George T. Ladd, and Isaac M. Scott, Trustees in Bankruptcy for Follansbee Bros. Company, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, McKeesport Tin Plate Company, Republic Steel Corporation, The N. and G. Taylor Company, Washington Tin Plate Company, Weirton Steel Company, Wheeling Steel Corporation, Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, hereinafter referred to as respondents, have been and are using unfair methods of competition in commerce as "commerce" is defined in said act, and it appearing to said Commission that a proceeding by it in respect thereto would be in the public interest, hereby issues its complaint stating its charges in that respect as follows:

Paragraph One: Said respondent, American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey in 1900, with its principal office and place of business located in the Frick Building in the City of Pittsburgh in the State of Pennsylvania. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Pennsylvania to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania. Paragraph Two: Said respondent, Bethlehem Steel Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania in 1899 with its principal office and place of business located in the City of Bethlehem, in said State of Pennsylvania. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within the State of Pennsylvania to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania.

Paragraph Three: Said respondent, Canton Tin Plate Corporation, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1930, with its principal office and place of business located in the City of Canton in said State of Ohio. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other articles, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Ohio, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Ohio to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Ohio.

Paragraph Four: Said respondent, Columbia Steel Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1930, with its principal office and place of business located in the Russ Building in the City of San Francisco, in the State of California. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of California, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of California to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of California.

Paragraph Five: Said respondent, John Follansbee, George T. Ladd and Isaac M. Scott, are trustees in bankruptcy for Follansbee Bros. Company, a corporation, organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania in 1894, with its principal office and place of business located at Third Avenue and Liberty Avenue, in the City of Pittsburgh within the State of Pennsylvania. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State fo Pennsylvania to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania.

Paragraph Six: Said respondent, Granite City Steel Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1927, with its principal office and place of business located at 20th Street and Madison Avenue in Granite City, in the State of Illinois. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Illinois, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture

within the State of Illinois to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Illinois.

Paragraph Seven: Said respondent, Inland Steel Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1917, with its principal office and place of business located at 38 South Dearborn Street in the City of Chicago, in the State of Illinois. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products. of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Illinois, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Illinois to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Illinois.

Paragraph Eight: Said respondent, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania in 1922 with its principal office and place of business located at Third Avenue and Ross Street in the City of Pittsburgh, in the State of Pennsylvania. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate, which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within the State of Pennsylvania to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania. Paragraph Nine: Said respondent, McKeesport Tin Plate Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania in 1902, with its principal office and place of business located at Port Vue, McKeesport, in the State of Pennsylvania. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Pennsylvania to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania.

Paragraph Ten: Said respondent, Republic Steel Corporation, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey in 1899, with its principal office and place of business located at Youngstown in the State of Ohio. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Ohio, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Ohio to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Ohio.

Paragraph Eleven: Said respondent, The N. and G. Taylor Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Maryland in 1929, with its principal office and place of business located in the City of Cumberland, in the State of Maryland. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Maryland, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Maryland to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Maryland.

Paragraph Twelve: Said respondent, Washington Tin Plate Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania in 1907, with its principal office and place of business located in the City of Washington, in the State of Pennsylvania. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers loacted in states other than the State of Pennsylvania, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Pennsylvania to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania.

Paragraph Thirteen: Said respondent, Weirton Steel Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1925, with its principal office and place of business located in the City of Weirton, in the State of West Virginia. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal

containers located in states other than the State of West Virginia, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of West Virginia to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of West Virginia.

Paragraph Fourteen: Said respondent, Wheeling Steel Corporation, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1920, with its principal office and place of business located in the City of Wheeling, in the State of West Virginia. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of West Virginia, causing said tiǹ plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of West Virginia to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of West Virginia.

Paragraph Fifteen: Said respondent, The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1900, with its principal office and place of business located in the Stambaugh Building in the City of Youngstown, in the State of Ohio. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Ohio, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Ohio to purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Ohio.

Paragraph Sixteen: Said respondents, in the regular course and conduct of their said business, have been and now are producing several grades of tin plate, namely, "production plate", "stock plate", and "waste-waste." These several grades of tin plate are described as follows:

"Production plate" which constitutes the bulk of the tin plate manufactured by said respondents, is the trade name and designation for tin plate made by the respondents in accordance with their customers' specifications.

