The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-06-27
German Court on Trusts.

According 10 a decision OF the Supreme
Court Of Germany. as reported by the
Berliner Tagcblatt. trusts and combines
having for their object the restriction OF
production ana tho maintenance OF prices
are both legal and right.
They onlv seek To- accomplish IN the
sphere Of private business what lcgisld-
tive bodies. acting for the public sock
TO accomplish by protective ~tariis. Inc
frrsf. i'm this Wow. deserves praise for
cooperating with tho constituted au-
thorities TO achieve . purpose I'm the pun
lie interest. Competition that goes 10 the
length of dcstroying profits for an but
a fcw producers IS not. II Is held. IN the
public interest. Low prices. when they
mean the ruin Of any considerably BODY
of producers. are to BE- deprecated. and
the trust, as being "A device 10 sustain
prices. deserves praise for savins pro-
ducers from loss and ruin The motives
given by the German supreme Court for
lis remarkable decision are as follows.
"Nnen in certain Industrial branches
the prices of such products are sinking
too low. thereby making impossible or
eudangering a. successful business thereof.
the crisis which necessarily follows Is not
only pernirtCus 10 the iudtvidufl buf also
10 the political economy in general. II
IS. therefore. IN the Interest OF the whole
community that Inadequate low prices
shall not prevail too long in any indus
trial branch.
In accordance with this principle. the
legislative bodies h2vc repeatedly and
quite recently undertaken to bring about
higher prices TOR certain products 10y
establishing protective duties.
II can. therefore. not he deemed aheo-
lutely and generally obnoxious 10 The I'M
terests Of the community when the manu-
facturers Of certain articles form q COM
bination for the purpose of preventing
ruinous competition and 70 arrest the
downward tendency of prices for their
products.
On the contrary. such combinations can
be regarded not only as a warranted man
Hesitation OF the opinion Of the impetus
Of self-preservatiOn. but also as a meas
ure for the interest Of the whole com
munity. i'm cases whore prices are SO low
that the manufacturers are threatened
with financial ruin. For this reason
the formation of syndicatos n trusts
has been designated by several author
titles as a means which. when properly
adopted. would prove remarkably cNpe-
dent to prevent ~eXtravagant and det7
rimcntal overproductiOn."
The decision is interesting I'm the fact
that il frankly Identifies protective tariffs
with trusts. II does not say merely that
a protective tariff tends 70 produce trusts
and combines which advance the prices
consumers are 10 pay, but that the func-
tons of protection" and trusts are the
same-to advance prices, or prevent that
decline OF prices Nnlch thr progress or
invention under free competition %insurcs.
Protectionists. when they ask the con
sumner to vote for protection. commonly
tell him that their object is merely 10
exclude the hated foreigner from our
market. not TO affect prices.
The result Of high tariffs. they say.
Is to reduce p~rices-which IS absurd COM
ing from a class whose interest Is 10
maintain or advance prices. II is liter
ally the fact. as stated by the German
court. that the trust and the protective
tarin have the same object and no pro-
tectionist can consistently oppose trusts
Baltimore sun.