"For
his cause of action plaintiff states that the Kansas City Hay
Dealers' Association of Kansas City, Missouri, is a
voluntary association composed of certain persons engaged in
the hay business in Kansas City, Missouri, and that the
defendants, with others, are members and officers thereof
that said association is a powerful organization, and that
the members thereof control the far greater amount of all the
hay business transacted on the Kansas City market, which
market is the largest hay market in the world; that said
Kansas City Hay Dealers' Association is contrived and
intended and designed to create, for and in behalf of the
members thereof in that particular line of industry, a
monopoly to restrain and stifle competition in the
importation, transportation, manufacture, purchase and sale
of hay on the Kansas City market and to regulate, control and
fix the price of hay; to fix and maintain by agreement among
its members, and rules passed by said association and by the
use of arbitrary methods, the price to be paid as commission
for handling hay on the Kansas City market; to hinder and
prevent persons and corporations engaged in the hay business
on the Kansas City market and to hinder and prevent this
plaintiff in carrying on the business of buying, selling,
receiving and shipping hay on this market.
"Plaintiff
further says that said association has a constitution,
by-laws and regulations, which constitution. by-laws and
regulations are agreed upon by the members, reduced to
writing and printed in a book or pamphlet entitled
'Constitution, By-Laws and Regulations of the Kansas City
Hay Dealers' Association of Kansas City,
Missouri,' which constitution, by-laws and regulations
constitute a contract among the members of said association,
which said contract is unlawful, illegal and violative of the
statutes of Missouri relating to pools, trusts, conspiracies,
discriminations, and boycotts, as hereinafter set forth; that
said association employs men for the purpose of plugging,
weighing and watching cars of hay arriving in Kansas City for
sale on the Kansas City market; that each of the members of
said association are assessed certain fees monthly for the
payment of the men employed as pluggers, watchmen and
weighers; that it is the rule and custom of such association
to render bills for such dues and fees to its members each
month; that Section 16 of Article 6 of the above mentioned
constitution, by-laws and regulations provides as follows,
to-wit:
"'Sec.
16. Whenever assessments are made on bills rendered for
indebtedness to this association, they shall be considered
due and shall be delinquent after thirty days from date, and
the said act of delinquency automatically suspends the member
for neglecting or refusing to pay the same from all the
privileges of this association until paid. Failure to pay any
assessment or indebtedness to this association for a term of
one year from the date of said assessment or bill, shall of
itself operate as a forfeiture and cancellation of the
membership of such member and of all property and other
rights and privileges thereunder. Suspended members are not
relieved of the payment of any assessment or bill and the
payment of any assessment or bill by members while under
suspension shall not be construed as in any way affecting
such suspension.'
"Plaintiff
further says that Sections 4, 5, 6, (a), (b), (c), (d),
Section 7, and Section 8, which said sections constitute an
unlawful agreement to regulate, control and fix the price and
tend to regulate, control and fix the price of hay, are as
follows, to-wit:
"'Sec.
4. The commission for selling incoming hay of any description
shall be seventy-five cents per ton, with no
minimum charge. The commission for selling incoming wheat or
oats straw shall be fifty cents per ton, with a minimum
charge of five dollars on any car containing twenty thousand
pounds or less.
"'Sec.
5. The commission for buying and shipping outgoing hay of any
description shall be seventy-five cents per ton, with no
minimum charge. The commission for buying and shipping
outgoing wheat or oats straw shall be fifty cents per ton,
with a minimum charge of
five dollars for any car containing twenty thousand pounds or
less.
"'Sec.
6. (2) A broker is defined as a member who sells inbound hay
or straw on the Kansas City market for another member
actively engaged in the hay business in Kansas City, or a
member who buys hay or straw on the Kansas City market for
any individual, firm or corporation, where the names of the
principals are announced on making the contract, and the
broker at no stage of the transaction becomes the actual
owner of the property, or a member looking after hay or straw
shipped to the Kansas City market for sale or inspection and
afterwards it is reconsigned to other destination.
"'(b)
A brokerage of one dollar per car may be charged where
members sell another member's incoming hay or straw on
the Kansas City market, giving up the names of the principals
at the time of trade, provided that members are prohibited
from acting as brokers for selling inbound hay or straw for
non-resident members or non-members.
"'(c)
A brokerage of one dollar per car shall be charged for buying
hay or straw on the Kansas City market where the member gives
up the names of the principals at the time of the trade, and
the principals furnish substantial proof that all bills will
be paid according to contract.
"'(d)
A brokerage of one dollar per car shall be charged for
receiving hay for the purpose of having the same inspected at
Kansas City and reconsigning it to other markets. The shipper
paying the inspection, watchman, plugging and reconsigning
charges.
"'Sec. 7. Every member of this association
and every person, firm or corporation admitted to trade or to
do business therein who shall charge less than the regular
rates of commission or brokerage established by the rules of
this association, or shall assume or rebate any portion of
the same, or shall, with intent to evade in any way, directly
or indirectly, the regular rates of commission or brokerage
established by the rules of this association, purchase, or
offer them, or it, for sale; or shall, with intent to cut or
evade in any way, directly or indirectly, the regular rates
of commission and brokerage established by the rules of this
association; or shall make or report any false or fictitious
sales or purchases; or shall resort to any method of
accounting, directly or indirectly, in violation of or
contrary in purpose and effect to a strict adherence to the
regular established rates of commission and brokerage of this
association; directly or indirectly buy or give, or offer so
to do, any money or other consideration of whatsoever nature
to any person to procure or influence shipments or
consignments of hay or straw in any form, or shall, with
intent to cut or evade in any way, directly or indirectly,
the regular rates of commission and brokerage established by
the rules of this association, make use of any shift or
device whatsoever, shall be deemed guilty of violating the
rules of this association establishing rates of commission
and brokerage, and on conviction thereof shall be fined by
the association in the sum of one...
