The Trust Problem in the United States

The early history of the sugar trust, touched on in chapter III, may be briefly reviewed. The Sugar Refineries Company--a trustee device--had been organized in 1887. In 1890 this arrangement was declared illegal by the New York courts, and as a result a reorganization was determined upon. In January, 1891, the American Sugar Refining Company was chartered in the state of New Jersey,--then a place of refuge for combinations and trusts. The new company had an authorized capitalization of $50,000,000, half preferred stock and half common.² The American Sugar Refining Company exchanged its capital stock for the trust certificates of the Sugar Refineries Company, and thus obtained control over the various corporations previously controlled by the trustees. The American Sugar Refining Company next caused the several corporations, seventeen in number, to convey to it their entire property, real and personal; and

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