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principal sum shall become due after default in the payment of interest, taxes, or assessments, as hereinafter provided.

NOW THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH, that the said party of the first part, for the better securing the payment of the said sum of money mentioned in the condition of the said bond or obligation, with interest thereon, and also for and in consideration of one dollar paid by the said party of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, doth hereby grant and release unto the said party of the second part, and to his heirs (or successors) and assigns forever (description), together with the appurtenances, and all the estate and rights of the party of the first part in and to said premises.

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the above granted premises unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever.

PROVIDED ALWAYS, that if the said party of the first part, his heirs, executors or administrators, shall pay unto the said party of the second part, his executors, administrators or assigns, the said sum of money mentioned in the condition of the said bond or obligation, and the interest thereon, at the time and in the manner mentioned in the said condition, that then these presents, and the estate hereby granted, shall cease, determine, and be void.

And the said party of the first part covenants with the party of the second part as follows:

First. That the party of the first part will pay the indebtedness as herein before provided, and if default be made in the payment of any part thereof, the party of the second part shall have power to sell the premises therein described, according to law.

Second. That the party of the first part will keep the buildings on the said premises insured against loss by fire for the benefit of the mortgagee.

Third. And it is hereby expressly agreed that the whole of said principal sum shall become due at the option of the said party of the second part after default in the payment of interest for days or after default in the payment of any tax or assessdays, after notice and demand.

ment for

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the said party of the first part hath hereunto set his hand and seal, the day and year first above written. In the presence of:

ANTI-TRUST LAWS AND SEWING-MACHINE
CONTRACTS.

Several States of the Union have recently passed anti-trust laws with the object to keep open free competition in all articles of merchandise and railroad transportation rates. Such laws would not seem to affect in any way the sewing-machine business, there being no combination or pool or agreement of any sort between sewing-machine manufacturers whereby the price or output of sewing-machines might be controlled, but certain of our Western branch managers have taken alarm at the possible effect of these laws on the contracts which they are in the habit of making with their dealers in the States wherein such laws have been enacted. These price contracts, as they are called, provide, among other things, that in consideration of the setting aside by the company of certain territory for the exclusive use of the dealer in the sale of their machines, the dealer agrees to maintain the regular prices fixed by the company for their different styles of machines, under a liquidated penalty of twenty dollars for each machine that the dealer may sell below the stipulated price, and this agreement is the one that causes the managers to become alarmed, lest it comes within the provisions of the anti-trust laws.

We have looked up a few of these laws and will quote two or three of them to show their intent and scope. They are certainly intended to be broad and all-embracing enough to scoop in everything in the semblance of a trust or pool or combination of any

sort.

Section 1 of the Texas act contains all of the prohibitory provisions, and is as follows:

SEC. 1. A trust is a combination of capital, skill, or acts by two or more persons, firms, corporations, or associations of persons, or of either two or more of them, for either any or all of the following purposes:

1. To create or carry out restrictions in trade.

2. To limit or reduce the production, or increase or reduce the price of merchandise or commodities.

3. To prevent competition in manufacture, making, transportation, sales, or purchase of merchandise, produce, or commodities.

4. To fix at any standard or figure, whereby its price to the public shall be in any manner controlled or established, any article or commodity of merchandise, produce, or commerce intended for sale, use, or consumption in this State.

5. To make or enter into, or execute or carry out any contract obligation, or agreement of any kind or description by which they

shall bind or have bound themselves not to sell, dispose of, or transport any article or commodity or article of trade use, merchandise, commerce or consumption, below a common standard figure, or by which they shall agree in any manner to keep the price of such article, commodity, or transportation at a fixed or graduated figure, or by which they shall in any manner establish or settle the price of any article or commodity or transportation between them or themselves and others, to preclude a free and unrestricted competition among themselves or others in the sale or transportation of any such article or commodity, or by which they shall agree to pool, combine, or unite any interest they may have in connection with the sale or transportation of any such article or commodity that its price might in any manner be affected.

The first paragraph of the bill thus distinctly recognizes that the act is formulated against "trusts."

The Missouri act is entitled "An act for the punishment of pools, trusts, and conspiracies, and as to evidence in such cases," and its first section, which contains its prohibitory provisions, is as follows:

SEC. 1. If any corporation, organized under the laws of this or any other State or country for transacting or conducting any kind of business in this State, or any partnership or individual, or other associations whosoever, shall create, enter into, become a member of, or a party to, any pool, trust, agreement, combination, confederation, or understanding with any other corporation, partnership, individual, or any other person or association of persons, to regulate or fix the price of any article of merchandise or commodity, or shall enter into, become a member of, or a party to, any pool, agreement, contract, combination, or confederation to fix or limit the amount or quantity of any article, commodity, or merchandise to be manufactured, mined, produced, or sold in this State, shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a conspiracy to defraud, and be subject to indictment and punishment as provided in this

act.

