The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-10-03
BONAPA RTE SHOWS
CHAIRMAN DANIELS.
Head of Democratic Press
Committee Given Record
Of Trust Prosecution.
FINES REACH s1,260,325.
MORE PROSECUTIONS UNDER
ROOSEVELT ADMINISTRATION
THAN ANY OTHER IN HISTORY
OF COUNTRY.

Washington, Oct. 3.-Attorney-Gen-
eral Bonaparte has made public his
reply to a letter he had received from
Josephus Daniels. Chairman of the
Democratic Press Committee at Chi.
cago, asking for facts connected with
trust prosecutions by the Department
OF Justice, including the present
standing of litigation against the
trusts.
The reply gives a summary of the
cases prosecuted substantially as fur
nished in a report made public two
days ago, a copy of which the Attor-
ney-General forwards to Daniels. The
Acknowledgement says his department
has prosecuted all cases under the
Sherman antitrust or interstate COM
merce laws that have been brought
to it's attention from responsible sour
ces. where the facts disclosed war
ranted such action.
The attorney-generafs letter says:
There have been instituted during
the administration of President Roose-
Welt 22S proceedings, civil and Grimm
al, under these statutes. OF these 70
have been concluded successfully, 40
have been concluded unsuccessfully,
and lis are now pending. The var
1ous fines imposed in criminal cases
amount, in the ggregate, to $1,260,325.
Republican Record.
Under previous republican admins
trations there were instituted under
those laws "a civil and criminal pro-
ceedings, of which Is were concluded
successfully. go were concluded I'M
successfully, and one is yet pending.
The amount of fines imposed in these
proceedings was $S,5O1.
Under previous democratic admin
istrations there were instituted under
these laws SO proceedings. civil and
criminal, of which IA were concluded
successfully, 35 were concluded unsuc-
cessfully and one is now pending The
fines imposed in these proceedings
amounted to the aggregate to $4,000.
1T is, of course, needless for me to
say that the mere fact that corpor-
alton or association is called trust
not prove, or even to tend to prove,
that the organization in question or it's
members have been guilty of any vio-
lation of the Federal laws.
No Proof of Guilt.
Neither is such guilt suggested by
the fact that such organization may
do large and apparently profitable
business. The criminal provisions Of
the statute generally known as the
Sherman antitrust law apply only to
those who enter into contracts. COM
binations or conspiracies in, restraint
OF trade. and although the statute pro-
vides that such contract, combination
or conspiracy shall be none the less
criminal because 1t takes the form of
trust, this does not, of course, make
trusts OF themselves criminal.
Since l have been encouragement
/, this department has prosecuted either
civilly or criminally all cases of alleg-
ed misconduct under the statutes
above mentioned, which have been
brought to its attention from respon-
sible source, and in which the results
OF careful inquiry by competent and
impartial officers disclosed the exis-
tence of such facts and of such OBJ
tainable legal evidence to prove them
as afforded reasonable hope Of sue
cess in such prosecution. The policy
OF the department will bet he the
same during the remainder of my
term of Office