Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1907-08-08
FINED S29,24O,OOO
Great Monopoly Is No Better Than
Counterfeiters or Robbers.

Counterteiters or Robbers.
Chicago, Aug. 5,-Judge KenesaW
M. Lands Saturday in the United
States District Court fined the Stand
ard Oil Company, of Indiana $29,
, 100000 for violations of the law
against accepting rebates from rail
/, roads. The fine is the largest ever
assessed against any individual OF
any corporation in the history OF
American Jurisprudence. The case
will be carried to the higher courts
by the defendant company.
The penalty imposed on the com
pany Is the maximum permitted un-
der the law and it was announced at
the end of a long opinion, in which
the methods and practices of the
Standard Oil Company were merci-
lessly scored. The judge, in fact, de-
iclared in his opinion that the Off
cials of the Standard Oil Company
who were responsible for the prac-
tices of which the corporation was
found guilty, were no better than
counterfeiters and thieves, his exact
language being: .
I'VE may as we'll look at this sit
uatiOn squarely. The men who thus
deliberately violated this law wound
society more deeply than does he
who counterfeits the coin or steals
letters from the mail The nominal
defendant is the Standard Oil Com
pany of Indiana, a million-dollar cor
poration. The Standard Oil Company
of New Jersey, whose capital is
500, 100000, is the real defendant.
| This is for the reason that, if a body
of men organize a 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 purpose
absorb the stock of other corpora
tions, such corporations SO absorbed
| have thenceforth but nominal
existence. They cannot initiate or
execute any inherent business policy,
their elimination in this respect be-
ing a prime consideration for their
absorption. So, when after this pro-
cess has taken place, a crime is com
mitted in the name of such smaller
corporation, the law will not cOnsid-
er that the latter corporation is the
real offender. And where the only
possible motive of the crime is the
enhancement of dividends and the
only punishment authorized is fine,
great caution must be exercised lest
the fixing of small amount encour-
age the defendant to further viola
tions by esteeming the penalty to be
in the nature of a license.
"The defendant argues that to
hold it for ,462 offenses would be a
violation of the constitutional pro-
hibition against the imposition of
excessive fines land it is urged that
congress could never have intended |
to confer upon the court such power.
1t is the view of the court that for |
the law to take from one of it's cor
pOrate creatures as penalty for the |
commission of a MISUNDERSTANDING |
crime less than One-third of it's net |
revenues accrued during the period |
of violation falls far short of the i'm
position of an excessive fine, and |
surely to do this would not be the
exercise of as much real power as is
employed when sentence is i'm
posed taking from human being
one day of his liberty.
1T is the judgment and sentence
of the court that the defendant, the
Standard Oil Company, pay a fine of
$29, 900"
Under the seven indictments still
pending against the Standard Oil
Company, an additional fine amount
ng to $SS, 900 may be levied
against the company,
How to Make Public Pay
How the Standard Oil Company |.
,an exact payment from the public:
Fine imposed by Judge Landis, $29,-
,40, ,000 attorneys fees (estimated)
0,000; total fine and costs S31,-
100000. Present price (average
grade) kerosene per gallon, II
,ents. Proposed price, same, 13 !
,ents. Gallons refined kerosene to {
)ne barrel crude petroleum, Is. I
Number gallons to be sold at in j.,
rease of 1 cent per gallon over pres
mt quotations to reimburse Standard |
ill, 3,150,O00. Number barrels
rude petroleum, 210,000,0OO In
rease in dollars, $31, 100000. Cap a
tai stock Standard Oil Company of T
Iew Jersey, 10O,000,0OO. Capital n
took Standard Oil Company Of In II
lana, $1,000,000. Wealth of John r
}. Rockefeller in excess of $1,000 C
100000. Exact figures not known g
o himself.) Rockefeller's interest in o
tandard Oil (27 2-5 per cent total G.
apitalization), s27,4OO, 900 Figures Il
ased on one barrel crude petroleum d
reducing 35 per cent kerosene and n
y-products, paraffin, lubricating Il