Morris tribune., 1895-06-19
LOST IT'S CHARTER.
The whisky Trust Declared nm uIegal
Concern.

Concern.
| SPRINGFIELD, Ill, June 15.-The de-
cision handed down by the supreme
court Thursday morning in the whisky
trust case in which the decision
of the Cook county court de-
claring the trust illegal is af-
firmed, is one of the strong
est arrangements of combinations
for the purpose of cornering or
controlling prices in products ever
promulgated by any court. The Ian
guage is of no uncertain character,
and has given Attorney General Mo-
loney and his assistants much satisfac-
ton. The principle of corporations
and trusts of this character is hit hard
by the court, and the attorney general
feels that the principles underlying
the decision are broad enough to in
clude the Pullman company. He feels
that the adverse decision in the Pull
man case will be reversed on reaching
the Illinois supreme court.
The opinion is voluminous, contain
ing forty-nine pages of closely-written
type manuscript, and goes fully into
the details of the case. Many citations
are made, among them Chicago gas
and the match trust, to which, the
court maintains, the whisky trust bears
similarity. This deduction is made from
the fact that the Chicago Gas and
Diamond Match companies exceeded
their charter rights by engaging in
lines of business not granted in their
charters. The whisky trust, the court
maintains, exceeded its charter by
forming a combination to control
prices rather than to manufacture
whisky.
In speaking of the claim made by
the appellant that the surrendering
and gathering in of stock of different
distilleries purged the trust of IL
legality, the court maintains that
this is false presumption. To quote:
There is no magic in the trust certif-
Gates that can purge the trust scheme
of it's illegality."
The gist of the decision is contained
in the following paragraphs:
But 1t is urged that the defendant by
its charter is authorized to purchase
and own distillery property, and that
there is no limit placed upon the
amount OF property which it may thus acquire.
By its certificate of organization it is
authorized to engage in a general distillery
business in Illinois and elsewhere and
to own the property necessary for that
purpose. It should be remembered that
grants of powers in corporate charters are to
be construed strictly, and what is not given is
by implication denied. The defendant is au-
thorized to own such property as is necessary
for its business, and no more. Its power to
acquire and hold property is limited to that
purpose.
I'm acquiring distillery properties in the
and for the purposes shown by the in
formation, the defendant has not only misused
and abused the powers granted by its charter,
but he has usurped and exercised powers not
conferred by but which are wholly foreign to
that instrument. 1t has thus rendered itself
liable to prosecution by the state by quo war
ranto and we are Of the opinion that upon the
facts shown by the Information, the judgment
of custer is clearly warranted.
Although the trust is really out of
existence, by the provisions of the
statutes of this state the odor of
the trust will continue to hang
around these parts for the period of
two years. The reason for that APP
strange anomaly is that two
years time is considered necessary for |
up the affairs of a great cor
poration. So, for number of legal |
purposes, the Cattle-Feeding and Dis
tilling company will exist for two
years