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Show SGOWGROFT AT SUEAREAfi!NE Ogden Man Testifies to Alleged Al-leged Agreement Between Sugar Companies SALT LAKE, April 15 Joseph Scowcroft of Ogden, vice president land member of the executive committee commit-tee of the board of directors of the Amalgamated Sugar company, look the witness stand yesterday in the KUgrar hearing being conducted here and offered testimony relative to alleged al-leged agreements between his company com-pany and the Utah-Idaho Sugar company com-pany on divisions of territory, prices of beet seed and sugar beots, and various va-rious corporate transactions. The two companies, with Ernest A. Woolley, E. F. Cullen and A. P. Cooper, are defendants to the complaint com-plaint brought by the federal trade commission, which charges them with the use of unfair methods in restraint of competition in interstate commerce. Neutral Territory. Responding to the questions of Henry Ward Beer, special attorney for the federal trade commission, who is conducting the case for the government. govern-ment. Mr. Scowcroft testified that i there was a territory in the vicinity I of Honeyville, in Box E:der county, J which was regarded as nSutral by the . two companies. He said that, while he recalled many discussions relative: to the settlement of the controversy rezardinir Brieham Citv territory, hcl did not recall a specific agreement He told of an informal meeting held at Ogden between representatives of the Utah-Idaho and tho Amalgamated for the purpose of reaching a mutually mutual-ly satisfactory agreement. I Mr Beer brought out that the Utah-Tdaho Utah-Tdaho built the Brigham City plant and operated it for one year, then selling it to the Amalgamated, and j that the Eccles interests withdrew! from their proposed factory at Shol-! ley. Idaho, territory which the Utah-! Idaho had built up and from which it was getting beets. A letter written by Joseph Quin-ney, Quin-ney, Jr., chief agriculturist for the Thomas B. Cutler, then general manager man-ager of the Utah-Idaho, was intro-duced, intro-duced, m which Mr. Quinnoy referred to a territorial agreement between the two companies which was to leave the region south from Pocatello to Bancroft and Grace and into the Downey country free for the Amalgamated Amalga-mated company. Mr. Scowcroft did not recall any discussion of this particular alleged agreement. In another exhibit, a letter from the Amalgamated lo the Utah-Idaho was shown which, inclosed a letter from Ririe, Idaho, interests relative to a factory .proposed for .that place by James P. Sprunt. The matter was referred re-ferred to the Utah-Idaho because, tho letter of transmittal stated, tho Ririe district was Utah-Idaho territory. The witness said that he did not know the reasons which prompted the Amalgamated Sugar company to purchase pur-chase $100,000 of the stock of the Layton Sugar company at the time the Utah-Idaho bought a similar amount and the late President Joseph F. Smith bought ?50,000 of the stock for the L. D. S. church. Against Purchase. Mr. Scowcroft testified that L. R. Eccles was the only director of tho Amalgamated who opposed the purchase, pur-chase, and that he contested it bo-cause bo-cause he thought the Amalgamated company should build tho factory alone. Relative to the consolidation : of the Amalgamated company with the Lewistou Sugar company, Mr. Scowcroft teBtified that L. R. Eccles reported that the consolidation had contributed to the success of the organization or-ganization in eliminating friction and I had enabled the officers to complv more strictly with the law regarding interrelated companies and interlocking interlock-ing directors. In connection with the Lewiston factory, Mr, Scowcroft testified that C. W. Nibley, at present general man-ager man-ager and vice president of the Utah-Idaho Utah-Idaho Sugar company, was promoting tho Lewiston enterprise at the time he was a director of the Amalgamated Sugar company. He said furthor that this action was regarded as unfriendly unfriend-ly by the Amalgamated and that subsequently sub-sequently an agreement was reached between the Lewiston company and the Amalgamated regarding the respective re-spective territories of the two. Mr. Scowcroft could not recall why W. H. Wattis, formerly a director of tho Amalgamated company, withdrew from his contemplated factorv at Mackay, Idaho, where the Utah Construction Con-struction company has an irrigation project. Mr. Wattis is now a director direc-tor of the Utah-Idaho company. Held Associates. Mr. Beer questioned Mr. Scowcroft closely concerning the various alleged agreements, and drew from him the acknowledgment that tho Amalgamated Amalgamat-ed and the Utah-Idaho wore considered consid-ered associates In some of their business busi-ness relations. To this questioning Herbert Mac-millan, Mac-millan, attorney for tho Amalgamated, objected, saying that his company woudl not consider itself bound by anything done by the Utah-Idaho, and Judge D. N. Straup, attorney for the second company, objected in kind. Both attorneys entered general objections ob-jections to all the testimony offered by Mr. Scowcroft, on the grounds of irrelevancy and immateriality, stating that tho acts were not those" of interstate inter-state commerce and therefore not within the issues. In regard to tho joint sales arrangement ar-rangement whereby Stephen H. Love handled the products of the Utah-Idaho, Utah-Idaho, the Amalgamated and the Lay-ton Lay-ton Sugar companies, Mr. Scowcroft said the Amalgamated's chief interest was In Mr. Love's securing for them reduced freight rates. Mutual Advantage. Mr. Scowcroft testified that it was to the mutual advantage of the two companies to offer their beet seed to the farmers at the same prices and to pay tho farmers the same price for their beets, in the Interests of harmony. har-mony. He said that these two matters mat-ters had been discussed by tho managements man-agements of the companies. C. W. Nibley withdrew from tho Amalgamated company because of friction with some of the Eccles interests, in-terests, Mr. Scowcroft said. In this transaction Mr. Nibley purchased the Utah-Idaho stock held by the Eccles interests, and they in turn purchased Mr. Nibley's stock in the Amalgamated, Amalgamat-ed, the witness testified. Some of the friction was due, Mr. Scowcroft stated, stat-ed, to tho acquisition by Mr. Nibley of the Havemeyer stock in the Amalgamated. |