The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-08-22
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- word as to what shall be done in ev
2 erything of any Importance. Although
The is not a lawyer, this is also true
in legal matters. He has made such
a thorough study Of the legal and con-
! | stitutional phases of trust questions
that he has become a very good judge
of law matters. He has had the ad-
e vice for years of some of the keenest
/ legal minds in the country and natur-
ally has become very well informed.
The President evidently is taking
the side of the railroads and the fed
2 eral courts, as against the states and
state courts. When Attorney General
Bonaparte left Oyster Bay the other
day he said the situation with refer
ence to the Southern railroad and its
difficulties with Virginia, North Caro-
lima and Alabama authorities had been
gone over carefully and he spoke
sneeringly of the Southern Railways
lack ''of stomach for a fight" He said
the Department of Justice had brought
| things about so that there was the
| opportunity for the railway to make
| a fight against the state courts, if it
| wished, but that the Department of
Justice could not compel the road to
| fight
AS a matter of fact the Southern
! Railway, now one of the largest rail-
way systems in the country, permeat-
| ting practically every Southern State,
is more in sympathy with the state
courts than it is with President Roos-
evelt's administration. 1t would rather
patch up a peace with the state au-
thorities than to have war, in which
the federal authorities would be it's
allies. The railway officials know that
they must continue to do business in
the South, that the good will of the
thousands of local courts is an invalu-
able asset to the railroad and that the |
good will of the Southern people is |
also an invaluable asset. With few |
exceptions, the Southern Railway sys- |
tenn has cooperated with Southern |
communities toward the industrial and /
commercial upbuilding of that section.
In comparison with the popular i'll will |
toward most railroads, the Southern is
popular among its millions of con-
stituents. -sszE
The prospects increase that the Pres z
ident's administration will close in the l
midst of a lot of very important and \
unfinished litigation. The cases, grow
ing out of his antitrust crusade, which
must be carried up to the Supreme Il
Court for final adjudication are in Il
creasing. The federal courts in many
states are now occupied with them. In
civil and criminal matters the govern
ment has become the greatest litigant
by far that it ever was. In st. Louis
the proceedings are under way for
dissolution of the Standard Oil trust.
It will be two or three years probably
i
case. In Chicago the big $29, O0O,0 600
fine was imposed and already there is
new agitation there as the attorneys for
the Standard try to get the case be-
fore another federal court, where
Judge GrOsscup. an older and a stead
Ter judge than Judge Lands, pre-
sides. But the grand jury in Judge
Landiss court is investigating the ,
railroads for alleged culpability in
giving rebates to the Standard Oil.
More indictments, to the number of
scores, for offenses that cost a maxi
mum of $4,000 when proven, are ex-
pected there. Possibly the Standard
Oil Company will have to face more in /
dictments in the United States District |
Courts of Chicago.
There are several important matters |
of railroad and antitrust litigation, in
which the government is interested, |
pending in New York. One of these is
the proceeding to make E. H. Harrf- |
man answer questions put by the In
terstate Commerce Commission. But |
now the United States District Court |
for the western district of New York |
has indictments, recently returned by |
it's grand jury, accusing the Standard |
Oil Company of 220 separate offenses |
in receiving special Illegal concessions
on shipments of oil. If the jury finds |
the Standard Oil Company, the Vacu-
UNI Oil Company, the New York Gen.
trail and the Pennsylvania Railroads
guilty on all the counts and the court /
imposes a maximum fine, the penalty |
would aggregate $1S,240,000 And the
dispatches say that the federal grand |
Jury at jamestown, n. Y, is not |
through yet with its labors. More in
dictments for rebating are probable. .
The federal courts in Pennsylvania
are occupied with great cases, which
the President has instituted, notably :
the case against the Anthracite Coal
Companies and railroads. Delaware
now is the scene of the federal suit
against the powder trust. So it goes
through many states, where the Presf-
dent has been pressing litigation. The
effect has been seen in the enlarge
ment of the Department of Justice, the t
hiring of many assistant attorneys gen.
eral and clerks. In four years the 1
Department has expanded enormously.
1t is atso seen in the demand from
many sections of the country for more r
federal judges, which mean more dis
trict attorneys, more United States
etc. OF course there have been
other increases in federal business but
the trust busting crusade has con- :
tributed nightly to it, And in due sea-
son it will become apparent that the
Supreme Court of the United States
is falling behind with its work more j
than ever. The trust busting cases
will occupy more and more of its
time There will be half a hundred {
vital questions of law and constitu-
tionality, growing out of the activity
of President Roosevelt in busting