The news boy., 1894-09-22
Destroying Republican Trusts
FROM the Kansas City Times.

Destroying Republican Trusts.
From the Kansas City Times.
Two weeks ago The Times called
attention to the antitrust features
of the new tariff bill. and though it
was then made plain that under the
operations of the bill it would be as
impossible for trusts to restrain
trade and manipulate prices US it
would for bar of pig metal to fly,
the matter has not received that con-
sideration at the hands of the press
that it's Importance deserves. Sec
tion seventy-three of the new law
provides that every combination,
conspiracy, trust, agreement or con-
tract is hereby declared to be con-
trary to public policy, illegal and
and void when the same is made by
or between two or more persons or
corporations, either of whom is en-.
gagged in importing any article from
a foreign country into the United
States, and when such combination,
conspircy. trust agreement or eutis
tract is intended to operate in re-
straint of lawful trade or free COM
petition in lawful trade or commerce
or to increase the market price in
any part of the United States Of any
article or articles imported or in.
tended to be imported into the United
States, or Of any manufacture into
which such imported article enters
or is intended to enter"
This feature of the bill wds intro
duced by Senator Morgan of Ala
bama. who must have had in mind
the Sugar trust when he was prepar-
ing it. 1t is well-known fact that
at least six-tenths of the raw sugar
consumed by the trust is imported.
so that it is clearly and unquestion-
ably amenable to that provision of
the law. But it applies with equal
exactness to the Steel trust. the Cor
dagc trusts and most other trusts.
Bessemer steel is produced from iron
made by mixing Cuban with domes-
tic ores. The Cordage trust imports
large proportion of the fax it uses.
and the other trusts import raw ma
terials from which to manufacture
their wares. This law. moreover.
differs from the Sherman and other
antitrust laws in that safe and GER
tain provisions are made for it's en-
forcement. Section seventy-four pro-
vides that the several Circuit courts
of the United States are hereby in
vested with jurisdiction to prevent
and restrain violations of section 73
of this act; and it shall be be the duty
of the several district attorneys of
the United States in their respective
districts. under the direction of the
Attorney General, to institute pro-
ceedings in, equity to prevent and re-
strain such violations. That is
neither ambiguous nor uncertain.
The only doubt that can be raised
concerning the efficacy of this law is
that Federal district attorneys might
not be inclined to act. But this is
an unreasonable assumption, for
while officials who reside at points
contiguous to the trusts might be in
fiuenced to be lenient with them,
those widely separated could enter
tain no such feeling of friendship and
the complaint of any citizen to any
official thus situated would be certain
to produce results. The law obvious
ly contemplated this fact, for it ex-
tends jurisdiction to the "several
Circuit courts in the United States
in the section above quoted; in sec
tion seventy-five it sets forth that
''when the ends of justice require
that other parties should be brought
before the court, the court may cause
them to be summoned whether they
reside in the district in which the
court is held or not, and section
seventy-six provides that ''any prop
erty owned under any contract or by
any combination, or pursuant to any
conspiracy (and being the subject
thereof) mentioned in section 73 of
this act, and being in the course of
transportation from one State to
another, or to or from a Territory.
or the District of Columbia, shall be
forfeited to the United States, and
nifty be seized and condemned by
like proceedings as those provided
BY law for the forfeiture, seizure, and
condemnation of property imported
Into the United States contrary to
law"
These with the penal clause which
provides, section seventy-seven, "that
any person who shall be injured in
his business or property by any other
person or corporation by reason Of
anything forbidden or declared to be
unlawful by this act may sue there
for in any Circuit court Of the United
States in the district in which the
defendant resides or is found, with
out respect to the amount in contro
versy, and shall receive three -folG
the damages by him sustained, ant
the costs Of suit, including reason
attorneys fee, comprises what Rep
resentative Mcmillan of Tennessee
in speech made in the House OF
August l3, justly and properly char
acterized as ''the most stringent Law
against trusts ever enacted in this
country" The Times fully appre
cistes the vast saving to the people
amounting to more than , THOUSAND
! millions of dollars anntnBy whicl