"Stock plate" is the trade name or designation for over-runs, seconds and warming-up sizes accumulated by said respondents in the course of the manufacture of "production plate." Because of the difficulties in controlling production in the manufacture of "production plate" large quantities of this "stock plate", for which the said respondents have no specific orders, are accumulated by the respondents.

"Waste-waste" is the trade name or designation for tin plate which contains defects so great as not to permit said tin plate to qualify as seconds.

The said respondents have been selling and now sell the bulk of the tin plate produced by them to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers The two large can companies, the American Can Company and the Continental Can Company, who together consume approximately 65 percent of the domestic production of tin plate, are, by virtue of their size and large purchasing power, the principal purchasers of "production plate."

"Stock plate" which has been accumulated in the course of the manufacture of "production plate", as herein above set forth, was prior to January 1, 1935, sold by respondents to jobbers of tin plate who in turn disposed of the "stock plate" to small can manufacturers and packers who, because of lack of financial capacity, were and are not able to carry "production plate" in stock in the various sizes and quantities required.

Paragraph Seventeen: Said respondents on or about October 15, 1934, entered into an understanding, agreement, combination, or conspiracy among and between themselves to restrict, restrain, suppress, and eliminate competition in the sale and distribution of the certain grade and quality of tin plate known in the trade as "stock plate" to jobbers of tin plate and to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located throughout the several states of the United States, as aforesaid, by agreeing not to quote prices on said "stock plate" nor to offer the same for sale to said jobber customers and manufacturers. Paragraph Eighteen : Said respondents, in furtherance of and pursuant to their aforesaid understanding, agreement, combination, or conspiracy, and acting in cooperation with each other, have, since on or about January 1, 1935, refused to sell, and now refuse to sell, "stock plate" or to offer the same for sale to said jobber customers and manufacturers, although said "stock plate" has been since January 1, 1935, and is now being produced by said respondents in substantial quantities. The said "stock plate" which is now accumulated by said respondents

in the course of the manufacture of "production plate" has been since January 1, 1935, and is now being cut up by said respondents into such shape that it cannot be used by the jobbers of tin plate or small can manufacturers or other manufacturers of metal containers and is now being classified as "waste-waste" and sold for domestic consumption. Said product is also being sold as "waste-waste" for export but without mutilation of shape.

Paragraph Nineteen: The result of the acts of the said respondents, as hereinbefore set out in paragraphs Seventeen and Eighteen, have been and now are to unduly tend to substantially lessen, restrict, and suppress competition in the interstate sale of tin plate throughout the United States, particularly in the sale of "stock plate" and to enhance the prices of said tin plate above the prices which had theretofore prevailed and which would prevail under normal natural and open competition between said respondents; and also tends to destroy the business of and force out of business the jobbers of tin plate; and also tends to create a monopoly in the manufacture of tin containers in the American Can Company and the Continental Can Company by depriving their competitors, the said small manufacturers of tin containers, of their normal source of supply of tin plate. The said small manufacturers of tin cans and metal containers, who heretofore purchased their necessary supplies of "stock plate" through the jobbers of tin plate are now forced to purchase "production plate" at prices which are substantially higher than they were formerly required to pay and in fact higher than the price that is paid for the same product by the said American Can Company and the said Continental Can Company.

Paragraph Twenty: The foregoing alleged acts and practices of the said respondents have been and still are to the prejudice of the buying public generally and to the jobber and small manufacturer of containers customers of said respondents, in particular, and constitute unfair methods of competition in commerce within the intent and meaning of Section 5 of an act of Congress approved September 26, 1914, and entitled "An Act to Create a Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties, and for other purposes."

WHEREFORE, THE PREMISES CONSIDERED, the Federal Trade Commission on this 13th day of March, A. D., 1936, now issues this its complaint against said respondents, American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, Bethlehem Steel Company, Canton Tin Plate Corporation, Columbia Steel Company, John Follansbee, George T. Ladd, and Isaac M. Scott, Trustees in Bankruptcy for Follansbee Bros. Company, Granite City Steel Company, Inland Steel Company, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, McKeesport Tin Plate Company, Republic Steel Corporation, The N. and G. Taylor Company, Washington Tin Plate Company, Weirton Steel Company, Wheeling Steel Corporation, and Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company.

