The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-12-06

deemed TO include corporations and as
sociations.
Better Service Is No Excuse.
"The circuit court. with four out Of
seven JUDGES on the bench all Of whom
concurred IN the decision, referring to
this law as applied to any and all cor
poratioEs or individuals, says in part
The purpose OF this statute was TO keep
the rates Of transportation and the prices
of articles i'm Interstate aad international
commerce open 20 free competition, Any
contract OF cOmbina ton of two or moro
parties whereby the control OF such rates
or prices Is taken from separate COM
pcttors in that trade and vested ll o
person or an association OF persons nee
cssarly restricts competition and re-
strains that commerce.
II Is thought that with the end of the
combination tho monopoly viii naturally
disappear. but lest instead of resulting
that way. the monopoly so wrongfully
gained be porpctuated by the aggrcga-
ton OF the physical properties and IN
tanned in the hands Of q member Of the
combination and the liquidation and re
tireinent from business OF the other mem,
bors, il is held that such a course would
violate the decree.
The modern doctrine is bu, IA recog-
milton of the obvious truth that what
government should not grant. because
ridual should not be allowed to secure
ana hold by wrongful means
The banefu effect IS tic same whether
the monopoly comes as a gift from a
government or Is the result of Individual
wronsdoing. Nor can arguments OF re-
duced prices OF product. economy in oper-
alton and the like have weight
Government Control Probable.
"Thc Northern Security case deter
mined that one company could not own
iG. ,lr,.., III
otherwise would be presumed to COM
pete with each other. Now this Stand
ard Oil decision goes farther and saws
that no individual can own or control
a monopoly of any kind. implying that
all monopoly, as | understand it. be-
longs 10 the state and that no individual
or company can either directly or IN
directly secure a monopoly in anything,
including transportation, without the
consent and under the control of the
state, even by purchase in the open
market.
''In other words no scheme, no mat
ter what IL is, even down TO outright
individual ownership. is legal that puts
the control of any two or more rall-
roads running between the same points
under one control How this decision
affects the Hill, the Gould, the Hawlcy
and the Hartman lines is obvious, 1t
practically undoes all the plans of the
little wizard.
1.-The Hartman people seem, by their
recent acts, TO be getting ready for
some such thing. The Hartman inter
ests have sold all their Hill stocks and
bonds, and there are indications that
the Hartman system will be practically
broken up into n number of independ
ent roads. The final result no man can
foresee, but there is practically no dan
ger of going back To the old reckless
days of cutthroat competition and
ruinous rate wars and the inevitable
secret rebates.
Something new Will be devised.
the passing of a new federal
law that will authorize the central con-
troll of two or any number of roads
under federal supervision, 1t is un-
derStood that the railroads themselves
will welcome this, as ii Will take them
out from under the CALLING control of
forty-siX different state legislatures and
state courts