The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-29

Standard Oil company. Upon the re-
suit of this case hinges the life or
d4hfh of the great corporation"
Frank B. Kellogg, the special coun-
sci of the government in the suit of
the United States to dissolve The Stan
dard Oil company of New Jersey, the
parent of the trusts many subsidiary
companies, said this the other after
noon as he sat in the court room of the
federal building, New York, after the
adjournment of the proceedings. A
student of physiognomy would have
found difficulty in reading the race OF
this quiet unassuming man, who with
out blare of bugles or preliminary
proclamation is giving the strongest
corporation in the world the fight OF
its long years of profitable existence.
The man who sat there in the court
room did not appear to be out of the
ordinary type of attorneys that one
may see any day. He is considerably
below the average height; his figure is
slender but as supple as an athletes.
His hair which Is white. falls half neg
lected about his well-formed head. His
eyes are gray and kindly, and there is
general air of quietness about his
expression that might mislead one as
TO his motives. A second glance,
though, and you will see that his thin,
firm lips have habit of closing tightly
after he has made an assertion, and
then you might look in vain into his
face for an Interpretation of his pur-
pose. Then il appears to you that the
man before you is not meek, but
strong, unbending, untiringly insistent
and just.
The Standard Oil company has been
arraigned on the charge of numbering
competition. The proceedings now TN
der way were begun in St. Louis and
are continued in New York. There is
no question of a fine; no question of
Imprisonment. 1t is a case of mot
guilty" or the death penalty for the
corporations. The suit has been
brought directly against the Standard
Oil company of New Jersey. John D.
Rockefeller, William Rockefeller. Hen
ry II. Rogers, Henry NJ. Flagler. John
ID. Archbold Oliver H. Payne, and 9TH
er associates and subsidiary companies
scattered well over the United States.
John d. Rockefeller as the president of
the organization and as the owner of
191. 700 of the 907 900 shares of trust
certificates greater number by 31,700
than the next greatest shareholder,
Henry NJ. Flagler. thus becomes the
central figure Of the long line of de-
PENDANTS.
Frank B. Kellogg is we'll known in
the PAW courts of the northwest and
is a member of the law firm of Davis,
Kellogg & Severance. of which the
late United States Senator Davis was
at the head. Like Senator Davis, he
was born in New York state and even
tually settled in Minnesota. Kellogg
was educated in the public schools of
Minnesota, and went to st. Paul in
1865, and has been an attorney there
for twenty-eight years. Corporation
law has formed the bulk of his prac-
tice. Three years ago Senator Knox,
then United States attorney general,
appointed him special counsel in the
case of the United States against the
paper trust. This case was carried to
the supreme court and Kellogg won ii.
After that he probed Hartman, and
then began the action against the
Standard Oil in Missouri.
IF you win this suit" Mr.. Kellogg
was asked. what assurance have you
that the Standard Oil, while ostensibly
disbanding viii not continue under a
reorganization as it did after the de-
cision of the supreme court in Ohio in
1892. that the trust agreement was dis
solved, the reorganization resulting
in that case in the greatest trust that
was ever formed-tfe Standard Oil
company of New Jersey?"
Attorney kellogg smiled grimly.
IF in this case it he decided" he
said quietly. that the Standard oil
company must be disbanded and dis
solved, anyone attempting a reorgani-
cation of that corporation would be in
contempt of court"
And the result"
1.-THE punishment would rest with the
court" he said.
Then the thin lips closed significant
TT might mean Imprisonment for
the offenders"
"Then you believe that IL you win
this action the result will be decisive %
He nodded his head and for a mo-
ment he was silent. Finally he said
quietly:
ut would be the Standard OIL COM
panys last battle"
So this big fight that the govern
ment has entered INTO has all the ele-
ments of the dramatic and the pic
turesque in it, II is the biggest bat
tie of the long series of battles that
have been planned by the federal ad-
ministration against the trusts.
1T is striking at the root of the
evil" said Kellogg. IF we win this
case-well-"
He seemed half inclined to not fin
ish the sentence, but changed his mind
and added: ''Well, the example will be
effective"
What is the situation today in a
nutshell?" he was asked.
He placed the index finger of his
right hand in the palm of his left.
1T is just this" he said. Here is
a case of open violation of the law. II
is perfectly clear. There is no ques-
ton about it. What, then, is the gov
eminent to dO-enforce the laws and
prevent repetition of their violation,
or to allow the lawbreakers TO continue
I'm this violation without punishment?
IT either means that the laws of the
country must be obeyed by all men
without regard TO class, position,
wealth or power, or that there must be
class distinctions in regard to the en-
forcement of these laws. A crisis has
arisen. A menace has arisen. II
means but one of two things: the gov
eminent must kill the trusts or the
trusts will kill the government"
This, then, is the motif of the man
from Minnesota Now what is his
method of procedure? What are his
allegations to prove that the Standard