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given you, American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, Bethlehem Steel Company, Canton Tin Plate Corporation, Columbia Steel Company, John Follansbee, George T. Ladd, and Isaac M. Scott, Trustees in Bankruptcy for Follansbee Bros. Company, Granite City Steel Company, Inland Steel Company, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, McKeesport Tin Plate Company, Republic Steel Corporation, The N. and G. Taylor Company, Washington Tin Plate Company, Weirton Steel Company, Wheeling Steel Corporation, and Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, respondents herein, that the 17th day of April, A. D., 1936, at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon, is hereby fixed as the time, and the offices of the Federal Trade Commission in the City of Washington, D. C., as the place, when and where a hearing will be had on the charges set forth in this complaint at which time and place you will have the right, under said Act, to appear and show cause why an order should not be entered by said Commission requiring you to cease and desist from the violation of the law charged in the complaint. You are notified and required, on or before the twentieth day after service upon you of this complaint, to file with the Commission an answer to the complaint. If answer is filed and if your appearance at the place and on the date above stated be not required, due notice to that effect will be given you. The Rules of Practice adopted by the Commission with respect to answers or failure to appear or answer (Rule V) provide as follows:

"(a) In case of desire to contest the proceeding the respondent shall, within 20 days from the service of the complaint, file with the Commission an answer to the complaint. Such answer shall contain a short and simple statement of the facts which constitute the ground of defense. Respondent shall specifically

admit or deny or explain each of the facts alleged in the complaint, unless respondent is without knowledge, in which case respondent shall so state.

*

"(c) Failure of the respondent to file answer within the time above provided and failure to appear at the fixed time and place of hearing shall be deemed to authorize the Commission without further hearing or notice to respondent, to proceed in regular course on the charges set forth in the complaint and make, enter, issue, and serve upon respondent findings of fact and an order to cease and desist.

"(d) In case respondent desires to waive hearing on the charges set forth in the complaint and not to contest the proceeding, the answer may consist of a statement that respondent admits all the material allegations of the complaint to be true. Any such answer shall be deemed to waive a hearing thereon, and to authorize the Commission, without trial and without further evidence, or other intervening procedure, to make, enter, issue, and serve upon respondent:

"(1) In cases arising under Section 5 of the Act of Congress approved September 26, 1914, entitled 'An Act to create a Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties, and for other purposes' (the Federal Trade Commission Act) * * * findings of fact and an order to cease and desist from the violations of law charged in the complaint."

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Federal Trade Commission has caused this, its complaint, to be signed by its Secretary, and its official seal to be hereto affixed, at Washington, D. C., this 13th day of March, A. D., 1936.

By the Commission:

[SEAL]

OTIS B. JOHNSON, Secretary.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-BEFORE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Docket No. 2741

In the matter of American Sheet and Tin Plate Company; Bethlehem Steel Company; Canton Tin Plate Corporation; Columbia Steel Company; John Follansbee, George T. Ladd, and Isaac M. Scott, Trustees in Bankruptcy for Follansbee Bros. Company, a corporation; Granite City Steel Company; Inland Steel Company; Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation; McKeesport Tin Plate Company; Republic Steel Corporation; The N. and G. Taylor Company; Washington Tin Plate Company; Weirton Steel Company; Wheeling Steel Corporation; Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company

AMENDED COMPLAINT

Pursuant to the provisions of an Act of Congress, approved September 26, 1914, entitled "An Act to Create a Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties and for other purposes," the Federal Trade Commission having reason to believe that American Sheet and Tin Plate Company; Bethlehem Steel Company; Canton Tin Plate Corporation; Columbia Steel Company; John Follansbee, George T. Ladd, and Isaac M. Scott, Trustees in Bankruptcy for Follansbee Bros. Company; Granite City Steel Company; Inland Steel Company; Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation; McKeesport Tin Plate Company; Republic Steel Corporation; The N. and G. Taylor Company; Washington Tin Plate Company; Weirton Steel Company; Wheeling Steel Corporation; Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, hereinafter referred to as respondents, have been and are using unfair methods of competition in commerce as "commerce" is defined in said act and it appearing to said Commission that a proceeding by it in respect thereto would be in the public interest, hereby issues its amended complaint stating its charges in that respect as follows:

Paragraph One: Said respondent, American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey in 1900, with its principal office and place of business located in the Frick Building in the City of Pittsburgh in the State of Pennsylvania. Said respondent since the date of its organization has been and now is engaged in the manufacture, among other products, of tin plate which it sells to jobbers of tin plate and also to manufacturers of tin cans and other metal containers located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania, causing said tin plate when sold to be transported from the place of manufacture within said State of Pennsylvania to the purchasers thereof located in states other than the State of Pennsylvania.