Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-23

cordance with these principles. The meas
ure adopted by the trial court was who'll
arbttrary-had no basis in any intention
or fixed rule discoverable in tho statutes
And no other way Of measuring the mum
bering Of offenses seems to have been givei
a thought either by the government or b!
the trial court.
AS to whether Judge Bandlo in imposing
the monumental fine abused the discretion
vested in the court. the court oplnes
Briefly stated, the reason Of the tria
court for imposing thfs sentence was be
cause after conviction and before sentenc,
1t was brought out that the capital stocl
OF the Standard oil company Of Indiana
the defendant before the court was prin
cipal owned by the New Jersey corporation
a corporation not before the court, tht
trial court adding, upon no evidence. L
be found in the record and upon no lnfor
nation specifically referred to) that II
concessions, OF the character for which
the defendant before the court had been in
dicted' tried and convicted. the New Jerse.
corporation was not a virgin" offender
Abuse of Discretion.
rs a sentence such as this " " sound
Can a court without abuse OF judicial dis
erection wipe out all the property OF tn,
defendant before the court and all tn,
assets to which its creditors look, in al
effort to reach and punish a party tina
1t is not before the court-a party = . .
that is not even indicted? Can an Amerl
can Judge without abuse Of judicial dis
erection, condemn anyone who has not hat
his day in court?
That to our mind, is strange doctrine
In Anglo-SaXon Jurisprudence. Car
tina rightfully be done here on no othei
basis thar that Judges personal belief tina.
the party marked by him for punishment.
deserves punishment II so II is becals,
the man who happens to be the Judge II
above the law"
Judge Lands. when seen later, declined
to make n common on the decision.
History OF the Case.
The decision was on the appeal of tn,
Standard oil company Of Indiana from tn,
verdict rendered April 10, 1907, by which
the company was found guilty of accept
ing rebates, and was later fined by judge
Lands of the United States district cour-
SO, 10000, the maximum under the count,
Of the Indictment.
the specific charge against the COMPANY
was that 1t had accepted rebates on shin
ments of oil in carload lots from Whiting
IND, TO East st. Louis, ILL.,, over the Chi
cago & Alton railroad. Evidence was ad
duced at the trial showing that the com,
pany received rates one-third as large A,
other shippers werc obliged to pay. It wa.
c~ontended by the counsel for the oil com.
pany that the rate was not secret, but Tn,
fury found otherwise.
During the trial counsel for the OIL com
rany refused to give information called 70,
by Judge lands after he had taken IN,
case under Amusement. The court there
upon issued subpoenaes for the official,
OF the Standard OIL company of Nav
Jersey, among them John D.. Rockefeller
These officials appeared in court on Jul,
6, 1907, and were personally min h,
Judge Lands.
Case to BE Retired.
News Of the decision spread like O
prairie fire through the federal Building
United States District Attorney Edwin
Sims held a hurried conference with his
assistants, who had aided him in the prose
%cution, after which he said:
"Al / can say now Is that what has
happened was not expected. However, we
shall make the best of it. Undoubtedly
there will be an early retrial Of the case. =
John 8. Miller, Alfred D. Eddy. Morit7
Rosenthal and Chauncey Martyr, who did
the active work m defense of the cor
poration. were very happy,
I'VE are free TO confess that the decision
although It is nothing more than we ex.
Is gratifying to u.s." said Mr.. Miller
pected."
Following closely the decision Of IN,
united states court of appeals today re-
versing the decision of Judge Lands II
the Standard OIL case, the Daily New,
today says:
Bankers who have close affiliations witt
the Standard oil company state hat tina
organization Will soon announce an increas,
In the capital stock of 500, 900, 900 by $500,
100000, making a total capital stock of $500,
OOO, 1000"
There will be added from the earning,
for the fiscal year about S4O,OOO,OOO to tn,
organization surplus. 1t was given on.
that the large increase in capital is a dip
lomatic move in order that the dividend
may not look so large.
B~OnnDarte FavOrs RetriaI.
LENOx, Mass, July 22-On being told
today of the decision In the United statei
court OF appeals in the Standard OIL case
Attorney General Charles ]. Bonaparts
said:
"A suit of such importance certainl,
ought to be submitted for final decision
to the supreme court of the United States
But since the curt of appeals has decided
this cannot now be done"
On being asked IL the case would agair
be tried Mr.. Bonaparte replied:
II should be much surprised IL It is not
but I really cannot discuss this matter
tTuittully until 1 have seen the opinion"
Bryan Makes No Comment.
FAIRVIEW, LINCOLN, Neb.. July Do
Not in some time has news of such Import
ance reached here as that containing tn,
announcement from Chicago that the fin,
OF 500, 0O0,0O0 imposed upon the Standard OF
company by Judge Kenesaw Lands ha,
been set aside by the appellate court. VIII
liam ]. Bryan, when appraised OF the decis
ion seemed astonished and was eager Il
know the grounds upon which II was based
He would not, however, permit himself
to be drawn into a discussion Of the case.
Kemper, Hemphill ~ Buckingham. al
kinds plating. Phone Douglas rs.
0EbTu PEHnRn