Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1908-10-22
Fails to Furnish Correct infor-
nation 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 - Department of JUS
tice Answer Awaited.

phus Daniels chairman of the pub
licity bureau at Democratic national
headquarters, recently wrote letter
to Attorney General Bonaparte, in
which he asked for Information show
Ding the character and extent of suits
substituted by the federal government
against the trusts. Mr.. BOnaparte
anade reply In very lengthy letter,
but was careful not to give the infor-
ma ton requested. Mr.. Daniels has
forwarded second letter TO the At
dorney General which is reproduced
herewith:
Hon. G. j. Bonaparte. United States
Attorney General.
My Dear Sir:-I am In receipt OF
your letter of Oct I'd. On the Both
day of September | wrote you and
asked for statement showing how
many of the 2S7 trusts doing business
dn the United States had been prose
cuted 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-
fions under the Sherman antitrust
law with the prosecutions of railroads
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 vio-
hating the law. taking from the mouth
Of labor the bread it has earned" The
public ia well aware that a number
of railroads have been fined for giving
rebates. That law ought to be en-
forced, even though your department
refused to prosecute the admitted vio-
Nations Of the law by n railroad Off
al hn INN hot \,
and was given a place In the cabinet;
and those two able attorneys Hon.
Jndson Harmon and Hon. Frederick
N. Judson, who had been employed to
prosecute. refused to continue with
your department when II would not
permit them to prosecute the CON
fessedly guilty secretary OF the navy
as well as the lesser railroad officials
who had nearly all given rebates.
Having failed TO furnish the specific
iuformation requested. and wishing TO
have statement of exactly what has
Been done to prevent the extortions
and to end the existence OF the trusts,
/ am forced to ask you, emitting all
prosecutions against railroads and
other legal corporations, the following
questions:
l. How many Of the 2ST trusts Civ
ing the names. doing business In the
United States have been prosecuted
. How many of these trusts. NAM
Ing them separately, have been fined,
and the separate amounts?
j. After "A trust has been fined.
what other steps have been taken TO
prevent its continuing its illegal prac-
fices for which 1t was forced to pay
the penalty:
A. How many of the officials of
these 2S7 trusts have been criminally
prosecuted. and how many have been
convicted and the term of imprison-
ment, giving the names of each per-
son who has been Imprisoned for vio-
hating the law?
In your letter. In which you mix
mp the prosecution of railroads and
other legal corporations with the trusts
which exist in defiance of law, you
take occasion to contrast the record
OF the Roosevelt administration with
the four preceding administrations. In
the pamphlet which you send with
your letter. II appears that Mr. Har-
rison prosecuted seven trusts under
the sherman antitrust law; Mr.. Cleve-
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 where the government
won these important suits. Has the
meat trust gone out of business, and
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
i've cases you say have been prose
cuted criminally shows that in no sin
gle case has any violation OF the Law
been followed by Imprisonment
Do you believe that the men VIII,
operate the trusts to their enrichment
by systematic robbery. enjoyed by i'm
muniry from Imprisonment. will ever
be deferred by the methods so far EN-
ployed by the department of justice
As long as the meat trust can pay
email fine and collect il an hundred
times over the next day. by putin,
up the price of what il sells wheI
do you think that trust will qu
charging prices that put necessar,
food out of the reach OF the poor? Tn,
spectacle Of few of the predatorl
wealth. in convict garb-as the Law
contemplated-woul do more in on
week to break up the trust evil thai
AL the prosecutions inaugurated
BY giving the comparison OF the rec
ord OF the Roosevelt administers ton Il
the matter of prosecutions as con
arasted with the records of Clevelan
Mckinley and Harrison you invite
comparison of the records of these ad
ministrations as to trusts. CAREFUL
compiled statistics show that trust
were organized in the United State
under the past four administrations a
follows: Under Harrison. %: unde
Cleveland (second term 6: under No
kinney, 121; and under Roosevelt. 10,
1n8smuch as there are now PSI trust