The Atlantic Conference, also known as the North Atlantic Passenger Conference, was an organization between international shipping companies to establish a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

on the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. The organization was born on February 5, 1908, when thirteen companies came to an agreement to limit competition from all lines outside of the conference.

Break up

On January 4, 1911, the US government under the

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies. It was passed by Congress and is named for S ...

brought a lawsuit against a number of shipping companies. It was alleged the thirteen companies entered into an illegal contract on February 5, 1908, "by which them constituted themselves the Atlantic Conference, with power to impose heavy fines on members of the conference for violation of any articles of agreement and wage competition against all lines outside of the conference." It was alleged that the conference was responsible for forcing the Russian Volunteer Fleet out of business, and that the "Russian-American Line was forced to make terms with the contract and enter its membership." The defendant companies of the lawsuit were the Allan Steamship Company,

International Mercantile Marine Company The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade. IMM was founded by shipping magnat ...

International Navigation Company The International Navigation Company (INC) was a Philadelphia-based holding company owning 26 ships totaling 181,000 tons and carried more passengers than either Cunard or White Star, when the company was reorganized as International Mercantile ...

, Anchor Line,

Canadian Pacific Railway Company Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), a transportation and mining giant in Canada. In October 2001, CPR completed the corporate spin-offs of each of the remaining business ...

Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

, British & North Atlantic Steam Navigation Company,

Hamburg America Line The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent Germ ...

Holland America Line Holland America Line N.V. (HAL) is an American cruise line operating as a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Founded in 1873 in Rotterdam, Netherlands as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company (NASM), the company operated regular trans ...

, North German Lloyd Company,

Red Star Line The Red Star Line was a shipping line founded in 1871 as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgi ...

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

, and lastly the Russian East Asiatic Steamship Company. The lawsuit alleged the Russian American Line was, "only able to re-enter the New York service through membership in the combine, which it was forced to join at a meeting held September 1, 1909, in Cologne, Germany." The members contracts were near expiration at the time of the trial.

Global reaction

After the conference was exposed, in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

a bill was drawn in the

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

for the purpose of fighting against the monopoly. A bill was proposed in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

by Representative William E. Humphrey, which would bar the accused companies from American ports unless they'd desist from the Atlantic Conference. The bill proposed a penalty forcing the companies that participating in the trust be required to sell each ship adjusted to have violated the anti-trust law.

Also see

General Motors streetcar conspiracy The General Motors streetcar conspiracy refers to the convictions of General Motors (GM) and related companies that were involved in the monopolizing of the sale of buses and supplies to National City Lines (NCL) and subsidiaries, as well as to ...

References

{{reflist Canadian Pacific Railway Cunard Line Former monopolies Norddeutscher Lloyd Hamburg America Line Holland America Line White Star Line