The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-03-24
TRUST FIASCO IS
CONGRESS- FAULT
Continued From First Page.

field report, made in the way which
aroused SO much antagonism, was di-
rected by the president and the attor-
neyfgeneral. who wanted to comply
with the joint resolution of congress or
derlng the investigation, but in doing so
did not want to interfere with the more
serious work of serving indictments.
then under full swing.
The Gulp international.
Garfield, in Chicago, in other words,
merely accepted what the packers were
willing to tell him of their W accord.
and based his report upon these state.
ments. He purposely refrained from
up the question Of immunity, and dur
ing the entire Investigation was guard
ed from day to day by telegraphic in
struct1ons, sometimes coming from the
attorney general and sometimes from
the president in person.
r. The administration had gone over the
question of immunity in the light OF
all the statutes, and concluded as a
matter of law that the seeming O
pliance made by Garfield with the Joint
resolution of congress would not furnish
a sufficient basis from which to permit
the packers later on to claim immunity.
~ 4AonApuI0S DcCISlOu.
A few days ago came the decision of
Judge Humphrey, to the effect that the
Garfield inqoiry,' intended by the adj
mlnlstration to be a blind and at
the same time as an outward compli-
ance with the order of congress-, had
had the effect of giving immunity to all
testify. -
Today the department. of Justice is
understood to have made up it's mind
that there is no appeal from that de-
clslon to a higher court. So the pro-
ceedings against the packers, notwith-
standing the well-laid plans Of the adj
ministration, have all failed, for it is
not believed that the government will
consent to any proceeding against the
clearinghouse corporations as such.
Such a proceeding would be worse than
useless, for it would in no sense ae-
complish the desired result.
Congress Again to Blame.
Congress is to blame in another re-
spect. For the past fifteen years, OF
even longer, the attorney general, once
a year, in his regular report to the
president, and the president from time
to time during that same period, IN
his messages to congress, have strongly
urged that legislation be enacted giving
the government the right of appeal In
certain cases within which the Humph,
rey decision falls. These repeated rec
concentrations have been studiously ig
nored, and no legislation has been en-
acted.
The government, therefore. must &C
cept the Humphrey opinion as the Law
for the present moment, and probably
drop the proceedings against the pack
ers. worked up with so much industry
and pains and also much cost of TIM
and money.
AS to Judge Humphrey.
Judge Humphrey was assigned t
this case at his own request. He doe
not belong to the district in which tn
!. case was tried. His appointment to tn
federal bench was made in 1901. b
President Mckinley, at the request o
Senator Cullom, whose term as senate
is now about expiring, and who is er
gagged in a desperate contest for II
election.
So far as anyone in Washington ha
E been informed, Judge Humphrey di
: not consult with Judges Bethea, LaI
dis, Grosscup or Kohlsaat, on the Oh
n cago district benches, and these gel
tlemen did not know what his decisio
would be until it had been handle
down.
The administration was So certai
e that the decision could only he mad
in one way, namely, in favor of til
n government. that plans had alread
been laid for the continuation of tt
prosecutions when the adverse decislo
! brought all plans to a ~standstlll. I
say that the decision was a surprise
o Washington is to state the case wit
. GREAT mildness.