The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1951-02-01

price Of its own sheet products, it
could put the Independents out of
business
The court also found that Alum
inium Limited entered an interna-
tional cartel agreement to prevent
importation Of foreign ingots into
the US. The court enjoined Alumi-
mum from participating in the car
tel but failed to charge ALCOA
with any completely in the cartel
although ALCOA was the benefic-
iary of the agreement and a group
of IL stockholders owned major
ity of the shares in both firms.
(The IL came principally from the
Davis and Mellon families.)
The case was remanded to the
District Court for a ruling on the
disposition Of government-owned
plants under lease to ALCOA for
World War ii production. Later,
the Reconstruction Finance Corp
oration terminated the leases, and
Congress voted to dispose of the
plants in a manner that would pro-
mote competition. The Reynolds
Metal Company and the Kaiser
Aluminium & Chemical Company
obtained some of the plants-at
very favorable rates of about 30
cents on the dollar.
Thus did the Big One become the
Big Three. However, Reynolds
Metals uses 90 percent of its own
production, sells only six percent.
Kaiser uses % percent, sells only
two. That leaves ALCOA as the
main supplier of 1900 independ-
ent fabricators of aluminium pro-
ducts. Naturally, ALCOA makes
the prices as it always has.
The government decided to sug-
gest to the court that ALCOA be
"divested" Of some of it's proper
ties, but ALCOA itself acted first.
The company asked the court for Z
dismissal on the ground that no
could exist because of
the entry of Kaiser and Reynolds
into the industry. Finally the gov
ernment filed its divestiture peti-
ton.
The case dragged on until last
June when the court rejected
arguments, holding that
to the company stand
hadn't been establish |
ed. But at the same time the court
refused to strip ALCOA of any
,f its properties. Instead, the
Judge proposed that Aluminium
Limited be m a lie Independent
through stock transfers and be-
into the industry as a four
h competitor. The Justice Depart
nent did not think much of the
lecision, fearing that independent
control of Aluminium Limited
would be hard to obtain.
Finally, on Jan. l6 this year,
he court okayed a stock redistri-
,ution scheme involving the III
majority stockholders who were
to sell their shares in one
irm or the other. All except one
lave elected to sell their shares in
Aluminium Limited. The IL maj
'rity stockholders are Americans.
The voting rights of the 1882
100 shares plus the voting rights
IN another 100000 shares held by
lual stockholders pass to board
# three trustees who thus acquire
majority control. The trustees are
he Chemical Bank g. Trust Com
ANY of New York, Dean Donald X.
David of the Harvard Business
school and John l.. Sullivan of
former Secretary of
he Navy. The stock transfers will |
e made over a 10-year period and
or five years at least the court
etains jurisdiction which keeps
live the threat of "divesture"
,hich the government originally
sked.
Rep. Cellar thought the govern
lent ought to appeal the decision
ecause of insufficient safeguards
gainst the possibility that the
took may end up in substantially
he same hands it's in now. Nor
ison and Emmerglick thought
therwise. They said it would be Z