Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1903-03-23
ARGUE MERGER CASE
REMARKABLE SITTING OF U. S
COURT AT ST. LOUIS.
BECK'S LONG ARGUMENT
Assistant Attorney General Presents
Side of Government Against North
ern Securities, Saying the Sherman
Antitrust Law Clearly Applied to
Such Combinations.

st. Louis, March 19.-For the first
time in the history of the United
States courts, and by the authority of
a special act of congress passed last
February, four United States circuit
judges are sitting together TO hear ar
guments in a case, the trial being the
| fight of the government against the
Northern Securities company, in the
celebrated merger suit. Under this
special act the United States circuit
court for the district of Minnesota is
holding its session in st. Louis and by
this arrangement the case can go inn
mediately from this court to the SUI
preme court of the United States. The
judges before whom the merger cases
is being argued are Caldwell, SanbOrn,
Thayer and Vandvanter.
The attorneys for the government
are Assistant Attorneys General James
NJ. Beck and William IL. Day, and spe-
cial counsel ID. L. Watson OF Pittsburg,
United States Attorney ID. z. Dyer OF
st. Louis assisting.
For the company Former Attorney
General John w. Griggs, Former
Judge George B. Young of st. Paul
and M. ID. Grover, general attorney for
the Northern Pacific.
Most of yesterdays session was TAX
en- up with the presentation of the ar
gument for government by General
Beck. After he had concluded late in
the afternoon, the argument for the
company was begun by Judge Young.
Beck did not finish until 1920 p. IN.
He said that it would be difficult to ex-
aggerate the Importance of the cOntro-
versy. Few cases." he said, have
ever been presented to any court
which affected corporate interests of
such magnitude, and still fewer which
more vitality concern the welfare of
the American people.
IF competing carriers can form a
stable, permanent and controlling com
bination with indefinite and perpetual
powers, through the simple device of
so-called bounding corporation or
ganized under a state charter-a form
lie interests than the traffic arrange
ments or technical trusts which the
law has hitherto condemned-then
both the interstate commerce act OF
1887, with its inhibition of pooling,
and the act of July 2, 1890, with its
sweeping condemnation of all combi-
nations i'm restraint of trade or at
tempted monopOlies, will be nullified
by the power of individuals, who will
thus show the impotence of the de
clared will of the American people"
Mr.. Beck contended that the boards
of directors of the Union Pacific, the
Great Northern and Burlington sys-
TENS had been so grouped that all in
terests were represented in each, and
all motive and necessities for cOmpeti-
ton eliminated; that in this manner a
working combination had been affect
ed which controlled the three trans
continental systems, otherwise compe-
titive, whose total trackage was over
80. 900 miles. He analysed the Sher-
man antitrust law and contended that
it clearly prohibited such a combina-
ton.
When Beck had finished Judge
Young began the argument for the
company. He sketched the building
of the Great Northern and the extern
sion to the Pacific coast, and explained
the early difficulties of securing the
trade going east and time spent build
ing up lumber trade from the coast
east. He then followed with a sum
mary of the building up and branching
out of the trans-Pacific trade and en-
largement of railroad interests.
After he had spoken half an hour,
court adjourned until today when
Judge Young will continue.