The Washington herald., 1921-11-30
STEEL CONCERNS.
CHARGE PLOT BY
TRADE COMMISSION
Say Production of Books
Would Expose Trade
Secrets.
DENY JURISDICTION
Claim Business Not Inter-
State, and Therefore
Not Liable.

Charges that the Federal Trade
Commission. In its efforts to COM
pal them to answer questionnaires
pertaining to the iron, steel, coke
and by-products industries, Is at
tempting TO lay bare trade-secrets,
processes and expose their private
affairs to the public, were made
today in the District of Columbia
Supreme Court by twenty-five large
Eastern steel corporations whose
capital and turnover runs into bill
lions Of dollars yearly.
The charges are made IN reply to
the motion of the commission to
have the court order the corpora
tions to produce their books, rec
ords, papers, accounts, balance
sheets, etc. so that the commission
can examine them and cross-examine
witnesses for the corporations
These witnesses are expected to
testify at the final hearing on the
petition Of the corporations for per-
manent injunction against the COM
mission, the object Of which is to
prevent the latter from demanding
answers to the questionnaires.
Seeks -Prfor Information
The answer of the corporations
amounts to a charge that the COM
mission Is trying to 'short-circuit"
the proceedings by obtaining prior
information, which the corporations
are trying to withhold with the aid
Of the court
The commission in its motion de-
clared that its object in asking for
the documents is to enable II to
refute charges made by the corpo-
rations that IL has abused its au-
thority in demanding answers to
the questionnaires. On the other
hand, the corporations declare that
the court. In granting a preliminary
Injunction restraining the commits
sion from demanding answers to
the questionnaires. granted only
what they were entitled to under
the law, and IL the commission is
now allowed an order requiring
them to produce these records, the
order will defeat the preliminary
Injunction and expose their trade
secrets
The corporations further state
that in their original bill of COM
plant they showed that their
business was intrastate. not in
terstate. and that they there
fore had the right to prI-
avcy as to their books of account,
over which Congress and the Fed
eral Trade Commission had no con-
troll
Palmer Started 1t.
The court proceedings began or
iginally when A. Mitchell Palmer
was Attorney-GeneraL Mr.. Palmer
was appealed to by the commission
TO prosecute certain of these cor
porations in the Pennsylvania and
New Jersey courts, and did so. The
proceedings were stopped when the
corporations appealed to the local
courts 10 pass upon authority OF the
commission TO demand answers to
the questionnaires. this authority
being also involved in the New
Jersey and Pennsylvania courts.
The concerns involved are the
Claire Furnace Company. Ella Fur
mace Company, Reliance Coke Com
pany. Westmoreland-C -Connellsville
Coal & Coke Company, wierton
Steel Company, Edgewater Steel
Company. La Belle Iron Works,
Donner Steel Company, Steel &
Tube Company of America, Midvale
Steel & Ordnance Company, Cam
brta Steel Company, Republic Iron
& Steel Company. McKeesport Tin
Plate Company. N. & G. Taylor Com
pany, Inland Steel Company, Trum-
bull Steel Company. Bethlehem
Steel Company, Youngstown Sheet
& Tube Company, Brier Hill. Steel
Company, West Penn Steel Com
pany, Wheeling Iron & Steel Com
pany, Sharon Steel Hoop Company.