The Harvester World: Volume 7, number 2, February 1916

              American Farmers Must Pay Heavily to Monopoly

There has not often been so curious a complication as this sisal fight has un¬ covered. Edward Frens¬ dorf, of Hudson, Michigan, a member of the Michigan penitentiary board, has been explaining it to the various government departments . that are interested in it; and in the effort to make certain of getting to the right quarter he has pretty- nearly run the gamut of government activities. Nobody is quite certain whether it is an affair to be dealt with by the State Department, by the Department of Justice, by the Department of Agriculture, or by the Federal Trade Commission.
At the present moment, all these divisions of authori¬ ty, plus the congressional committees on agriculture, are looking into the matter. It means not only millions of dollars to the farmers this year, but more millions annually in future if the combination shall be able to hold its grip on the Yucatan situation.

Backed by Government

"Last year," explained Mr. Frensdorf, "the price of sisal was about twenty-five per cent, above normal. That was presumed to be a natural result of turbulent conditions in Mexico. But this season there is a huge advance over last year's prices, and every indication that the increase will continue.

" Down to last autumn there was competition and an open market. Then the Commission Reguladora del Mercado de Henequen, of Merida, Yucatan, opened offices in New York, at 64 Wall street, and established itself as the sole buyers of sisal in Yucatan, and the sole sellers of it in the United States. This commission is understood to have brought great quantities of sisal to this country and stored it in warehouses in Galves¬ ton, Mobile, New York and New Orleans. They are offering it to American manufacturers at from two to two and one-half cents a pound advance over last year's prices. Nobody else is offering, nobody else can get any of the fibre.    The Carranza  government, we
That Controls Sisal Production— Competition Stifled—Prices Hoisted
The interest in the twine situation is so intense throughout the country that " The Harvester iVorld" has undertaken to weave from the articles in a number of publications a complete story, as nearly as possible, of the developments in Yucatan and this country which are to affect this year's priceof the various grades of binder twine made from sisal.—Editor's note.
(Extracts from the Washington Times, February 3,1916)
understand, is standing firmly back of the combina¬ tion and will brook no inter¬ ference with the monopoly." How to get at this com¬ bination is a new question. The fibre is brought to the United States and stored, and offered for sale from warehouses here. This is urged as a reason why the combination must be amen¬ able to American anti-trust law. But the ownership of the property is alleged to be Mexican, so the question is whether a Mexican combination can be punished for performing some of its operations on American soil.

May Sacrifice Wheat Crop

That same issue was raised in the Coffee trust case, in which the Brazilian government financially backed a combination to control the world's coffee business. There was an American agency of the combination, and the Washington government took the position that the people and property that were physically within the jurisdiction of the United States could be attacked, aud tliey were. In the end the affair was settled without a court determination; the Brazilian and Washington foreign offices got together, pressure was exerted upon our department of justice, and Attorney General McReynolds was induced to let the matter be settled by the discontinuance of the objec¬ tionable practices of the combination. No precedent was established for the present case; but the coffee combine was regarded as lucky to get off so easily.
The greatest difficulty about the sisal situation is that the great advance in prices since last year has caused the manufacturers to postpone making twine for the 1916 grain crops. At a time when a very large share of twine ought to be ready for market, only a small part of it is ready, according to Mr. Frensdorf. The great danger is that for want of twine the 1916 wheat crop, which in this country and Canada is ex¬ pected to be bigger even than the 1915 record-breaking yield, may be sacrificed. It isn't a question of price, now; it is a question of getting twine at any price whatever.
As to the Monopoly in Sisal Fibre

(From the Implement Trade Journal, January 8, 1916)
"As to the effort the Iowa Implement Dealers' Asso¬ ciation and the fifteen other associations affiliated with the National Federation of Retail Implement and Vehicle Dealers' Associations are making to combat the formation of a grinding monopoly in sisal fibre, we plead guilty. Our organizations, contrary to the belief of some persons, are continually working in the inter¬ ests of the American farmer.
"And why should we not?   There is no other class of
business men so closely in touch with the farmer, so immediately dependent on the farmer for their trade, and on whom the farmer so intimately depends for the very implements that are necessary for him to raise a crop. Tho better class of implement dealers — the stable and responsible class who furnish service along with reliable and standard equipment, at a reasonable price and a reasonable profit — are constantly on the alert to co-operate in every way possible with the far-