Unquestionably, as already point
 ed out in this report, there is a short
 age of ice so far local supply is
 concerned. There Is no great short
 age, however, of supply from the sources intended ultimately as the
 only source of supply for the entire ,, state. The Berkshire Ice Company haa more than double the entire
 quantity of ice it ever puts out in the
 Connecticut Market. By the state
 ment of it's own Manager, the Com
 pany has only slightly less than the largest amount of natural ice ever
 sold in its history to it's whole trade
 for a single year. Not allowing for
 house shrinkage, it has 1o,0O0 tons more of natural ice than its average | annual output. We are advised by , l reliable and experienced ice men , that by no reasonable possibility l Icould house shrinkage amount to 15,- . i0O0 tons on the quantity and under the ] lconMtions involved. In spite of the l unfavorable season, the Berkshire Ice
 Company and its subsidiary and afl-