And for and in consideration of the premises the Æolian Company hereby covenants and agrees to pay all proper expenses of conducting said suit for the purpose of testing the applicability of the United States copyright laws to perforated music sheets of the kinds aforesaid and that if the court of last resort shall in such suit decide that the United States copyright laws are applicable to such perforated music sheets, then and in such case and from that time forward the Æolian Company will keep books of account, render statements, and pay royalties as provided by the aforesaid agreement of even date herewith, but shall be free from obligation to make payments for the past. And it is mutually understood and agreed by the parties hereto that neither party hereto is to be obligated in any way by any other provisions of this agreement, or of the aforesaid agreement of even date herewith, until the Æolian Company shall notify the publisher that a number of copyright owners satisfactory to the Æolian Company have made similar agreements with said company. And the parties hereto mutually covenant and agree that all the provisions of this agreement shall be binding upon and enure to the successors, executors, administrators, and personal representatives of both the parties hereto. In witness whereof the publisher has on the day and year first hereinabove written hereunto set his hand and seal, and the Æolian Company has caused its name and corporate seal to be hereunto affixed by its proper officer thereunto duly authorized. CLAYTON F. SUMMY. [SEAL.] THE ÆOLIAN CO. [SEAL.] By E. S. VOTEY, _Director_. Witnessed by-- J. P. BOWERS. THEODORE WILD. Both of those contracts are dated April 30, 1902. After the making of those contracts, the action known as the White-Smith suit against the Apollo Company was commenced in the circuit court of the United States for the southern district of New York. That case went to a hearing before Judge Hazel. Right at this point I may interpolate that I now ask the chairman and the members of this committee to investigate, if they feel they have the power, into those contracts, to summon witnesses, if necessary, to determine what contracts have been made, with what music-publishing houses, by this particular concern, so that the committees may be able to determine for themselves whether this concern and the publishing houses with which they are affiliated can, in the event that this bill becomes a law, have an absolute monopoly of the vast majority of the publications, in so far as they may be reproduced into perforated music rolls or other mechanical devices for reproducing the sounds.