The Iowa law, which is to go into effect in a few days, is a literal copy as to its prohibitory provisions, of the foregoing Missouri

act.

The object of each of these laws, and of similar ones elsewhere, is simply to prevent the cornering in the State market of any commodity (in Texas transportation is included) by any trust or association of persons, firms or corporations, through the operations of which free competition in such commodity in the State markets is prevented, and a monopoly, or practically one, is established.

Such being the case, to establish a monopoly and prevent competition in any certain commodity, the entire supply for the State,

or practically the entire supply must be controlled by the trust which undertakes to prevent competition and dictate prices at which the public must buy the goods they have secured the control of. If this is not done, and they do not control their specialty, and other goods of like character are allowed to come into free competition with their own, then there can be no trust in the matter and nothing for the law to take hold of.

Take the specialty of sewing-machines, for example, in the State of Iowa, say. A certain sewing-machine company sends its agents into that State and establishes branch offices for the sale of its machines at various points. At other points it arranges with dealers, who handle its machines, buying from the company and selling on their own account. The company's branch offices and those of their dealers are oftentimes located near together in adjacent towns. The company has fixed prices for its various styles of machines, to which scale of prices it requires its branches to adhere strictly. To protect its branches, it also requires the dealers who sell its machines to adhere strictly to the same scale of prices, and requires them to enter into an agreement to that effect under a liquidated penalty in case of breach of contract. In doing this it is only regulating its business to protect its own interests, as it has a right to do. It cannot possibly establish any monopoly in sewing-machines in the State of Iowa, or in any town in that State, by its action in thus fixing the price at which its agents and dealers shall sell its machines, and the agreement of the company on the one hand, and the dealer on the other, to maintain the selling prices of their machines, at certain stipulated figures, in no way tends to prevent free competition in sewing-machines, all sorts of which can be bought all through the State at all sorts of prices and on all kinds of terms. There are more than a dozen sewingmachine companies competing for trade in Iowa, and to say that there is any trust business in each one regulating its own business in its own way, regardless of what methods the others are using or what prices they are making on their machines, is utterly ridiculous.

Manager Thompson, of the Domestic office, Chicago, although he felt quite certain that the price contract he was using in Iowa was in no respect amenable to the new law about to go into effect in that State, yet thought it best to obtain an opinion on the subject from an Iowa jurist, and he accordingly applied to a prominent attorney there, from whom he has just received the following, which we are kindly permitted by Mr. Thompson to reproduce:

In compliance with your request as to the construction of Chapter 28, of the laws of the Twenty-third General Assembly of Iowa, entitled "An act for the punishment of pools, trusts, combinations, and conspiracies, and as to evidence in such cases," and its effect upon the contracts made by the Domestic Sewing-Machine Company with its dealers, I submit the following opinion:

Section I contains all of the prohibitory provisions of the act, and is as follows: "If any corporation, organized under the laws of this or any other State or country, for transacting or conducting any kind of business in this State, or any partnership, individual or other association of persons whosoever, shall create, enter into, or become a member of or a party to any trust, agreement, combination, confederation, or understanding with any other corporation, partnership, individual, or any person or association of persons, to regulate or fix the price of any article of merchandise or commodity, or shall enter into, become a member of, or party to any pool, agreement, contract, combination, or confederation to fix or limit the amount or quantity of any article, commodity, or merchandise to be manufactured, mined, produced, or sold in this State, shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a conspiracy to defraud, and be subject to indictment and punishment as provided in this act." The other sections of the act relate only to the remedy, enforcement, and punishment for the violation of section 1.

While the language of section 1 is as broad and comprehensive as possible, the spirit of the act and intent of the Legislature must be taken into consideration in arriving at its proper construction.

The object of the act is clear, and is set forth in the title thereof, and is for the punishment of pools, trusts, combinations, and conspiracies created for the purpose of increasing the prices of commodities; the intent of the Legislature being to prevent the formation of trusts, pools, and conspiracies within the State of Iowa by which the price of any article of merchandise or commodity is sought to be increased to the consumer. That is to say, the intention of the Legislature was to prohibit and prevent two or more persons, companies, corporations, or co-partnerships from joining together and entering into an agreement to control or regulate the price of articles of merchandise or commodities, or to regulate or control the quantity of any article of merchandise or commodity which should be offered for sale upon the market, and thus indirectly control and regulate, or increase the price of such

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