BIG ANTI-TRUST ACTION

Evening Star, Issue 22632, 26 April 1937, Page 9

BIG ANTI-TRUST ACTION

ALUMINIUM COMPANY INDICTED STIFLING OF COMPETITION ALLEGED Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright NEW YORK, April 24. The largest anti-trust action since the Standard Oil case in 1911 occurred when the Government filed a suit, asking for a dissolution of the 174,000,000 dollar Aluminium Company of America, alleging that it is a trust controlled by Mr Andrew Mellon, his relatives, and associates. The defendants include the company, Mr Mellon, his. relatives, and the Aluminium Company of Canada. The complaint, which was filed by the order of the Federal Attorney-General (Mr Homer Cummings), describes the company as a holding corporation for a group of companies in all parts of the 'world. The company is alleged to have stifled competition in the entire industry. The listed profits from the incorporation to December 31, 1934, totalled 155,000,000 dollars, over and above dividends of 105,000,000 dollars. The indictment says: “Profits of such size from supplying the public with an article of prime necessity, for which it has and will have an increasing demand and for which there is no available substitute, are excessive and are the result of the monopolisation of the industry.”