Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-08-05


Lands Saturday i'm the United States
district court, fined the Standard Oil
Co. of Indiana $29,240.O00 for violation
of the law against accepting rebates
from railroads. The fine is the largest
ever assessed against any individual or
corporation in the history of Amerl-
can criminal Jurisprudence and is
slightly more than 131 times as great
as the Il mount received by the COM
pany Through its Relating operations
The case will be carried to the higher
courts by the defendant company. The
renaltry imposed upon the company is
the maximum permitted under the
law and it was announced a. the end
of long opinion, in which methods
and practices of the Standard OH Co
were mercilessly scored. The judge, in
fact, declared in his opinion that the
officials of the Standard Oil Co. who
were responsible for the practices of
which the corporation was found
guilty, were no better than counter
feiters and thieves.
Judge Landis commenced reading his
decision at 10 o'clock and occupied
about ono hour in its delivery. He re-
viewed the facts in the case, took up
the arguments of the attorneys for the
defence and answered them and then
passed judgment upon the company,
which, he declared. violated the law
for the sole purpose Of swelling its
dividends.
The court held that the railroads
| have no more right to make a secret
rate for shipper than board of as
hay N
| assessment of any particular piece of
property.
The court expressed regret that the
| law failed to provide more serious
punishment than fine, but insisted
that the penalty should be sufficiently
large to act as deterrent and not Of
such size as to encourage the often
der to persist in lawlessness.
At the conclusion of his opinion and
after announcing the amount of the
fine, Judge Lands directed that spe-
cial grand jury be called for the pur-
pose of inquiring into the acts of the
Chicago and Alton r. r. Company, it
having been proved in the case just
closed that the oil company accepted
rebates from that corporation. This
Jury is summoned for August IA.
The decision of Judge Lands aroused
almost as much public interest as did
the presence of John ID. Rockefeller and
other officials of the Standard Oil Com
pany in the court room on July 9th. The
crush was so great that large force
of deputy marshals had much difficulty
in controlling the crowd. The govern
rlent was represented in the court room
by u. S. District Attorney Sims and
Assistant District Attorney Wilkerson.
Loud hand-clapping broke out when
the court said:
"When, after all the circumstances of
the trial have been brought out and the
defendant pcrsistently maintained that
the constitution of the United States
guarantees to it the right to make
private contract for a railroad rate this
court is obliged to confess that in this
case the defendant was convicted OF its
virgin Onense.'
After some debate between the court
and the attorneys for the government
and the company. it was agreed that
the attorneys for the defense should be
riven GO days in which to file bill Of
exceptions.
1t is expected that the case will be
heard during the January term of me
United States court Of appeals.
Under the seven indictments still
pending against the Standard Oil Co.
an additional fine amounting to $685.
100000 may be levied against the COM
pany, if it is found guilty, on trial.
There are il these seven indictments
a total of 4422 counts, and the maxi /
mum fine in eacn count would be $4,000.