Evening star., 1947-10-31
Wall Street Prepares
To Fight Antitrust Suit
AGAINST Bank Firms
BY the Associated Press


York financial district dug in today
for a fight against the Governments
monopoly charges filed against II OF
Wall Streets leading banking firms
in civil suit described by Attorney
General Clark as "one of the largest
and most important in the history,
of antitrust laws"
IF they want a fight" said John
M. Hancock, partner of Lehman
Bros. a firm named in the suit,
well give it to them"
MY guess" he added, "is that it
will be dirty fight"
The suit, filed by the Justice De-
partment in Federal Court yester-
day, specifically accused the invest
ment banking firms with conspiring
to monopolize the handling of new
issues of securities.
End Of Association Sought.
The Justice Department in addi-
tion asked for dissolution of the In
vestment Bankers Association Of
America, members of which include
virtually every security-selling or
ganization in the Nation.
Named as defendants were
Morgan Stanley g. Co.. Kuhn,
Loeb & Co.: Eastman. Dillon & Co.,
Kidder, Peabody g. Co.; Goldman.
Sachs & Co.; Lehman Bros. Smith,
Barney & Co.; Glore, Forgan & Co.;
White Weld & Co., Drexel & Co.,
the First Boston Corp. Dillon, Read
& Co.; Blyth & Co.. Inc; Hartman
Ripley & Co., Inc; Stone & Webster
Securities Corp: Harris, Hall & Co.,
Inc, and Union Securities Corp.
Typical Of the comments Of
bankers named in the suit were:
"The charge that there is mo-
nopoly among certain investment
brokers is fantastic j. P. Ripley,
chairman OF Hartman, Ripley &
Co., said.
Charge Called Silly"
IF the Attorney General thinks
this business is not competitive, ]
wish he had to earn his living in it, y
j. Russell Forgan of Glore, Forgan
g. Co. declared.
Dillon, Read & Co., has never
been a party to any agreement OF
arrangement designed to prevent any
other Investment banking firm from
competing for any piece of business,
said statement from that firm.
"It is silly to assert we have any
agreement with any one to restrict
competition or that we are part Of q
MONOPOLY said Harold Stanley
partner of Morgan Stanley & Co.
In Washington a reply to the ac-
ton came from Murray Hanson,
general counsel for the Investment
Bankers Association He said the
charges in the antitrust suit were
fundamentally an attack" on as
sociation members "for having
exercised their constitutional rights
of petition and of free speech
Stand on Bidding Recalled.
Mr.. Hanson said the accusations
boil down simply to assertions that
the association and some of its
members opposed compulsory COM
petitive bidding for certain kinds of
securities and expressed their op-
position to members of Congress in
public hearings and before the Sc
curities and Exchange Commission
and the Interstate Commerce Com
mission.
These activities involve nothing
except the expression of opinion" I"
Mr.. Hanson told reporters. 1.-THE
use in the bill of complaint of in
vidious and misleading phrases as
lobbying and intense pressure and
propaganda campaign can not OBJ
scure that fact"
In Cleveland, however, Cyrus
Eaton, industrialist associated with
the investment concern of Otis &
Co., said the Government action
was IAN absolute necessity"
THE Nation simply will no longer
stand for the continued concentra-
ton of financial control in a few
hands and in one place = =" he
said,