The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-09-06

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| cradle in the name of the State at the
relation of the solicitor, payable into the
| revenue fund of the county in which the
action accrues.
- Any corporation created under the
laws of this State which violates any of
the provisions of the act forfeits its cor
porate rights and existence.
a In any Indictment, or information,
| OF any offense named in the act, it is
| sufficient to state the purposes and eff
| tects of the trust or combination and
that the accused was member of, acted
with, or in pursuance of it, without Civ
ing Its name. or description, or how or
where 1T was created.
IS. At the trial it is sufficient to prove
that trust or combination as defined in
the act exists, and that the defendants
belonged to it. or acted for. or in CON
| nection with it, without proving all the
members belonging to it, or proving any
| articles of agreement, or written instru-
ment, on which it may have been based !;
IS. A preponderance of evidence-and
not evidence to satisfy beyond a reason
able doubt-authorizes verdict and judg-
ment for the State
a. In suits to forfeit charters, where
judgment of forfeiture is obtained. and
there is no appeal, the court shall allow
the Solicitor not less than one hundred
dollars, nor more than five hundred dol
lars for his services, payable out of the
assets of the wrong doer, and where such
judgment is affirmed on appeal to the SUI
preIne Court, the fees are equally divisi-
bic between the Solicitor and the Attor-
ney General.
IS. The act is not applicable to wholesale
Or retail merchants, or jobbers doing
business in this State, who are not par
ties to, nor interested in trust, and who
are not agents of a trust. nor to persons
engaged in the fishing, trucking or can
ming industries.
1.-THE giSt of the offense, is a combina-
| ton or agreement, either to fix or regu-
late the price of any article of merchan-
disc, or to fix, or to limit, the amount of
any article of merchandise to be pro-
duced, or sold, or mined, or manufactur-
ed in this State.
''The act undertakes to reach any and
all persons, individual and corporate, who
violate the provisions of the Act in per-
son, or by agents, officers, employees, or
trustees. 1t is claimed that this Act has
time and again been violated in North
Carolina by companies organized outside
the State but operating by agents in the
State. 1T is within your power and it
| is your duty to inquire whether any indi-
vidual or domestic or foreign corpora
| ton, association or company, conducting
business in this State By its Agents, trus-
tees or employees has entered into any
such unlawful combination to fix and reg
ulate the price Of or to fix and limit the
amount of any article of commerce pro-
duced, sold, manufactured or mined in
this State, whether it be tobacco, corn,
cotton, the necessaries of life, or other
products of .the soil, or the products of
the factory or the mine. II there is such
unlawful combinations in our midst open
ly defying the law, arbitrarily determin-
ing the value of the labor of other men,
and arrogantly declaring what and how
much the earth and the lawful industries
therein shall yield to mankind such wrong
doors can be reached under this statute,
and if found you should indict them
that they may be brought to the bar of
the court.
at is frequently claimed that this act
is violated by some of the common car
riers transacting business in this State
Is there any common carrier operating in
this State which has by unlawful combi-
nation in fixing freight rates, discriminat-
ed against certain towns and communities
In this State, ard thereby attempted to
fix or regulate the price of any article of
commerce, or fixed and limited the amount
of such article to be produced, sold. manu-
featured or mined in this State? If such
is the case, it's officers, agents and trus
tees have violated the provisions of this
act and they can be brought before the
court to answer for the same If such
charges are true it imposes a duty upon
the towns cities and communities which
claim to have suffered the injuries, to
bring to bear upon this question their
combined intelligence to collect the facts
and present them to the court in such
tangible way as to assist the officers of
the law in having offenders to answer
ut is said that such combinations do
exist: that notorious violations of this
law are repeatedly going on, but never
in any instance so far as I have heard
have they been prosecuted in this State;
it is said that this is in part owing TO
the difficulty there has been in defining
and proving such offenses; in part, to
the lenient and indulgent temper of the
people who have been disposed to suffer
themselves to be imposed upon and cheat
ed rather than take the risks of prose
cutions; in part, because the sufferers
are disunited, separated, and are without
organization to conveniently act in con-
cert, whereas the offenders are oftentimes
non-residents. their resources concentrated
and their ways past finding out. There
are those moreover who find fault with
the courts for not finding the offenders
and Furnishing them. This last complaint
is without merit / have no doubt that
the courts are ready and willing to offer
any relief which the proofs and the law
of the land at any time justify. 1t is your
duty to cooperate with the Solicitor,
and you are at liberty to have the pro-
| cess of this court to enable you to find
out if any persons have violated either of
these statutes of 1889 or 1899, and if the
proofs justify it, to indct the offenders.
ut can be seen that the law-making