By the Associated Press
Raleigh, Oct. 22—L.G. Patterson, Auction Warehouseman of Smithfield, was today held in contempt of court by Judge Calvert at Raleigh, for violating and assisting in the violation of a restraining order preventing a member of the Tobacco Grower’s Cooperative Association from delivering his tobacco outside of the Association.
On the night of September 29, according to the evidence, Patterson attempted to assist A.L. Faulker, on whom citation for contempt had just been served, to sell his tobacco by taking out claim and delivery. After arousing the clerk of the court and the sheriff and securing papers, the tobacco was delivered to the Banner warehouse of which Patterson is part owner, and in the morning it was sold, bringing a total price of $523.82 from which there was deducted $201.60, a check for the balance being given Faulker by Skinner and Patterson, owners of the warehouses.
When brought to court, Mr. Patterson freely admitted error and disclaimed any intention of violating the court’s order, alleging that he was acting in accordance with what he considered his rights, under a crop mortgage. Col. W.T. Joyner, attorney for the Association, declared, “The Association is not out for our blood, our only object is to protect our rights, unless we can be protected by an order of the court our legal rights are injured. And pointed out that in this case the tobacco had been seized at night. A sudden claim of delivery had been served and the tobacco had been sold without the advertisement required by law bringing twice as much money as was needed to satisfy the claim.
Today’s ruling of Judge Calvert is the first case in which an auction warehouseman has been adjudged in contempt for aiding any member of the Tobacco Association to break his contract in North Carolina, and is considered important by the attorneys of the Cooperative as an effective rebuke to the alleged practices of some warehousemen.
From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Oct. 23, 1923
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