United States ex rel. Griggs v. Chesapeake & O. Fuel Co.

• Decision Date: 31 August 1900
• Docket Number: 5,298.
• Citation: 105 F. 93
• Parties: UNITED STATES ex rel. GRIGGS, Atty. Gen., et al. v. CHESAPEAKE & O. FUEL CO. et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

105 F. 93

UNITED STATES ex rel. GRIGGS, Atty. Gen., et al. v. CHESAPEAKE & O. FUEL CO. et al.

No. 5,298.

United States Circuit Court, S.D. Ohio, Western Division.

August 31, 1900

Wm. E Bundy, U.S. Atty., and Sherman T. McPherson and Edward P Moulinier, Asst. U.S. Attys.

Paxton & Warrington, Brown, Jackson & Knight, St. Clair, Walker &amp Summerfield, and Richard P. Ernst, for defendants.

THOMPSON District Judge.

This suit was brought by the United States district attorney for this district, by direction of the attorney general of the United States. The bill alleges that the defendants, other than the Chesapeake & Ohio Fuel Company, 14 in number, are producers and shippers of coal, and that some of these are makers and shippers of coke in the counties of Fayette and Kanawha, in the state of West Virginia, in what is known as the 'Kanawha District,' and that they produce nearly if not all of the coal, and make nearly if not all of the coke, shipped from said district; that a great portion of the coal and coke so produced and made is shipped for sale and consumption into the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, and the Dakotas; that prior to the 15th of December, 1897, each of the defendants, other than the Fuel Company, sold their product in the several states mentioned without any restriction other than the natural and necessary compensation between themselves and others, but that on that day they entered into a contract and combination in the form of a trust and conspiracy in restraint of trade and commerce among the several states mentioned, in regard to the sale and production of coal and coke, of which the following is a copy:

'This agreement, made this 15th day of December, 1897, between the C. & O. Fuel Company, a corporation created, organized, and existing under and pursuant to the laws of the state of West Virginia, and hereinafter called the 'Fuel Company,' of the first part, and the St. Clair Company, a corporation of West Virginia; John Carver and Enoch Carver, partners in business under the firm name and style of Carver Brothers; W. R. Johnson, M. T. Davis, doing business as M. T. Davis & Co.; John Carver and Enoch Carver, partners in business under the firm name and style of the Mecca Coal and Coke Company; S. H. Montgomery, doing business under the name of the Montgomery Coal Company; the Chesapeake Mining Company, a corporation of West Virginia; the Belmont Coal Company, a corporation of West Virginia; the Kanawha Splint-Coal Company, a corporation of West Virginia; the Robinson Coal Company, a corporation of West Virginia; Harry B. Smith, special receiver of the Lens Creek Coal and Coke Company; Joseph Renshaw, special receiver of the Big Black Band Coal Company; the Charlmore Coal Company, a corporation of West Virginia; and Robert Brabbin, Jr., and L. N. Perry, partners in business under the firm name and style of the Brabbin Coal Company; Jasper McCallister, Samuel Moore, and James Kelsoe, doing business as McCallister & Co.,-- and together constituting the C. & O. Coal Association, and hereinafter collectively mentioned as the 'Coal Association,' of the second part: Whereas, the members of the said Coal Association are all miners and shippers of coal, and part of them makers and shippers of coke, on the line of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, in Fayette or Kanawha counties, West Virginia, and have formed and organized said association for the promotion of their common business interests in the mining of Kanawha coals and cokes; and whereas, the said Fuel Company has been incorporated and organized for the purpose of placing said Kanawha coals and cokes upon the Western market, its prime object to promote the sale of, and enlarge the Western market for, said coals and cokes: Now, therefore, this agreement witnesseth:

'(1) That the parties of the second part agree, in consideration of the covenants and agreements on the part of the party of the first part herein contained, each firm, individual, or corporation severally, for themselves, himself, or itself, and not for any other, and each of them doth hereby agree, to sell to the said Fuel Company exclusively the entire coal and coke output of the mine or mines operated by each of them respectively on said C. & O. Ry., or branches thereof, for Western shipment, for a period of not less than five years from and after the date of January, 1898, subject to all the provisions, terms, and conditions hereinafter contained, except as to such coal as may be sold by any member of said Coal Association to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company for the consumption of said railway company, which said coal such member shall have the right to sell to said railway company direct, it being understood that this contract applies only to the coal and coke to be sold west of the respective mines of the members of said Coal Association, and shall not in any way apply to or interfere with the Eastern trade of the members of said association.

