Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-04
OIL co. FINED
29 MILLIONS
MAXIMUM PENALTY IMPOSED ON
STANDARD
GUILTY OFFICIALS WORSE 1HAN
THIEVES, SAYS COURT
Federal Judge Lands Holds Up Rock
efeller's Trust for Terrific Arraign-
ment and Levies Record
Breaking Fine
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
CHICAGO, Aug. 3.-Judge Lands today
in the United States district court fined
the Standard OIL company Of Indiana
$29,24O.OoO for violations of the law against
| accepting rebates from railroads
| The fine Is the largest ever assessed
| against any Individual or corporation in
| the history of American Jurisprudence,
| and is slightly more than 131 times as
| great as the amount received by the COM
pany through its rebate operations.
| The case will be carried to the higher
| courts by the defendant company.
| The penalty imposed on the company
| is the maximum permitted under the law,
and 1t was announced at the end of a
| long opinion in which the methods and
practices Of hte Standard Oil company
were merciessly scored. The Judge, in
| fact, declared in his opinion that the Off
ciais of the Standard Oil company who
were responsible for the practices of
which the corporation was found guilty
were not better than counterfeiters and
thieves, his exact language being:
Worse Than Thieves
1--WE may as we'll look at this situation
| squarely. The men who thus deliberately
violate this law wound society more deep
| ly than does he who counterfeits the coin
| or steals letters from the mails. The
| nominal defendant is the Standard OIL
| company of Indiana, million dollar cor
poration. The Standard Oil company of
| New Jersey is the real defendant. This is
| for the reason that If body of men or
ganize large corporation under the laws
of one state for the purpose of carrying
| on business throughout the United States,
and for the accomplishment of that pur-
| pose absorb the stock of other corpora
| tions, such corporations so absorbed have
IL TOD
"They cannot initiate or execute any
| inherent business policy, their elimina-
| tion in this respect being prime con-
sideration for their absorption. So when
after this process has taken place a
crime is committed in the name OF such
smaller corporation, the law will not con-
slider that the latter corporation is the
real offender. And where the only posi-
| BILE motive of the crime is the enhance
ment of dividends, and the only punish
ment authorized is fine, great caution
| must be exercised by the court and the
| fning of a small amount would en-
| courage the defendant to further viola
/ tions by esteeming the penalty TO be in
| the nature of a license.
| 1.-THE defendant argues that to hold 1T
| for 1852 offense would be violation of
| the constitutional prohibition against the
| imposition of excessive fines, and 1t is
| urged hat congress could never have
| intended to confer on the court such
power.
''It is the view of the court that for the
law to take from one of its corporate
creatures as a penalty for the commits
sion of a dividend producing crime less
than one-third of its net revenues ac-
crued during the period of violation falls
far short of the imposition of an excess
sive fine, and surely to do this would
not be the exercise of as much real power
as is employed when a sentence is inn
posed taking from a human being one
day of his liberty. In this connection it
may be observed that the figures exhib
iting the net earnings of the Standard
Oil company of New Jersey during the
period covered by this Indictment are ex-
ceedingly instructive, because of the pc
culiarly intimate relations between the
character of the crime and the revenue
of the offenses.
1.-THE law prohibiting preferential rail-
road rates was passed twenty years ago.
It's adoption was preceded by vigorous
opposition interposed by those who had
been the beneflciaries of the vicious prac-
tices its enactment was designed to abol-
sh Immediately thereafter these per-
sons set about to devise means for it's
evasion.
Dodge Laws
1.-THE records of the court and of the
interstate commerce commission show
schemes to accomplish this result Dur
ing the period since 1887 congress has re-
peatedly endeavored to effectively amend
the law with a view to the accomplish
ment of its great object. Finally, in
1903, the EllSins law was passed. The
court recalls that at that time the earn
est hope was very generally entertained
that at last a means had been devised
that would put an end to preferential
railroad rates, and yet few months
thereafter the Standard Oil company pro-
cured 1900 carloads of property to be
shipped at an unlawful secret rate.
''And for this offense the Elkins law
authorized punishment only by fine, an
obvious defect, remedied, however by
the present law. which prescribes impris-
onment in the penitentiary for a like
offense. However, 1t is the business of
Judge to administer the law as he finds
it, rather than the expatiate on the in
adequacy of punishment authorized for
it's infraction.
sit is the judgment and sentence of
the court that the defendant, the Stand
ard Oil company. pay fine of $29. .240, 900,
zone thing remains. 1t must not be
assumed that in this jurisdiction these
laws may be ignored. If they are not
obeyed they will be enforced. The plain
demands of justice require that the facts
disclosed in these proceedings be sub
mitted to a grand jury with view to
the consideration of the conduct of the
other party to these transactions. Let
an order be entered for panel of sixty
men. returnable at 10 O'clock on the
morning of August IA. The United States
district attorney is directed to proceed
accordingly
Wide Interest Aroused
The decision of Judge Landis aroused
almost as much interest as did the
presence of John d. Rockefeller and
other officials of the Standard Oil
company in the court room on July 6.
The crush was SO great that a large
force of deputy marshals had much
difficulty in controlling the crowd that
was anxious to force its way into the
court room.
When Judge Landis took his seat on
the bench he said quietly:
'The United States versus the Stand
ard Oil company. as the defendant rep
resented"
IF the court please said Mr.. Mer-
ritt Starr for the Standard Oil com
pany's defense. "on behalf of the de-
fendant and in the absence of the reg