The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-09-07

ANOIN ltlStdHulilS llle lnCfedSet of the country, according to the commis- sioner's report, were not prevented from making much profit as, before be- cause the prices of farm products ln- creased to an even greater extent" The report adds however that if present n,- plement prices are maintained, while prices of farm products decrease such increased costs may well become a fac- tor in preventing the farmer from mak- ing a fair profit.
 The dissolution of the International Harvester Company in 1918. declares the commissioners report, did not change the dominating position of that company in the harvesting machine line. and will not do so while the Mccormick and Deering plants and the steel business remain united under its control, either directly or by common ownership of stock.
 DOMINATES POSITION "The dominating position of the Inter national Harvester Company is chiefly with respect to the harvesting machine l lines, and particularly with respect to grain binders. The maintenance of this 1 position is aided by the steel-making , business of the company, which fur nished 1t either with large profits or with | steel at cost, thereby further increasing l the International Harvester Company's I dominating position by reducing it's all | ready low costs of manufacture.
 /. '"rhe revision of the business of the ! International Harvester Company there- 1 fore should be in such a way as to di- l vide effectively the harvesting machine I lines and to separate therefrom the steel business, less than half of the products of which have been utilized by
 it's implement factories, and is therefore much too large to be left with any one of them To make any such division of l the harvesting machine lines effective in restoring competition. it would be ab-
 solutely essential to separate the Mo- Cormick and Deering plants and the Me- Cormick and Deering brands. It would also be necessary, of course, to enforce absolute separation of ownership of the lstock in the new companies organized. Tt Is necessary to separate the MIG
 Cormick and Deering plents and brands
 because. according to 5udhial aecisloa
 they were illegally combined in 1g02. ant
 because it is 1aese that have given tht
 International Harvester Company iis ! dominating position in the harvesting
 machine line. By their volume of out.
 put, their low cost of production and reputation in the trade, the possession oi these two plants and brands make ef-
 fective competition from other manufac- turers ilusory.
 | MANY INVESTIGATIONS
 | Investigation of twenty-two manu- lecturers and more than 200 dealers showed the average rate of profit for the dealers increased from per cent lin 1915 to 177 per cent in 1918. which is an increase of 97 per cent, while that of manufacture increased from that ol 9.07 in 1916 to 9.9 per cent in 1918.
 The National Implement and Vehicle Association. with general offices in Chicago, the Southern Wagon Manu- lecturers Association and the Carriaga Builders National Association are de- signated by the commission as the or ganizations through which the manu- facturers acted by concerted action to advance prices.
 "Under cover of bringing about uni- form cost accounting, uniform terms of sale and standardization Of product, the report asserts the manufacturers who are members of these associations repeatedly advance prices of farm im- plements by concerted action during (COntinued Page Two)