Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-08-02
TO FINE
 STANDARD OIL

Chicago, Aug. 2-What is eyDecfe
 to be the largest fine recorded in tn
 judicial history of the United State
 probably will be assessed by Fedora
 Judge kenesaw NJ. Landis against tb,
 Standard Oil company before anofbo,
 day has passed. Tomorrow is the date
 set for imposing the penalty, and thl
 attorneys who have followed the cas.
 closely and are acquainted with the
 fearlessness of Judge Laudis belle ;a
 that the fine will be very nearly tIs
 limit allowed by law. That there WI be an appeal is certain, attorneys for the "oiI trust having been allowed sixty days after the final entry in the rebate case ill which to file exceptions, This will give the lawyers until Octo- Der 3 in which to prepare their bill. this stipulation was allowed by Judge Landis in order that John s. Miller. leading counsel for the Standard might pass his vacation in Europe. No matter whether the fine is large or small, there is certain to be much delay in it's payment, if it is ever paid The Standard has always insisted on 3 decision from the court of last resort. land this may require many years. In the meantime, there are several other indictments against the company for violations Of the Elkins law which were returned also last fall as wei! as a score of suits in the federal dis tricts. Some of these indictments in the Northern Illinois district are near. ly as vOluminous and important as the one on which tomorroW's fine vii! be based. Practically the same kin,! of evidence figures in all these cases. and hence it is likely that, unless at torneys for the oil company become more informing in the future, John D. Rockefeller and his associates. will have to make many more trips to give evidence in the near future.
 Opinion is divided as to whether the Standard will be given the maximum fine of 29,24O,0oo Many b9Ilave that Judge Landis will deem it expedieHt to make the fine r1uch smaller, but there are a large humber of attorneys and financiers, some of them illtimates opinion that the penalty assessel will be not one cent less than that al lowed by the statutes. Tn only ex- cuse a judge may be called upon to offer in imposing less than a maxi mum fine in criminal cases like this is a bona fide reason for clemercy. In this case Judge Landis offered the Standard Oil company full opportunity to prove that the New Jersey concern had been a law-abiding corporation Such contention is not borne out by the records in the case, and t is upon the records that Judge Landis will reach a decision as to the amount of the fine.
 During the trial it was fu.,.. shown that the Standard Oil company of h. diana is but one ranch of a grea- cor poration, with annual earnings of from 50,000,000 to $S0,0O0,000. Thus the maximum fine of over $29,000,0OO, pos sible under the conviction of the con- pany on 1,462 counts of the indictment, represents probably less than one-half 1 of it's total earnings for one year. AS the period covered by the indictment. however, was eighteen months, being portions of three years, the maximum
 penalty could hardly be construed as
 a "cruel and unusual punishment" b.!
 a court of last resort.
 Among some of the important facts brought out at the recent trial, and On which Judge Landis will base the amount of the fine to be imposed to- , morrow, were the following:
 , The Standard Oil company of New Jersey holds s499,500 of the $1,000,000 f capital stock of the Standard Oil com pany of Indiana.
 Outstanding capital stock of the
 Standard Oil company of New Jersey,
 the parent concern, is $9S,300,000.
 Net aernings of the Standard Oil l company of New Jersey during the 1 years 1903, 1904 and 1905 approximate . $199 S00,0 900,
 o Dividends paid on the capital stock ! of the Standard Oil company of New s Jersey during those years approXlmat- y ed 40 per cent of the amount Of tii: $ stock, or nearly $4000o,o0O
 d The Standard Gil company of Ne" Il Jersey holds by far the larger DOT n lion of the stock of the Union yans
 Line company.
 ee The Union Tank Line company, Witf l, .,, - 20 00 OAA ic 2 000 GOO II