The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-10-20
Fails to Furnish Correct lnfor-
nation Asked by Josephus
Daniels. .t.
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.

| Chicago. Oct -(Special)-Tose-
phus Daniels, chairman OF the pub
| licity bureau Mt Democratic national
| headquarters, recently wrote o letter
to Attorney General Bonapartp, in
which he asked for information show
! ing the character and extent of suits
| instituted by the federal government
against the trusts. Mr.. Bonaparte
made reply in a very lengthy letter
| but was careful not to give tile lnfor-
4 nation requested. MIR Daniels has,
forwarded second letter to the At
Jorney General which is reproduced
! herewith:
Hon. c. ]. BonapartC, United States
Attorney General.
My Dear Slr:--I am in receipt or
| your letter OF Oct ID On the 3Oth
day of September ] wrote you 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 10 tho oST trusts
named. Instead OF furnishing that in
4
| rions 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 aud rec
! ognizcd trusts that are daily. by vio-
lating the law, taking from the mouth
/ cf labor the bread II has earned" The
' public Is well aware that n number
Of railroads have been fined for giving
rebates. That law ought to be on
/ forced. even though your department
! refused 10 prosecute the admitted vio-
lations OF the law by n railroad Off
cial who received an immunity bath
and was given place in the cabinet:
and those two able attorneys, Hon.
hudson Harmon and Hon. Frederick
/ \. ludson, who had been employed to
| prosecute. refused TO continue with
yonr department when II would not
| permit them to prosecute the con
rcssedly guilty secretary of the navy
as well as the lesser railroad officials
who had nearly all given rebates.
Having failed TO furnish the specific
! Information requested and wishing 10
have statement bf exactly what has
been done 10 prevent the cxtCrtiOns
and to end the existence OF the trusts.
i nm forced TO ask you, omlttlng all
prosecutions against railroads and
other legal corporations, the following
questions:
|. How many OF the 2S7 trusts, Civ
ing the names, doing business in the
] United States. have been prosecuted
! by the present administration?
4 >. 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 10
prevent its continuing its illegal prac-
| tees for which II was forced to pay
! the penalty?
I. How many Of the officials Of
these PSI trusts have been Criminalli
| prosecuted, and how many have been
convicted and the term OF imprisou.
| ment, giving the names of each per-
son who has been imprisoned for ylo-
| 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 10 contrast the record
| OF the Roosevelt administration with
! the four preceding administrations. I'm
| the pamphlet which you send with
! your letter II appears that Mr. Har-
r!son prosecuted seven trusts under
| the sherman antitrust law; Mr. Cleve-
| land, nine; Mr. Mckinley, three, and
! the present administration, ninetcrn
| civil and twenty-five criminal cases
| \ on include the cases against the beef
and meat trusts where the government
| won these important suits. Has the
| meat trust gone out OF business aud
have the people obtained the relief
1 from high prices which they had
| right so expect and for which reason
' they demanded the prosecution of that
| trust? An examination OF the twenty
i fivc eases 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 who
/ operate the trusts TO their enrichment
| by systematic robbery, enjoyed by inn
= munty 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
small fine and collect 1t an hundred
times over the next day. by putting
mp the price Of what 1t sells when
do You think that trust will quit
: charging prices that put necessary
food out OF the reach OF the poorg The
F., spectacle Of few Of the predatory
! wealth, In convict garb---as the law
/ contemplated would do more In one
week to break up the trust evil than
4 all the prosecutions inaugurated,
BY giving the comparison OF tho rec
! ord of the Roosevelt administration In
! the matter of prosecutions as con
nasted with the records OF Cleveland,
Mckinley and Harrison you invite a
comparison Of the records OF these adj
! ministratioEa as TO trusts. Carefully
| compiled statistics show that trusts
were organized in the United States
| under the past -four administrations AZ
J follows: Under Harrison. 25 under
Cleveland (secOnd term g; under Nc
| Kinley, 1917; and under Roosevelt, LOG.
! lnasnuch as there are now 2S7 trusts
| In America II appears that there were
! twenty-threc before Mr.. Harrison be-
came president and that 264 have been