'(2) The minimum price f.o.b. mines of all the various grades of coal and coke sold and to be shipped West by the members of said association, and embraced in this contract, shall be fixed by the executive committee of said Coal Association from time to time, as it shall see proper, after consultation with the executive committee of the Fuel Company. The said Fuel Company covenants, agrees, and binds itself that it will make no contract for the sale of any coal or coke of any members of said association at a price lower than such minimum prices to be fixed by such committee, and, further, that it will at all times endeavor to obtain the maximum price for such coal and coke. It is understood and agreed that the minimum prices hereinbefore mentioned are net prices f.o.b. mines, and not including any profit to the said Fuel Company, which is to get its profit over and above said prices.

'(3) That the said Fuel Company shall make its sales direct, and shall not make any contract for the sale of coal and coke to a third party in the name of any member of the said Coal Association, and shall have no right by any contract to bind any member of said association to any third party, except for river business, as hereinafter provided for.

'(4) The executive committee of said Fuel Company, who shall administer and have charge of its affairs, shall be composed of three (3) persons, one of whom shall at all times be a member of or officer of a member of said Coal Association, and shall from time to time, according to the by-laws or articles of association of said association, be designated as a member of such executive committee, and shall thereupon be appointed such member of such executive committee by said Fuel Company in the place and stead of the member of or officer of a member of said Coal Association previously occupying such office. The executive committee of said Coal Association shall consist of three members of or officers of members of said Coal Association, to be selected as such from time to time by the members of said Coal Association according to their by-laws or articles of association.

'(5) The said Fuel Company covenants, agrees, and binds itself to sell for shipment by rail via the said Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, and pay for to the members of said Coal Association as hereinafter agreed, not less than 600,000 tons per annum of coal and 75,000 tons per annum of coke; such sales and shipments to be disposed of in as nearly equal monthly quantities as possible. But in case said Fuel Company is unable for any time to make sales of coal or coke by reason of the failure or inability of the members of said association to make prices sufficiently low to enable said Fuel Company to meet the prices in the market where said coal or coke is sought to be sold, and to complete with other sellers of coal or coke in such markets, then there shall be an abatement of the minimum amount of coal or coke hereinbefore agreed to be taken annually by said Fuel Company, bearing the same proportion to such minimum amount of coal or coke as such time during which such inability to meet such market prices shall continue does to one year. The executive committee of said Coal Association shall, not later than the 20th day of each month, designate the percentage of the total product of each class and grade of coal and coke which they deem best to be shipped by each member of said association by rail as aforesaid during the succeeding month, which apportionment so made shall be furnished the general manager of said Fuel Company not later than the 20th day of said first-mentioned month, and all orders received to be shipped by rail as aforesaid during such succeeding month shall be distributed between the members of said Coal Association by said general manager according to such apportionments: provided that, if any member of said Coal Association shall be unable or shall not desire to ship West the full amount of any kind or grade of coal or coke apportioned to such member for any month, the said Fuel Company shall distribute the order for the deficiency so caused among the other members of said association who are shippers of such grade of coal or coke, in the proportion as between such other members fixed by said committee for such month: provided, further, that only actual inability shall excuse a member of said association from shipping so much of the apportionment for any month shall be required by the said Fuel Company for contribution to contracts previously taken by said Fuel Company.

'(6) The said Fuel Company shall make and render to the members of the Coal Association accurate and complete reports of all coke and coal shipped by rail as aforesaid, as follows: (a) A daily report of all sales, showing the...