The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-16
Attorney General Moody
 Signs Petition.
CHARGES VIOLATION OF
 SHERMAN ANTITRUST LAW
Rockefeller, Seven Associates and Many Corporations De-
 fendantS.
Lengthy nocument Filed in Which @Trusty Is Accused Of Adopting H. legal Methods In cOmpesition
 and ComreIIing Rebates.

St. Louis, Nov. 15.--The United States government today made the int tial move to dissolve the Standard OfIs sooalled monopoly by filing In the United states District Court in St Louis a petition In equity against the Standard oil Company of New Jersey and it's seventy constituent corpora tions and partnerships, and seven de- fendants, including John, D. Rocksfei- Ter and William Rockefeller, askfn that the combination be declared un. lawful, and in the future enjoined from entering into any contract or combination in restraint of trade.
 The suit is brought under the Sher- man antistrus act. which the Standard and it's constituent companies and the seven individual defendants are charg ed with violating. Attorney General Moody says criminal prosecution is reserved for future consideration. |.
 Frank B. Kellogg, of st. Paul. MinEi.. special assistant to Attorney General Moody, brought the petition to 6t. Louis. The document was filed with the clerk Of the United States Circuit Court by the governments local rep resentativess Unfsed States District Attorney D. P. Dyer aud special Coun- sei Keliog Attorneys Dyer and Kel- log then went into the clerks office, where the petition was formally sworn to and nled by Colonel Dyer.
 After the filing of the petition, Judges Sanborn and Adams of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, upon petition, issued an order grant ing the Federal officers authority im- mediateIy to serve notice nuon those defendauts who are not residents of the Judicial district In which the suit had been filed.
 signed By Moody.
 The governments petition is signed by William Fl. Moody, ,attoruey general; Milton B Purdy. assistant to the at forney general; F, B. Kellog c. D. Morrison and c, A, Severance, special assistsnts 10 tho attorney general The .rset4ti0n containa a194 pages nf printed matter, or about 100000 words. an ad- ditioha1 elghty-four pages of exhibits, c6nnisting of by-IAws and minutes ol standard oil meetings and organ1sa- tions. and a map showing the retail prices Of oil in every State and Terri tory of the Union.
 The investigation into the methods pursued by the Standard Oil Company. began early in 1905, and the results were laid before Congress last May by President Roosevelt who accompanied the report by a special message, de- nouncing the apparent methods pur- sued. The President asserted at the time that suits would be instituted In the United States Courts to abolish the combination, and the filing of the suit today marks the initial step.
 The defendants are entitled to one month in which to enter their appear. ance, and sixty days in which to file answer to the allegations in the peti- tion. They also have the option of hl- ing a demurrer to the bill. ~
 A brief synopsls of the government petition follows:
 synopsis of Petition.
 This suit was instituted in the name of the United States by direction of the Attorney General, against John D. Rockefeller. William Rockefeller, Hem " Fl. Rogers, Henry M. Flagler, John D. Archbold Oliver H. Payne. Chrales Nj Pratt and seventy-oue corporations and partnerships, chavging them with having violated sections l and 2, Of the sherman antitrust act,
 The government asks for an injunc- tion against these defendants which, if granted, will result In the dissolution of the alleged combination.
 . It IS alleged in the petition that John D. Rockefeller and his associates, the other individual defendants, formed a conspiracy to monopoIize the com merce in petroleum and it's products about tn year 1870, and that the same individuals have controlled the combi- nation during these years and now control it.
 The form which sucn combination and conspiracy has assumed, and the devlces and practices employed to ob- tain control of the business, have, how ever. from time to time been subject to change as the individual defendants considered it most effective for carry Ing out their purposes.
 Three Periods.
 he naffffnr Ia dfyt1A1 into fhrpA periods. During the first, from 1870 to 1882. the combination assumed the form of a simple congpiracX--that is to say. the defendants, with the Stand ard oil Company of Ohio, which they organized. purchased and obtained in- terests in by stock ownership and oth- erwise. and entered into agreements with various persons, firms, corpora tions and limited partnerships engaged in the. same business, whereby they acted together to suppress competition and control the oil business
 During the second period, from 1882 to 1899, the combination and eonspir- acy assumed the form of a trust agree ment, whereby about forty separate oorporations and limited partnerships, engaged in the same business, turned over the management of their said business to nine trustees, of which these individual defendants were the
  trolIed all of these corporations and limited partnerships. and thereby elim- mated the competition between tho same,
 such trust agreement having been declared Illegal by the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1892. the trustees passed a resolution dissolvmg the trust. but nevertheless continued to manage all of said corporations and limited part ,a,sbins in the same manner until 1899, st which time. heinz compelled to shandon the trust agreement, they niaced an the stocks of these corpora tions and limited partnerships. which trnstess into the Standard oil Conf psny, of New Jersey as 9 holding cor oorstton. And since 1899 the Standard oii Company of New Jersey has com trolled all the various corporations purebssed the stocks of other corpor- ations and organized new corporations.