The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1904-03-31
y THE MERGER DECISION.

Henry Clews in his weekly review
Of trade says the Northern Securities
decision, as expected, proved adj
verse to the merger, and the stock
market rallied sharply in conse-
quence, partly as result of the re-
moval of suspense and partly because
of extensive short covering. The de-
cision is one of the most important
issued by the supreme court OF the
United States in many years, and its
effects will be very far reaching.
Whether the court will hereafter take
the same attitude towards an indus
trial combination not monopoly as
it has done in the case of a railroad
which is quasi-public monopoly re-
mains to be seen. 1t is quite certain
that the decision opens the way for
further litigation, but which for the
present is not likely to follow. The
administration has been successful
in this suit, and seems wisely dis
posed to leave the railroads alone.
Will it also leave the industrials
alone; or will it be forced to select
one of these combinations for a test
case? And what will be the course
of the political opponents Of the adj
ministration? These are all questions
that we should like to answer but
are unable to. 1t is to be hoped that
good sense and not politics will pre-.
vail, and that the adjustment of such
important issues will not be attempt
ed when vision and judgment are
warped by the heat of presidential
campaign. That il not the time for
calm consideration. On the otner
hand, the decision is an exceedingly
wholesome one from a public point II
| view. Railroad consolidation must
now progress along lawful and more
natural lines; and the financial com.
munity has been spared the tidal
wave Of speculation that would have
engulfed the speculative stock oper.
ators had the merger gone through
two years ago, to say nothing of the
anti-capital crusade that it would
have inevitably created for the polit
ical campaign of 1904. One other re
suit is quite likely to follow this de
cision, and that Is the amendment vi
the Sherman Antitrust law. There
is a vast difference between reason
able and unreasonable contracts 10
restraint of trade, and the present an
thrust law will probably be amend
ed later on so as to give the courts
liberty in deciding what restraints
are reasonable and what are not
Five of the judges out of nine were
of opinion that the Sherman law for
bids reasonable as well as unreasou
able restraints; but as Judge Brewer
evidently considered the Northern Sc
curities merger an unreasonable re
straint, he cast his vote adversely
showing that the verdict of the high
est tribunal upon a most vital point
is dependent upon the duration of &
single life. 1t is unlikely, however
that any new legislation will be at
tempted this session of congress.
The improvements in stocks which
followed the merger decision was fur
Their stimulated by better accounts O
the iron trade and continued ease il
money. Prices of iron and steel have
been quietly hardening the last few
weeks, and now that the conviction
has been reached that prices are a
bottom level orders held back To-
months are being placed, and the out
look for all kinds of steel products Il
better than at any time since the re
action began.