The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-10-04

warn w ulte Will
an imposing array Of counsel on either
side and big crowd of spectators in
attendance. Among Borah's attorneys
is James III. Hawley, senior counsel
for the state in the Haywood trial. II
is charged that 10S residents of Boise
county took out timber claims in their
own names, whereas they were really
representing others by agreement. The
conduct of Ruick before the March
grand jury had been impeached by the
defense and was under investigation
by a special jury at the time Borahs
trial began.
Elkins Law Cases Upheld.
The United States circuit court of
appeals at Denver has affirmed the de-
cision of the lower court against the
Great Northern railroad In the rebate
cases, thus deciding in favor of the
government an important point to the
effect that prosecutions under the old
Elkins act are not invalidated by the
new Hepburn rate law. The higher
court holds that the Hepburn act is
amendatory and not repeating, and
that so far as it repeats portions of the
Elkins act 1t continues them in force,
and that In so far as 1t omits or
changes the provisions of the Elkins
act 1t repeats them. The offenses con-
sist in granting rebates on shipments
of grain by a Minneapolis dealer to
Seattle in 1906, the published schedule
at that time being 80 cents a hundred
and the shipper being allowed from 10
to 20 cents q hundred rebate. This
decision affects dozen other impor-
tant cases, among which is the Stand
ard Oil $29,OOO,OOO fine.
Oil Trust Books Not Found.
Two books showing the stock trans
actions by which the Standard Oil
Company Of New Jersey took over con-
troll of nineteen subsidiary concerns
which had been allied with the old
Ohio trust have disappeared from the
vaults at 26 Broadway. They are the
ledger and stock book kept by Trans
fer Clerk Bensinger between 1892 and
1899. These are the books which Gov
eminent Counsel Kellogg asked the
Standard officials to produce before
Examiner Ferris at New York. Clerk
Bensinger testified that he left these
books in the vault in 1900 when the
work of liquidation was over. Later
Counsel Milburn for the company re-
ported that the books had disappeared,
and no official of the company could
give any information concerning them
or any idea as to where they might
be. Mr.. kellogg announced that he
would have the books if they were il
existence, and, If not, he would know
what had happened to them and why.
In examining how the transfer was
made Mr.. Bensinger said that holders
of trust certificates would present these
at his Office and have them cancelled,
receiving instead a corresponding num-
Der of shares in the New Jersey COM
pany.
Light was thrown on the trusts deal
ings with the so called independent
oil companies when 1t was shown how
by system of agreements the indie
pendents were obliged to buy their
crude oil from the Standard, 1t being
stipulated that no refined oil should
be exported to Europe except through
the trust Should any company vio-
late this agreement their supply of
crude oil would be cut off, and they
would have to close their refineries.
These facts were brought out by the
testimony of Secretary Benson Of the
Tidewater Pipe Line company and
vice president Of the Tidewater Oil
company, which controls the Tidewater
Pipe Line. The Standard owns nearly
one-third of the stock In these con-
Germs. Mr.. Benson told how In 1883
the Standard tried to get control Of
the Tidewater, and the books OF his