Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-06-06
TURNER ON TRUSTS.
HE'S RECOGNIZED AS HIGH LE-
GAL AUTHORITY.

Audacious as 1t Nay Seem. Capital is Making
the Attempt to Appropriate the Result o.
Inventive Genius Without Recompense-
Senator Has Written an Opinion Which vii
Probably Be Of Much Service in Breaking
Up Such an Unreasonable and Unlawful
Combination.
Senator Turner, whose letter to At
torney General Knox last winter, had
much to do with influencing that Of
fetal to bring suit against the merger
of the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern railroads, has just prepared
another opinion at the instance of the
Antitrust League of the United
States which, it is believed by the
antitrust people will have the effect OF
bringing still another snit against one
OF the many trusts.
The trust sought in this instance to
be broken up is peculiar one, since
it seeks not to raise the price of a com.
modify, but rather to stifle inventive
genius. 1t may not be generally
known that all the railroads east OF
the Mississippi river have entered into
a combination to take and use any
patent appliance that may be OF bene-
fit to it without rewarding the pat
entee; to litigate suits against pat
entees in the courts, and force, if pos
sible, the patentee to dispose OF the
work of the brain at a moderate figure
or at such figure as this trust may
see fit to pay him. This trust has
been working in a quiet way from
headquarters in this city for q number
of years and the harm that has come
from it can only be understood by
those who have invented some device
used in railroading, only to find that
it is employed by these roads without
compensation, and when the inventor
objects to this, he finds he is up against
a suit in court where the defendant
has money to keep him there until he
is beggared or must settle for a small
figure wholly inadequate.
The Antitrust League and the
Knights of Labor OF Washington have
for a number OF years been trying to
break up this vicious combination bu,
without success; each Attorney-Gen
eral to whom they have appealed
having replied that it was not trust
within the meaning of the antitrust
law OF 1890. Knowing with what high
regard the legal opinion of Senator
Turner is held in the Department ol
Justice, and the recognized position oi
the Senator there with reference to
trusts and other unlawful combina
tions which are at this momen,
sapping the very life out of thecom
mon people of the land, the Anti
Trust League and the Knights ol
Labor appealed to him to look into the
matter saying they would be willing to
abide by any decision he might rem
der in the matter, and if he said the
combination to which they object was
not a trust, they would cease all efforts
with the Attorney General. A large
number OF papers we're submitted to
the Senator who, after going over
them, wrote an exhaustive opinion
and filed the same with the Anti.
Trust League which will use the same
in asking that this combination be
broken up. Senator Turner's opinion
in this case is regarded by those high
in authority who have read it as be-
ing sound, logical and convincing, to
the effect that the Eastern Railroad
association is a trust and should be
broken up as such. The Senator has
been highly complimenied by the
antitrust people. not only for this
opinion but for the active and per.
sistent work along that line ever since
he has been in the Senate.