The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-15

CHIEF JUSTICE FULLER.
! given to the national will. as lawfully ex-
! pressed by Congress. ii may prevent that
! company in it's capacity a holding cor
! poration and trustee from carrying out the
purposes of a combination formed in re
straint of interstate commerce. The Securl-
/ ties Company is itself n part of that COM
bination; its head and front; its trustee. IL
/ would be extraordinary If the court, IN exc
cutting the act of Congress, could not lay
hands upon that company and prevent IL
from doing that which. if done, will de-
feat the act of Congress.
COURT CAN DISSOLVE TRUSTS.
! Upon like grounds the court, without in
terfering with the rights of any State, can,
by appropriate orders, prevent the two
competing railroad companies herein in
volved from cooperating with the Securi-
! ties Company in restraining commerce
among the States. In short. the court may
make any order necessary to bring about
the dissolution or suppression of an illegal
combination that restraints interstate COM
merce. All this can be done without in
fringing in any degree upon the just author
ity of States. The affirmance of the judg-
ment below will only mean that no COM
bination, however powerful, is stronger
than the law or will be permitted to avail
L
doing that which, If done, would defeat
! legal enactment of Congress, is to attack
the reserved rights of the States. 1t would
mean that device in evasion of its pro-
/ visions, however skillfully such device is
! contrived, and no combination by WhomSo-
/ ever formed, is beyond the reach of the
! supreme law of the land, if such device or
combination by its operation directly re-
strains commerce among the States or with
foreign nations in violation of the act of
! Congress.
Discussing the question as TO the effect
| of the antitrust law on financial interests
Justice Harlan said the prediction had been
made that disaster to business and wide
spread financial ruin would follow the exc
cution of its provisions, and he added that
such predictions had been made In connec.
! ton with all preceding cases under that
act, but" he said, they have not been
verified" and continued, lit is the history
| of monopoies in this country and in Eng
! land that predictions of ruin are habitually
made by them when IL is attempted by
/ legislation to restrain their operations and
to protect the public against their eXac-
tions. In this, as in former cases, they
seek shelter behind the reserved rights of
the States and the constitutional guarantee
of liberty of contract. But this court has
heretofore adjudged that the act of Con-
| gresS did not touch the rights of the States
and that liberty Of contract did not involve
right to deprive the public of the adj
| vantage of free competition in trade and
| commerce.
But even if the court shared the gloomy
forebodings in which the defendants indulge
! it could not refuse to respect the action OF
| the legislative branch Of the government
If what it has done is within the limits OF
| its constitutional power. The suggestion of
| disaster to business have, we apprehend,
| their origin in the zeal of parties who are
opposed to the policy underlying the act
of Congress or are interested in the result
| of this particular case; at any rate the sug-
gestions imply that the court may and
ought to refuse the enforcement of the pro-
visions of the act If, in its judgment, Con-
greSs was not wise in prescribing as a rule
! conduct interstate
| ternational commerce is to be governed;
| that every combination, whatever its FORM
| in restraint of such commerce and the
monopolizing or attempting to monopolize
| such commerce shall be illegal. These,
plainly. are questions as to the policy of
! legislation which belong to the legislative
department. and this court has no function
to supervise such legislation from the stand
| point of wisdom or policy.
SET ASIDE AS FALLACIOUS.
Justice Harlan set aside fallacious the
argument that the acquisition of stock by
the Northern Securities Company was in
the nature of investment, saying that
there had been no actual investment in any
| substantial sense. In this connection he
referred to Mr.. Morgan as authority for
the statement that the stock had been
transferred to the Securities Company
merely for the purpose of suppressing COM
petition, and in support of this statement
quoted the testimony of Mr.. Morgan, in
which he had said that the Securities Com
pany had been created custodian because
it had no other alliance. This. said
Justice Harlan. disclosed the actual ma
ture of the transaction, which was only to
| organize the Securities Company as a hold
ing company in whose hands. not as pur-
| chaser or absolute owner, but simply as
custodian, were to be PLACED the stocks OF
| the constituent company.
| Referring the decree of the Circuit
| Court, Justice Harlan said that valid
objection could be made to it in form or
| in substance, and added: IF there was a
| combination conspiracy in violation of
the act of Congress between the stock
holders of the Great Northern and Northern
| Pacific Railroad companies whereby the
| Northern Securities Company was formed
| as a holding corporation, and whereby in
| terstate commerce the lines of the
| constituent companies was restrained, it
must follow that the court, in execution OF
that act may prohibit the parties to the
combination from doing the specific things
which being done would effect the result
denounced by the act. To say that the
court may not go that far is to say that
| it is powerless to enforce the act in ques-
tion or to suppress the illegal combination,
and is powerless to protect the rights of
the public as against that combination.
Discussing the effectiveness of relief at
the hands of the court, he quoted approx
ingly the disposal by the Circuit Court of
the point, and continued: THE Circuit
| Court has done only what the actual situ-
| alton demanded. Its decree has done moth
ing more than to meet the requirements
of the statute. 1t could not have done less
without declaring it's impotency in dealing
with those who have violated the law. The
decree, If executed WI destroy not the
property interests of the original stock
holders of the constituent companies. but
the power of the holding corporation, as
the instrument of an illegal combination,
to do that which, if done, would restrain
interstate and international commerce. The
exercise of that power being restrained.
the object of Congress will be accomplished
left undisturbed the act in question will
be yalueless for any practical purpose"
CRIMINAL FEATURES.
Attention also was given to the argument
that the antitrust act must be strictly
construed in its criminal features. Quot
ing a number of authorities on this sub
ject Justice Harlan said: Guided by these
long aDlished rules of construction it is
manifest that If the antitrust act is held
not to embrace case such is be-
fore us the plain intention of the legislative
branch of the government will be defeated.