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Show SHUTDOWN OF ' LUMBER FIRMS: IS PRECEDENT Missouri Scores Victory Over New Form of Combinations Com-binations Called "Open Prica Associations" JaVTERSOK CITY. Mo, Sept. t (By A. P.) Mleeoarl haa scored a complete victory ever the new form of buslnsss combinations known as -open price assoclstlons,' la a ault brought by Attorosy Oeneral Jesse W, Barrett against the at. Louts Lumber Trad, sxohaaga. The Missouri Mis-souri suprsms court ousted eaeh of the nineteen at. Louis lumber companies com-panies composing thcaxchenge, as-aesssd as-aesssd finss totaling -,aus ana. Ousted the exchange Itself. The court sustsinsd the attorney general In holding that the eombl-natlon eombl-natlon violated tEs state antitrust laws even though M did aot directly direct-ly fix prices. Bo far aa la knowa. It la the first declsloa of aay stela court oa the points Involved ana fellowa closely the dsolslon of ths Unitsd Btatss supreme court last ysar In ths hardwood lumber casee, according to Attoraay Oeneral liar- j After the antitrust decisions of fedsral and atata courts soms fifteen fif-teen yssrs ago, holding that It was Illegal for compstltors to coma together to-gether and acres upon prices, law-, f ere over ths country began searoh-ng searoh-ng for a msthod whlob would kssp within tha law aad yet advaaoe ths Interests of taslr ellanta, tha attorney attor-ney gsnsral aald. A plan was found which ba bee gensrelly called "The opea price assoclstloa pisn," according to Mr, Barrett, whereby competing eem-paalsa eem-paalsa formed a central asoclatlon with a managsr and secretary and reported ta It all prteea on eaiea by members, The assooistlos regulated regu-lated the terms of credit and ths gsnsral buslnsse practises ot - Its members, and provided for cooperation cooper-ation that went far but stopped short' or the actual fixing of prices. Books wsre written desorlblna ths iian aa "Tha New Competition," and t was believed, the attorasy general gen-eral said, that the msthod would bs proof against prosecution by th stats and isdsral aotnoritlse. Attorney Oeneral Barrett maintained main-tained that ths nst sffect of th plan was to lesssn the full art rree competition which the Missouri laws rsqulra and to Impose upon ths nubile much higher prices. Ths court In a awssplng decision ds-alarsd ds-alarsd that ths Missouri statutss forbid not only agreements to Iss-saa Iss-saa eompstlt oa, bus agreements which tend, to lesssa It. Ths decision de-cision ssld that ha vsrr ereatloa of a aystsm cf machinery which oaa be Improperly used. Is In itself a violation cf the Missouri law. The court found 'hat tha incrsaseo rqst cf lumber waa due to other factors auch aa higher freight ratsa and greater labor cost a ou, cunuamii .1 in, luiuMr , most positive terms. |