The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-05
HARTMAN CASE
 AG l TAKEN UP
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1o


 growth of the country. The watering of stock in my opinion has been helpful in the past. The time has come, however, in the development of the country in the , balancing of evidences and evils for a much stricter regulation of the issuance of stocks and bonds.'
 In further discussion of the Chicago and Alton transaction said MT. Cravath, the officials were pursuing a we'll recognized method in these transactions of dis tributing money to its stockholders. Mr. Cravath pointed out that all the trans actions carried out by the Chicago and Alton people were well understood by the financial interests of the country; he asserted there was no secret made of the transactions, and that they were presented fairly to the public by all the financial agencies. No interest and no investor, so far as he knew could have been misinformed concerning them.
 MT. Cravath said it was evident that the time had come when the par value of securities should obtain a definite re- lation to the actual value of those seeur- ities and that there was no reason for the belief that the Chicago and Alton transactions had not been conducted in that view. That no court had ever held that bona fide purchase by one com pany of the stock of another is in viola tion of the antitrust act, MT. I4ovett asserted with emphasis.
 Ilt dullltleu lIldl lneTe ndQ been some combinations between the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific but said that if the volume of business had been much larger 1t would have no bearing upon the purchase of one road by the owners of the other, as that purchase was in itself a legitimate business transa ction of such a character that the courts will not interfere with It.
 Suppose the purchaser was to get rid ''of competition?' asked Commissioner Clemonts.
 'l believe the purchaser would still have the right to buy"
 Do you apply that doctrine to public utility corporations?" asked Commission CT Clarke
 Assuming that they have the power under their charters I would say yes"
 And you would regard the suspension of competition as merely incidental?" MT. Clarke asked.
 Mir. Lovett responded:
 'I am inclined to that opinon," he con- tended, however. that in the Southern Pacific-U Union Pacific transaction, the sup pression of competition had been so re- mote as to remove that feature as a mo- tive for the transaction.
 He also entered upon line of contro- versy to show that 1t Was the design of Congress that the Pacific roads should he operated as one line regardless of the diversity of ownership, and he referred lo the edrHer purchase or the Central Pacific by the Southern Pacific. as a pre- cedent for MT. Harrinpns acquisition of the Southern Pacific for the Union Pa- cifc.
 Reverting to the questio nof the sup pression of competition he outlined the situation with references to the Union Pacific which had been:
 Does any sane man suppose that 1t would enter upon this tranaction for the mere purpose of suppressng competi- tion?" as matter of fact he said, the Union Pacific was in no position to con- trol transcontinental business and the men in charge of 1t had found themselves compelled to buy the Southern Pacific to protect their own interests.
 Following Mir Lovett Attorney John G. Milburn expressed the opinion that if the Union Pacihc-Southern Pacific sys- tenn Is illegal every railroad system in the United States Is illegal He said the question involved was one of the most.im- portant. He said he was sure that other systems would have more difficulty than he and his fellow counsel would have in sustaining their contentious. He argued that the purchase of the Southern Pa- clfic had been legal under the antitrust laws. He said that the act covered con tracts. commissions or conspiracy in re- straint of trade, but that it does not deal at all with the purchase of property. He would never admit that such a restriction had been intended unless it was rlainly written in the statute.
 If you make Illegal every purf lss 2. f competing property you stop the busi- ness of the world he asserted. and fol- lowed this declaration with the statement that the wheels could not revo1ve for twenty-four hours afte- restric- ton