The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-10-20
TRUST TRIAL DELAY
IS UP TO PRESIDENT
Administration Has Hard Time
Explaining Leniency in
Standard Oil Combine.
Facts At Hand Early, But No
Action Taken-White House
Statement Expected.

~oNVVAAVAAV aAPVV1VN.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Oct. 18.-The
Administration is in a hard pull to ex-
plain why it has not proceeded against
the Standard Oil Company as vigor-
ously even as has the State Of Ohio
in the Findlay case.
There does not seem to be any ex-
cuse for the Department of Labor and
Commerce or any department Of the
government being surprised by the fact
Of the existence of foreign holding
companies in the Standard Oil busi-
ness.
1t Is an open secret that the Bureau
of Corporations sent agents to Europe
probably year ago, to look into the
Standard Oil business. 1t is a case
evidently of failure to find out what
was comparatively easy for the sup
preston Of information that the de-
partment obtained. 1t is not believed
here that the Bureau Of Corporations
could not find out what are the rela-
tions of the Standard Oil to the foreign
holding companies.
Excuse Given For Failure.
One of the latest excuses for lack
Of prompt and vigorous action against
the Standard Oil is that it would be
advisable for the government force to
see what the outcome Of the prosecu-
tions in Ohio will be. Yet the Bureau
Of Corporations had been at this in
vestigatfOn for about eighteen months
and every now and then the statement
is given out that the bureau will soon
| have finished its report. AS Is we'll
known, the report must go to the
President first and he takes up the
! matter with the Attorney General.
There was a vast deal of rumor and
report bout the Department of Justice
today to the effect that the Attorney
General was surely to resign about
January 1, and there We're promises
that the whole Standard Oil business
would be v Ell under -wgy ~ 'ttlflat time: r
| That means that there will scarcely be
! time to give the public any idea as to
whether the Standard Oil will be
| brought into court before election One
Of the f1imsiest of the statements yet
made has been that the administration
is so modest that if it did announce
a program against the Standard Oil
now it would be accused of doing it
for political effect"
7 White House Responsible,
| The total responsibility, it may be
said, rests with the White House. That
is true for the reason that when the
| Bureau Of Corporations and other
government agencies began to work
up the case against the Standard Oh
company it was stipulated that the
! "a hroi fo1 fo
White House, and it is well known
that Mr. Garfield has been a frequent
visitor at the White House, sometimes
reporting on the Standard Oil and at
other times playing tennis.
| The President must. therefore, have
been aware of the status of the Stand
dard Oil investigation all along, and il
1t were deemed advisable to avoid the
imputation Of proceedings against the
Standard Oil just before election the
President could have ordered the work
done long ago.
Today the departments are saying
that the fact of the foreign complica
tions with the Standard Oil is not OF
great Importance because the combina
tions could be broken up under the
laws Of the United States. Attorneys
Kellog and Morrison Of Chicago ar.
credited with bringing the agents O.
the government who have charge O.
this particular branch of the case
which has gotten the administration
into very deep hole.
Accident or Design.
1t will probably be shown befor'
long that the Department of Justice
was always ready to proceed and tina
by some accidents or designs that de-
partment did not have before it al
the matter which should be furnished
by the Bureau Of Corporations.
1t was announced some time agt
with a flourish Of trumpets that tn,
Bureau of Corporations had good case
ready for the st. Louis district an(
for the District Of Southern California
but these haye not materialized.
What is to be expected now is tha
a day or two before the elections
statement will be issued either from
the White House or the Department O
Commerce and Labor, telling Of tn
tremendous" progress made in the in
vestigation of the oil trust and wha
the government proposes to do befor
the first of January