The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-07-12
FOR FEDERAL CONTROL
Wickersham Says 'Tis Inevitable End
for Corpor atoms.


for Corporations.
George Wickersham, attorney-gen-
eral of the United States, in address
ing the Kentucky State Bar Associa-
ton here at Paducah, KY, recently,
treated the trust question as it APP
pears to the present national admin
istration.
TIE address was notable chiefly for
its recommendation that Congress
should enact a law providing for ma
tionally created corporations to carry
on interstate commerce. Mr.. Wick
ersham sketched the ways by which
states may regulate business of for
eign corporations within their boun-
daries and advocated that the license
of any foreign corporation be vacated
If so per cent. of it's stock was owned
by any company. domestic or foreign
or If that amount became later so
owned.
"Of course, many will object to the
controlling tendency OF a national law
authorizing the formation of corpora
tons to carry on Interstate business"
said Mr.. Wickersham, but sucn
law seems to me to be the inevitable
result of economic conditions"
Mr. Wickersham said this would
logically follow the tariff tax on cor
porations.
The unlimited extent of the power
of the states recognized by the SUI
preme court" said Mr.. Wickersham,
is strikingly illustrated by the de-
cision in the. case of the Security
Mutual Life Insurance Company VS..
Prewitt, where the constitutionality
of statute of Kentucky was upheld.
The result of this decision is to
enable state to compel a foreign
corporation to refrain from resorting
to the federal court in controversies
brought by or against it. or else to
cease to do business within that
state"
Dealing with status of corpora
lions, Mr.. Wickersham said that they
were persons" who could be de-
prived OF life, liberty or property on
ly by due process of law. He argued
that the imposition of higher license
fees on foreign than on domestic cor
porations had been declared void.
He pointed out that, in point of the
Nhoto VI ltt1 Ctilt VI tANhdlS4.S dEdlLHl
the Hammond Pacing cNiii.aGy and
others. it might be safely asserted
that the only limitations on The low.
ers of the states TO exclu0s fol cign
corporations entirety from doing bus
mess within their territory, or 10 pre-
scribe such con ii-ions as hey inisht
deem proper TO the carr. ing IN by
them of sucn business Were:
THAT the regulations so prescribed
should not deprive the foreign cor
poration of property without due pro-
cess Of law or deny to them the equal
protection of the laws: and second,
that such regulations shall not amount
to an interference with interstate
commerce or with other business of a
federal nature"
Much legislation mas been enacted
in various states" he said, for the
purpose of preventing trusts, pools
and combinations In restraint Of
trade. Some of them have been more
or less effective most of them have
proved ineffective as applied to for
eign corporations.
1T has seemed to me that an effec-
tive method of legislating on this
subject would be to enact that no for
eign corporation should be licensed to
do business with a state of 80 per
centum of its capital stock or upward
was owned or held by any other cor
poration, domestic or foreign and
tnat if at any time after obtaining
such license more than so per cen
tum of the capital stock of such cor
poration should be acquired by an
other corporation, the license should
be ipso facto vacated.
''rhe device of the holding corpora
ton is the only thing which has made
possible the rapid growth of the great
trusts and monopolies and prohibit
ton such as stated would go far in
the right direction