The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-07-23
PITTSBURG. PLUS
 HELD ILLEGAL
fCont;uuad from nage One I

(COntinued from page One.) the public" the commission says, in of course must eventually be paid by summarizing. Adds $3O.OOO, 900 Year
 The Pittsburg plus practice, it is es- timated by the commission adds ESQ., O0O,060 year alone to the cost of steel products to farmers of II western states. Partners and farm organizations have taken a leading part in the fight.
 Among other charges against the practice in the commissions report are :: That it is contrary to the public inter- est; is not based on the law of supply and demand; is price-fixing scheme succeeding the old steel pools, and the famous Gary dinners, at which prices were set, substantially lessens and eliminates competition: Destroys com petitors: Retards business in all steel centers except Pittsburg; and increases prices.
 Named in the order which the com mission. issued Tuesday, besides the steel corporation, are: American Bridge company, American Sheet and Tin Plate company, Carnegie Steel company, American Steel and Wire company, Illinois Steel company, Min nesota Steel company, and the Ten nessee Coal, Iron and Railroad com pany. One member of the commission issued a separate report in which he claimed that the commission does not have power to regulate the steel cor poration in this respect, as the cor poration has received legal sanction, it is a matter for legislature action, he stated.
 It is not known whether the Steel corporation will contest the decision and ask that the trade commission be en- the decision will reach into all sections of the country.
 Competition Destroyed"
 "The discriminatory Pittsburg plus prices have very substantially lessened and at times destroyed the competition of steel users located at a great num- Der of points, including dozens of cities in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota" the report states. "A large number of steel users in the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Indiana, and in the southern states of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, were very seri- ously hampered because of the Pitts burg plus, system"
 Declaring that the practice adversely affected. the public interest, the report points out that, while the cost of pro- ducing steel at the corporations Chica- go and Birmingham plants is approxi- mately 20 per cent less than at the Pittsburg plant, the prices at these two points are very much greater than at Pittsburg.
 Among other results, the commission says that abandonment of the practice will ; 'i',,
 1, Build up all steel producing and consuming sections outside of Pitts burg which are now held back by that system
 ?. Return to the western and south ern steel users the natural advantage which is taken away from them by the system.
 3. Decentralize the steel-producing industry, and decentralize the other in- dustries which use steel in the manu- facture of their products.
 Though the elimination of the Pitts. burg plus system will revolutionize mar keting methods in the steel industry there is no reason for any fear that business conditions Will be unduly dis turbed thereby" the commission says.
 Alabama On List
 States joining in 'the associated states opposing Pittsburg plus" which worked with the commission were Ala bama, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, In- diana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisi- ana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi. Missouri, Montana, Ne braska. Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota. Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Is- land, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Four of these Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin-acting under special legis- lative authority, filed briefs and pre- scented oral arguments before the com mission. Brief amici curiae on behalf of the joint committee of civic organi- cations of Duluth, Minn., likewise Op- posing the Pittsburg plus, was also filed with the commission.
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