From the surviving records, it seems the ATC was largely still operating on a low-cost methodology when Uncle Sam broke them up. Considering they owned or controlled over 90% of the market and high percentages of the market for components of tobacco products, distribution channels etc., it seems a little strange perhaps just how obsessed they were with that last 5-10% of the market out of their control. Their price cutting to drive out and make impossible the success of small companies probably wasn't creating more net profit at the end of the day than just leaving them be and selling some product a little bit higher would have.
They openly own a lot, and many other things are difficult to discern if the company is 1) technically independent and bullied by the ATC into doing what it wants or 2) a clandestine subsidiary kept off the books precisely because of the new anti-trust laws and the vagueness of enforcement in the early 20th century. Knapp's ALC seems to make extensive use of method 2 and less bullying, but the ATC seems to do both quite a bit.
|