Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-10-23
Fails to Furnish Correct lnfor.
mation asked by Josephus
Daniels.
ATTY. GENERAL IS DIPLOMATIC
Mixes Up the Prosecutions Under
Antitrust Law.
Records Show That 2S7 Trusts Are
Thriving Under the Republican
Administration = Prosecutions
Slow w-..Departmcnt OF Jus.
ticc Answer Awaited.

-
= .i'iIua: ;crS. r",rntly wrote letter
10 At,".ncy General Honaparte. In
which he asked for Information show
IA, the character and cNtcnt of suits
Instituted 10y the federal government
against the trusts. Mr. Eonaparte
made reply In il very lengthy letter.
but was careful not to give the infor-
nation requested Mr.. Daniels has
( forwarded Il second letter to the At
Iorney General which Is reproduced
herewith:
Hon. &. J. Bonapartc, United States
Attorney General.
My Dear Sir:-I am In receipt OF
your letter of oct. ID. On the Goth
day OF September l wrote sou and
asked for statement showing how
many OF the 2s7 trusts doing business
In the United States had been prose-
cutcd by the department Of justice,
the amount of fines collected, etc. In
your answer you do not furnish the
Information desired. The inquiry was
specifically directed to the action
taken with reference to the 2S7 trusts
named. Instead OF furnishing that In
formation. you mix up the prosecu-
tions under the Sherman antitrust
J io" Win Tic OI TallTOauS
and individuals under other acts. No
question was asked as to proceedings
against railroads or other CORPORA
tions except the well known and rec
ognized trusts that are daily. by vlo-
lating the law, taking from the mouth
Of labor the bread it has earned The
public IL well aware that a number
or railroads have been fined for giving
| hnt lnx,
/ forced. even though your department
refused to prosecute the admitted vio-
lations OF the law by a railroad Off
cial who received an immunity bath
and was given place in the cabinet;
and those two able attorneys, Hon.
Judson Harmon and Hon. Frederick
y. Judson. who had been employed to
prosecute. refused to continue with
tour department when II would not
permit them to prosecute the CON
f"SScdly guilty secretary OF the navy
| rs well as the lesser railroad officials
VII" had nearly all given rebates.
Having failed to furnish the specific
Information requested. and wishing to
have a statement OF exactly what has
been done 10 prevent the extortions
and To end the existence OF the trusts.
prosecutions against railroads and
other legal corporations. the following
| questions:
!. How many Of the 2S1 trusts, Civ
ing the names. doing business In the
United States. have bcrn prosecuted
by the present administration:
>. How many Of these trusts, nl,n-
Ing them separately. have been fined.
and the separate amounts?
3. After trust has been finc1.
what other steps have been taken to
prevent its continuing its Illegal prar-
tees for which it was forced TO pay
the penalty?
!. how many OF the officials of
these "SI trusts have been criminall,
prosecuted. and how many have been
convicted and the term OF imp!iScn-
ment. giving the nanirS of each per-
son who has been imprisoned for vio-
lating the law
In your letter. In which you mix
up the prosecution of railroads and
other legal corporations with the trusts
which exist IN defiance of law. you
take occasion To contrast th, record
of the Roosevelt administration with
the four preceding administrations In
your letter. IL apnears that Mr.. IIar-
rlson nra;;,cuted seven trusts unrr
the Sherman antitrust law: Mr. Clrve-
land. nine; Mr.. Mckinley. three. and
the present administration, nineteen
civil and twenty-five criminal cases
You include the cases against the beef
and meat trusts whrrc the government
won these important suits Has the
n nf h,tSinn-S MI
have the people obtained the relief
from high prices which they had a
right to expect and for which reason
they demanded the prosecution OF that
trust? An examination of the twenty
five eases you say lave been prose-
cutcd crimnally shows that In no sim
gle case has any violation OF the hw
been followed hJ Imprisonment.
DO You believe that the men who
operate the trusts 10 their enrichment
by systematic robbery, enjoyed by i'm
munity from Imprisonment. will ever
be deferred by the methods SO far EN-
ploycd by the department OF justice?
As long as tie meat trust can pay Il
small finr and collect il an hundred
times over the next day. by putting
up the price OF what il sells. when
do you think that trust will quit
charging prices that put necessary
food out of the reach OF the poor? The
spectacle 0e Il few of the predatory
wealth In convict garb-as the law
contemplated would do more in one
week 10 break up the trust evil than
all the prosecutions inaugurated
Ry giving the comparison OF the rec
ord OF the Roosevelt administration I'm
the matter OF prosecutions as con
trasted with the records OF Cleveland.
Mckinley and Harrison you invite a
comparison OF the records Of these ad-
miniStratiUnS as 10 trusts. Carefully
compiled statistics show that trusts
were organized in the United States
under the past four administrations as
follows: Under Harrison. -: under
Cleveland Second terml &: under Nc
kinley. 12I; and under Roosevelt, 1906
lnAsnuch AZ there are now 2S1 trusts
In America II appears that there were
twenty three before Mr.. Harrison be-
came president and that Pa have been
organized since lNAS. II the depart
tH2 interests OF the people demand,
would the number of trusts have null
tlplied so ruptdlyl Not only would
the trusts doing business have been
put out OF business, but men would
not have put money into new trusts