The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-14
TRUST FOUND GUILTY
VERDICT RETURNED AGAINST
 STANDARD OIL COMPANY.
After Weeks of Trial Jury Decided That Rockefeller Concern Has Violated the Recent Anti
 Rebate Statutes.

Chicago, April 13.--The Standard oil Company of Indiana which has been on trial for the past six weeks before Judge Landis in the United States District Court on a charge of having received rebates from the Chi- cago and Alton Railroad on shipments of oil from Whiting. Ind. to Fast St. Louis. Ill., was found guilty tonight on 1,463 counts out of the original, 1908 in the indictments.
 The remaining 40 counts were drop ped from the indictment on account of errors. The oil company Is liable to fine of s29.26o.o00 as the Eikins law which the indictment charges the company with having violated, pro- vides fine of s1.000 to s20,000 for each offense. Pending the decision on a motion for a new trial which John S. Miller. chief cognn#i for the 'efense. Enroupced " i'd Do made 1ssgnedfntelyGb 1c coErt will not pass sentence on tre company.
 The indictment enlarged the ship ment of 1908 cars of oil over the Chicago Terminal Transfer and the Chicago and Alton Railroad from way of Chappell. III. The charge was that the oil company accepted 6 rate of six cents per hundred pounds when the legal rate was eighteen cents.
 When the case frstt came to trial. the attorneys for the defense endeav- ored to have all the counts in the in- dictment thrown out on technicalities, but the court ordered that each count be taken up and considered separately which was done and after a great deal of arguing the counts in which errors were found dropped. The defense then put all its efforts toward prov ing that they were unaware of the fact that the Special rates" had not been filed with the Interstate Com merce Commission as provided by the Elkins law.
 Evidence was offered by the govern ment showing that it was the duty of the companys officials to see that the reduced rate was in the hands of the Interstate Commerce Commission Touching on this part of the evidence Judge Landis In his charge to the jury said:
 '"The indictment alleges that the de- fendant accepted a concession, know ingly. To maintain this averment the proofs need not establish that the defendant had actual knowledge of the lawful rate. It was the duty of the defendant to diligently endeavor to in good faith get from the Chicago and Alton Railway Company the law full rate by applying to one of the companys officers. In making this sndeavor the defendant Is presumed to have known that the railroad company would be guilty of a misdemeanor f. 1t gave the defendant a rate Cn inter- state traffic which was not Set down on paper and a copy of the schedule filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission.
 In regard to the assertion made by the defense that the Standard oil Com pany did not know of the existence of the tariff on which the indictment was based, Judge Landis said the evidence submitted by the government went to show that there was a department In the Standard oil Company which dealt with oil lots less than carload. and that 1t would have been absolutely necessary for the head of this depart ment to be familiar with the tariff in question"
 The jury was out less than three hours and reached a verdict cn the first ballot.