Evening star., 1948-03-08
Milk Producers,
Six Diaries and
Chain Indicted
Fixing D. c. Area Price
And Effort to Suppress
Competition Charged

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dicted six Washington-area dair-
les, a chain store, the Maryland
and Virginia Milk Producers AS
sociation and the latter's general
manager on charges of conspir-
acy to fix prices and restrain
trade in milk in the Washington
area.
The indictment, which climaxed
several weeks testimony before the
Jury, was handed down before Dis
trict Court Justice Richmond B.
Keech.
Attorney General Clark, in a spe-
cial announcement, listed the fol-
lowing defendants alleged to have
violated the Sherman Antitrust Act:
The producer group, with offices
in Washington:
Chestnut Farms-Chevy Chase
Dairy Co.
Thompson's Dairy, Inc.
Richfield Dairy Corp.
Simpson Bros, Inc, doing busi-
ness as Wakefield Dairy.
SafeWay Stores, Inc, OF Oakland,
Calf, which operates the Lucerne
Milk Co. =.
Alexandria Dairy Products Co. OF
Alexandria.
Harvey Dairy, Inc, of Hyattsville,
Md.
Bruce B. Derrick, secretary-treas-
urer and general manager OF the
producer association.
Second Major Indictment.
The indictment charges that the
association, which supplies about 80
per cent of Washington's milk, and
the seven other defendants, who
were said to distribute about 86 per
cent of the milk here, "conspired to
eliminate and suppress competition
in the purchase and sale OF milk
in the metropolitan area.
The Attorney General pointed out
that the indictment sis the second
major indictment in the milk indus
try which has resulted from the
program of the antitrust division to
prosecute illegal conspiracies to fix
the prices of food, clothing and
housing" On February Is two diaries
were indicted in st. Louis for con-
spiracy to fix prices in that area.
Investigations involving food prod
ucts are continuing in other areas,
Mr.. Clark said.
John F. Sonnett, Assistant Attor-
ney General in charge of the anti
trust division, declared that the al
legged conspiracy by the defendants
named today "has resulted in prlc-
ing system whereby the defendant
dairies base their selling prices for
milk upon an artificially established
and agreed-upon price for Glass l
(fluid) milk rather than the actual
average cost to the dairies of all
of the milk of equal quality and
purity purchased by them"
Agency for Farmers in Milkshed.
This Mr.. Sonnett added, "has
deprived consumers in this COM
munity of the opportunity to buy
their milk at prices based upon the
average cost of milk to the dairies
and, instead, has required that
higher prices must be paid, based
upon the agreed upon high price
for Glass l milk"
The case was presented to the
grand jury by John Ford Baecher,
special assistant to Mr.. Sonnett;
George B. Haddock and Robert H.
Winn, special assistants to the At
torney General, and John A. Skiles,
j. Fergus Bellinger, James T. Cox
and Wayne B. Davis, special attor-
neyS.
The producer association was in
corporated in 1920 and has served
as a milk marketing agency for
farmers in Washington milkshed.
Mr.. Derrick has been secretary
treasurer of the group since No
vember, 1884.
Milk Classifications Set.
The indictment listed these points
In it's charge of an unlawful cor
spiracy:
That defendant dairies agree to
purchase their entire requirements
of milk from the defendant essoc1-
alton, and to refrain from the i)ur-
chase of milk from other sources.
THAT the association agree to
supply the defendant dairies with
their full requirements of milk to
the extent that it can do so.
That the association charge each
defendant dairy the same price for
milk of equal grade and class.
That the association agree to
refuse to supply milk to any dairy
In the Washington area which has
not agreed to purchase its full re-
quirements of milk from the asso-
citation, at prices as low as those
charged to the defendant diaries.
That the defendants agree upon
a classification of milk into three
classes having no relationship to
purity or quality, the classification
to be determined by the use to
which the defendant dairieS put
the milk.
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