The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-04-11
SATURDAY. APRIL Il 1905 o.
THE ANTI-TRUs

cult Y Court Of Appeals at st. Paul thai
the Northern Securities Companyis an
unlawful corporation has greatly stirred stree
tho 4 financial world. The main points
" ii, the case are given in the New Y ''i'
Herald Of yesterday, and are thus thu out 4
n lined: " Si3i " F;s M. 4, III FL @ .8Ii;
E'srhe Great N Northern and the Northern
h Pacific Companies are parallel and natul :.
'Gg ally competing lines. Two years ago az
a seemed that Mr. ELL. OF the first named
N road. and his following had by alliance
N vitf, Mr. Morgan obtained q controlling
amount; Of stock in tn Northrn q PACIFIC o -
These two acting together tried TO nuSs
IA Up the ST. Paul line. and failing ms ~
s!cy Instead. issuing two dollars OF their
s83ointly guaranteed bonds In exchange Tor
iN ca CHI dollar Of Burlington stock. he
AUnion Pacific pnrty--Mr. Hartman the
firm Of Kuhn, Loeb g. Co. and STANDARD q
N Oil interests-pro against this cal
ture Of Burlington AS an 7. INVASION a}o 2.
SsIJron Pacfic's natural territory, and \, IN
vi retaliation began to secretly buy n orti1-
Il ern Pacific shares In the markets. W
Il S5..The Dramatic discovery that they had
ei perhaps accumulated enough shares 10
y take control Of Northern Pacific n away
~ from M essrs. Morgan and Hill ana me
@ensuinE frantic competitive buying OF that
38,s tock. N which put It to $1,000 n share and
@precipitated the Wall Street panic Of May.
{1 Sol I, are but too we'll remembered. Each
N side claimed to own controlling inter-
" est X In h the property when MT. NJ organ
H returned from Europe. and o on1promise
Il was VI arranged through the formation Of
the n orthern# II Sec,rriti Company, ~
which both parties should have nm IN
N terest and H which would give Its own
81 shares In exchange for the stocks OF tho
Northern Pacific !. and Great Northern
Is Com panies. The high valuation at when
these shares were exchanged MADE 8 i
III ne cessa ryfl3 for the new 3' holding com
Il pany' to have n capitalization Of $780,
" 600 900, and its charter obtained IN New
~ i ersey permitted 1T to ncq ulre and Nhold
real estate and securities at home or
If abroad ,F to buy and sell, and. IN TACT.
do virtually everything that might u DC
II done by a natural person
- Suits we're Instituted in several Of the
nj States through which these lines pass
K In eacli OF which there lis law to pre-
vent combination, but the suits were
dismissed for lack Of Jurisdiction and the
4 President then instructed the Attorney
Ell General to bring suit in the name of the
.$ United States under the Sherman anti
II trust act. It was this suit which was
S{f q ecided on Thursday, and every point
was decided In the governments favor
"A In rendering Its decision. the court does
mot pretend to justify the Sherman nntl-
IN trust law, but to construe It. There
IA can be no doubt that this law was de-
signed to prevent competing railroads
from consolidating and there can be no
doubt that the Northern Securities Com
~ any was organized for the purpose Of
n SO
Il to all intents and purposes Of consoltdat-
tSing the Northern Pacific and the Great
Northern@ Railroads and destroying CON, 4
petition between them.
The court ,soints .:out that the sher-
Fl man act brands as Illegal every contract,
III combination In the form of trust, or 9th
Il erfyise. sor conspiracy In restraint Of trade
OF commerce among the several States
or with foreign nations. Tho act was
II designed to be very broad. 1T indicates"
NJ thinks the court,
THAT Congress- being unable to
$toresee and describe all the plans l1:
Il that might be formed and all ex-
3SDedients that might be resorted to to
place restraints on interstate trade or
commerce. deliberately employed words,
* OF such general import as, In It's opin.
Ion. would comprehend every scheme that
$3smight be devised to accomplish that
a end. What Is commonly termed trust
Al was a species OF combination organized
by individuals or corporations for the
purpose OF monopolizing the manufacture
u OF or traffic In various articles and
commodities which were we'll known and
u fully understood when the antitrust act
was approved. Combinations In that
81 form were accordingly prohibited: but
M Combination might be otherwise formed,
H was careful to declare that n combina-
tion in any other form. II in restraint Of
x interstate trade or commerce, that Is, j
4 1T directly occasoned or affected such
restraint, likewise should be deemed NE
gal"
The Northern Securities Company was
duly chartered by tho Legislature OF New
Jersey, and was authorized to acquire
and hold the stocks Of other companies,
But The court points out that the COM
a pany was chartered to do only those
things which were lawful and that it
was not chartered to do an unlawful
thing. That 1t was clearly unlawful for
this company to do that which is for
hidden by the Sherman antitrust law,
either directly or BY evasion. and that
sit is In contraYertion OF that law Tor
this company to own and control two
# competing lines.
THE court brushes aside the plea that
his is not In restraint Of trade, but In
the interest of trade, 1.-THE vice of such
II contract or combination being that It
4 confers power to establish unreasonable
x ra ties. and directly restraints commerce by
y placing obstacles in the way Of free and
unrestricted competition between car
riers who are natural rivals" In short.
4 the Northern Securities Company accom-
plishes the object which Congress has
A denounced as illegal.
J, II there Is complaint. therefore, it must
\ Be against the Jaw and not against The
court We have time and again said in
these columns that the Sherman law was
z al menace to the business OF the country.
\ rs hsx neYsg been taken seriously BY the