THE SHIPPING VEND

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 151, 22 December 1911, Page 5

THE SHIPPING VEND

JUDGMENT AGAINST OWNERS. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Sydney, December 21. In the vend judgment Judge. Isaacs described the combination entered into by the colliery owners as obviously detrimental to the public, as an increase in the price of coal was coincident with the operation of the combined agreement. The whole drift of the judgment, so far as it has gone, is against the defendants. Received 21, 8.55 p.m. Sydney, December 21. The delivery of the judgment in the vend case continued throughout the day, and was unfinished at its close. Justice Isaac declared the conduct of defendants would indicate an intention to combine for the purpose of raising the prices of coal to a height limited only by the possibility of obtaining them. Dealing with the shipping companies, he said they carried on the excess imposed by the vend, and were just as much re- • sponsible as the colliery proprietors. Before they combined and an agreement was made, the shipping companies played off one colliery against another. The shipping defendants must be held responsible, even if the detriment to the public travelled no further than the declaration of the excessive prices pronounced by the vend and executed by the shipping companies, but the detriment proceeded further than this, the companies using the power of combination for additional advantage to themselves.