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Show Sugar Officials Testify At Federal Hearing Give Evidence of Attempts of Employes of Opposition Factories to Throttle Throt-tle Progress of Valley Plant. I'resident Y. Harvey Koss of the Gunnison Valley Sugar company, F. L. Swalberg, field man for the company and James A. Christenson of Keihnond gave testimony at the hearing before the federal trade commission at Sail Lake Tuesday to which the Utah-Idaho, the Amalgamated Sugar company, E. K. Wooley, A. 1'. Cooper and F. K. Cullen, are respondents, concerning the alleged efforts made by the employees em-ployees of the Utah-Idaho company to prevent the successful operation of the Gunnison Valley Sugar company. Evidence was brought out which showed that "something had been doing" do-ing" to curtail the progress of Ihe local factory and to hinder its establishment. estab-lishment. Mr. Ross, in giving his testimony, related re-lated his experiences in selling stock for his company and of the difficulties difficul-ties encountered in securing beet acreage for the factory. Iiohert' X. Voting of Kichfiehl. president of the Sevier stake of the L. 1 . S. church and stockbuyer for the Utah-Idaho Sugar company, was termed by Mr. Koss. according ac-cording to the testimony given, as Human Hu-man who would have been most responsible re-sponsible had the company met failure. fail-ure. Mr. Voting, according to the testimony of Mr. Koss, had termed the promoters of the Gunnison factory as a "hunch of apostate Mormons ami Mormon eaters and added that Ihe i Grant would countenance such a move. I I'resident Grant. Mr. Koss testified. I said that he wanted to hear both sides I of Ihe ciiesiion. and that he would confer with Mark Austin, general agricultural ag-ricultural superintendent. Mr. Koss further testified that the Gunnison Valley company last year i made '-!.",iiio hags of sugar which they sold at prices ranging from Sit) per hundred-pound sack to SIT per hundred hun-dred pound sack. Judge Straup asked if Mr. Koss had tried to sell the Gunnison Valley company com-pany to the Utah-Idaho and Mr. Koss emphatically denied any such effort. The Utah-Idaho attorney asked a number num-ber of questions concerning Mr. Koss' relations with Mr. Voting, in which the witness slated he was related to Mr. Young by marriage, that Mr. Voting's opinion of the worlhlessness of the plant laid occasioned some misgivings in his mind, and that his, Mr. lioss's. putting into the record the statement attributed to Mr. Voting concerning apostates had been made only in ni effort to tell the whole truth on the witness stand. On redirect examination, Mr. KosS replied to a question by Mr. I'-eer that the L. li. S. church as a church had never done anything to interfere with his company, but that officials of that church had acted as individuals. "I exonerate the church absolutely," Mr. Koss said. I ,, .: , iiiaiioiiciy joi lilt- wuiNMSotl alley Sugar company was corroded and that lite plant would never make sugar and that the company would not he able to pay for the beets it got from the farmers. l'ete ("Sugar Keel") Hansen of Sevier county, a field agent for Hie Utah-Idaho company, was another employee. Mr. Koss testified, who hail made derogatory remarks to the farmers farm-ers of the district concerning the ability abil-ity of the Gunnison Valley company, both to make sugar and to pay for beets. Mr. Koss testified further on direct examination of alleged promises made by Ihe Ulnh-Idnlio company to build a factory at Salina, which would have made the third in the Sevier valley district; whereas, Mr. Koss said, employees em-ployees of the Utah-Idaho had said previously that I here wasn't room for Ihe two factories, that of the I'lah-Idalio I'lah-Idalio at Elshinro and that of Ihe Gunnison Gun-nison Valley company at ( 'ent erfichl. In connection wilh Ihe reported plan of the Utah-Idaho lo build at Salina. Mr. Koss testified concerning a visit lie made lo I'resident Heber .1. Grant of the L. 1 . S. church, also president of the Utah-Idaho. During this call. Mr. Koss testified, lie told I'resident Grant that he was trying to maintain an independent company, and Ihal lu-had lu-had much opposition from the I'lali- ductivify of the soil in the vicinity of Gunnison plant did not elicit much in-fornia in-fornia l ion. Mr. Christenson testified that he lmd raised beets for ten years for ihe Flail Idaho until he Ibl'.l season, when he split Ids crop between Ihe Utah-Idaho ami the Gunnison. lb-said lb-said that Mr. Young and .Moroni Jensen, Jen-sen, an agricultural agent for the Ctnh-ldaho, hail tried lo prevail on him not lo grow for the Gunnison ! plain, the latter saying Ihe new fac- lory could never make sugar. ! This farmer testified that he divided divid-ed bis crop solely because he hail heard rumors that Ihe Gunnison was not in c.i ii m I shape, and that he didn't: j wain to lose his entire crop. He said Ihal Mr. Young had in substance told him thai "whenever we failed lo support sup-port Ihe 1'lah Idaho company we fail-led fail-led lo support Ihe church." Mr. Christensen Chris-tensen is nint a field agent for the ( lunnisnii Valley company. Mr. Swalberg, who has been a field man for the Gunnison company since J 1 ' 1 1 7. reiterated some of the testimony j of his predecessor on Ihe stand and thai he bad raised as much as twenty Ions of beets an acre on bis farm at. j ( iunnison. James A. Christenson testified con-I con-I eerniiig alleged conversations with Mr. I Young relative to the proposed new Idaho, and Ijial he hclioxod the plan for another factory to he devised for Hie purpose of putting Ihe Gunnison Valley company out of business, ami that he did not believe I'residonl factory at Salina. lie staled Ihal he had told Air. Voting the time was not ripe for a third factory, and Ihal if one were huill one of Ihe three would probably be idle soon. |
