The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1905-01-12
BEEF TRUST SUIT
IN SUPREME COURT
Attorney General Moody Con
cludes His Argument on the
Injunction Case,
DEFENSE is
Trust Claims its Combination is Strict.
" a State Affair, in Illinois. Not
Subject to Interstate Com
r1erce Law.

Washington, Jan. 1l--AttoIney Gen
eral Moody today resumed his argu-
ment on behalf of the government be-
fore the supreme court in the case COM
monty known as the beef trust case,
begun last Friday. Attorney General
Moody said none of the agreements or
acts complained of related to manu-
facture or production, but to
commerce. as distinguished from
manufacture or production. He said
the inquiry is narrowed down to only
TWO questions for !he determination of
the court: Whether the in
the case is among the states.
ind if so whether the agreements con-
stitute a monopoly of any part of it.
Taking up the agreement alleged in
the petition, Attorney General Moody
said eliminatingall statements by which
the pleader characterized the purpose
and SELECT of the agreement. the fol-
Lowing state of facts is clearly shown
Persons owning live stock n living
in other states and territories than
those where stock yards are situated
We're accustomed to send such stock to
the various stock yards named for the
purpose of sale there. The defendants,
who were Severally engaged in the bus
mess of buying such live stock for the
purpose of Strengthening and converting
it into fresh meat, entered into an
agreement with each other to refrain
from bidding against each other. except
colorably, in the purchase of such live
stock, with the purpose and result of
suppreSsing all competition in such
purchases.
The agreement having been thus
clearly alleged, he said, the question
arose whether the agreement relates to
interstate commerce and nrnrpala1 IN
argue that proposition.
Mr.. Moody's Argument Summarized.
Mr.. Moody. in concluding his argu-
ment. said: !!
II have discussed. separately, all the
agreements and acts of the defendants
which We're complained of as unlawful
in the petition and enjoined by the de-
cree of the court below. 1 have endeav-
ored to show with respect to each of
them that they relate to interstate COM
merce. and either retrained it or n
olized it, within the meaning of the law.
II should be unwilling. however, to
rest the cas- here. There is a larger
view of it to be taken than appears
from the allegations in the petition on
sidered separately. These defendants
are engaged in interstate commerce.
The petition shows a typical case of in
terstate commerce.. If the business
which they do, exclusive of the manu-
f%acture, is not interstate commerce
there can be no such thing outside of
transportation.
1t Is Interstate Commerce.
"They buy their raw material, which
is gathered together from all the cat
~tle-raising states and territories of the
union and sent to the great live stock
markets of the country. After they
have transformed that material into
the finished product they sell it
! throughout the United States. The
combination which they nave entered
into is designed to restrain all their
business transactions, exclusive of
manufacture, by suppression of all
competition therein, both in their pur-
chases and their sales, by fixing and
maintaining uniform prices for their
product, and so far as possible uniform
prices Tor their raw material, and by
obtaining such unla wful advantages as
would tend to create a monopoly in
the necessaries of life. They cannot be
permitted ingeniOuSly to separate the
various steps in their undertaking II
50 deal with them that they can be re-
garded as interstate transactions The
court met and answered such a device
as this in the case of Montague & Co.
VS.. LoWery. There it was truly claimed
that the sales of unset titles in San
Francisco by local dealers were con-
sidered by themselves interstate trans
actions. The court held a sale could
not be separated from the main pur-
pose Of the combination, which was to
fix and maintain uniform prices for
goods which were the subject of inter-
state commerce"