The Mena weekly star., 1909-03-04
FOR 4 TRUST
THE sTANEARD WINS A BIG POINT E BY JUDGE ANDERsoN's.
 DECISION.
IF FOUND GUILTY NO BIG FINE POSSIBLE
Each Settlement Between Company and Railroads, of Which There Were 36, to Constitute an offense-The Fine of $29,ooo,ooo May Be Reduced to S72o,CCO.

Chicago, Feb 27.-From Judge Landis' fine of s29,240,0OO to pos sible maximum fine of $720000 is ad- mitted to be the meaning of ruling made by Judge Anderson in the re- trial of the Standard Oil company of Indiana for alleged relating Thurs day The ruling was informal and made to expedite the hearing and al- Enough the government has the privi lege of presenting further arguments, it is almost certain there will be no change in the ruling when it is for mally entered,
 The decision of the court of appeals which reversed Judge Landis elimi- hated the view of that jurist that each carlot Of oil on which rebate was Accepted constituted a separate of fense. There were 1,462 of these car lots, the freight charges for which were paid in 36 different settlements. Judge Anderson interpreted the de- cision of the appellate court, which he said served as his guide, to imply that these alleged rebates accepted af- ter each of the 36 settlements con stitute the unit of offense. The ap- pellate court did not so state explicit ly, nor did it clear up the point wheth- CT the alleged offense was a continu- ous one, the whole forming single Violation of the Elkins law. The de- fense's argument that the offense, if any, was continuous, Judge Anderson 1rA vt t,tur hut frf al der the decision of the upper court. However, he. regarded the settlement Basis as the logical one and the gov ernment will proceed in the case on that assumption.
 Judge Anderson's ruling was SC. we're blow to District Attorney Sims He and his assistant, James H. vii. kerson,s had argued that each ship ment, of which there were 500, making possible a maximum fine of $I0,000.- 900, constituted an offense. This view Judge Anderson declared he could not Understand He said that it had not been made plain what comprised a Shipments trainload, carlot or a gallon. He saw no reason why, if a trainload, or a carlot, were regarded as a separate offense, the matto1 might not be further. divided, making hundred weight the unit, or gal lon, greatly increasing the number of offenses and magnifying the punish ment The division of alleged oi lenses. he said seemed to fall natural iy into 36 parts, or counts, each marked off by money settlement. II was at these settlements that rebates, If any. were made and received
 MT. Wilkerson argued that the fine which would be possible under the courts ruling would serve merely as a license to a great corporation. On this roint Judge Anderson said in eff feet:
 "That is a consideration which has no weight with me whatever. l am not concerned with the effectiveness of the statutes, but with their inter. pretatlon and application. If the view that l have taken has the effect that has been stated, that is a matter for the lawmakers to consider. If their laws are inadequate, let them supply remedy
 The government's attitude, ex- pressed in yelled form in the unsuc- cessful attempt to have the Landis de. cision reviewed by the supreme court, has been that failure to infiict a huge fine proportionate to the earnings of the defendants would practically null. lify years of Investigating and prose. cution, and make the large sums ex' pended so much wasted money. A fife of $l0,000000, it was believed, would suffice to indicate that the gov. ernment has the power to deal eff ciently, with alleged corporate evils Judge Anderson's ruling Thursday, if is said, removed that hope, although the case will be prosecuted to the end
 ~-------------~------